Clay County Commission
Dan Haglund
No major surprises from Clay County Sheriff Mark Empting as he presented the 2026 anticipated budget to the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday in Moorhead.
But he did put in for a 10 percent salary bump for himself.
In the personnel budget, Empting showed that health insurance premiums are scheduled to decrease by $29,855 and Social Security down $2,754 due to staff turnover. The increases come with salary increases ($14,390), Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) up $12,156 and Medicare premiums up $232.
These projected increases for salaries and benefits will be dependent on contract negotiations.
“This is a good time to advise the board in complete transparency,” Empting said. “I did include in this budget a 10 percent increase for my salary. Since I have been sheriff in 2019 I have not come to the board and requested any type of a salary increase.”
There is a graded “step” program within the department that include regular salary increases already, so no additional increases aside from the sheriff’s salary have been requested, Empting said.
The step salary program is a system for compensating employees based on their job title and years of service within the county. It involves a salary schedule with multiple steps, and employees progress through these steps as they gain experience. A recent market study influenced the program, leading to adjustments in salary steps for some positions and a general wage increase for all employees.
Empting showed anticipated overall revenue increases of $38,869 for next year over 2025, with the main increase coming from Police Relief Aid ($60,000), $15,000 in transportation restitution and $10,771 in miscellaneous funds (SRO contracts from Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton and Ulen).
The anticipated decreases come in the areas of U.S. Marshals Task Force grant (down $15,702 from previously), police training reimbursements ($10,000 less), pistol permits ($10,000 less), miscellaneous ($5,000 less), state grants for snowmobiles ($4,200 less), and impound fees ($2,000 less).
Commissioner Paul Krabbenhoft, Dist. 1, inquired about why there showed a decrease in impound fees revenue, and Empting explained that there has been an increase in having private towing companies within the county deal with impounding vehicles. He said that actually saves the county time and money.
“It (impounding) takes a lot of staff time,” Empting said. “Because when we do have a vehicle in there that nobody comes and gets, then we have to send letters out and things of that nature, so it does save on staff time.”
Empting explained that vehicles seizures after an arrest do go to the county impound lot, but changes may be on the horizon. Other arrests without a vehicle seizure can go to the private towing company lots.
Other clerical expenses, as well as training, meals and travel, within the department are slated to remain fairly static for 2026.
As for automobile maintenance, there will be increases of $10,000 for each repair/maintenance and gas/oil categories, and $5,000 more on general supplies for law enforcement.
There will be $5,000 less spent on ballistic vests. Each vest costs about $2,300 and lasts five years. Empting said the department buys between five and 12 vests per year.
For the U.S. Marshals Task Force, the salary and benefits reimbursement is $20,702, but based on recent usage Emtping has only budgeted $5,000 for this area. And only submitted overtime is reimbursed.
With the USPS Task Force, the 2026 salary and benefits reimbursement amount is $22,155. The squad reimbursement is $850 per month ($10,200 annually). And again, only submitted overtime is reimbursed.
Any changes to this reimbursement schedule will be known next month.
The budget for medical examiner, mainly for the purpose of performing autopsies ($3,000 per), and based on a three-year average of 49 per year, comes to $147,000. There have been 29 autopsies performed in 2025 as of Tuesday morning, all taking place in St. Paul.
For the Red River Regional Dispatch Center, the 2026 budget shows total expenditures of $6,827,394, for a 4.7 percent increase.
The Clay County Rural Cities Share portion is budgeting for $543,936, which represent 8.3 percent of the RRRDC total. The rest of the monies come from Cass County, the City of Fargo and other entities.
The Clay County 911 Fees portion brings this total down by $150,182, to a total of $393,754.
The City ($204,752) and Clay County ($189,002) split this amount between them almost evenly.
The budget item New World Maintenance is set for $659,146, an increase of 15.45 percent over 2026. Clay County’s share of this is $104,395, a 15.84 percent share.
The Rural Cities Reimbursement for 31 of the 88 devices used accounts for $36,775, as each device costs $1,186.31 per year. Clay County has the other 57 devices for a total of $67,620.
