Olmsted County Government Personnel Serve Us in Countless Ways 

To learn about the responsibilities of Olmsted County government personnel, I contacted Mark Krupski, Director of Property Records a & Licensing.

Our conversation revealed Krupski’s congeniality, enthusiasm, Boston/Salem Massachusetts accent, sense of humor and eclectic intellectual interests have only been enhanced since he enriched my classes at Rochester Community College.

The range of services and responsibilities Mark, his immediate supervisor, Deputy County Administrator Peter Giesen, and the department of some 40 staff colleagues and 6 managers provide, is extraordinary, as they carry out their “one-stop shop” mission of community service.

Mark insisted on complimenting, crediting and naming his male and female colleagues, including technical staff, strategic planners, desk, counter and information personnel, and technology specialists who support, analyze and articulate with the other officials and agencies that serve the community. Mark’s dedicated and motivated staff inspires him and ensures team success.

Krupski’s ongoing educational experiences enhance the knowledge base needed to administer a complex and evolving system. An accredited assessor, Mark has taken coursework at the University of Minnesota, Harvard Kennedy School for Executive Education, and Merrimack College in Massachusetts.

The specialties of his colleagues who serve Olmsted County and Minnesota are indicated by Mark’s own experience in residential, commercial and industrial assessing, appraisal, and property taxes. Property records, abstracting, revenue, licensing and elections fall within his and staff purviews, as do vital records, licensing, identification documents, marriage and death certificates, passports, and financial, treasury, auditing and recorder responsibilities.

The responsibilities and deadlines involved put extraordinary pressure on county personnel to operate at high levels of responsibility while guiding clients and customers through the hoops in timely and comfortable fashion. His colleagues articulate with Olmsted County Board commissioners and law enforcement officials, meet tax, license and election deadlines, revenue requirements, Minnesota mandates, coordination with public health, safety, and federal agencies, and comply with inspection and oversight inspections.

Mr. Krupski defined the maintenance customer service, accuracy of records, and staff training, cohesion and morale as his major objectives; and said his competent, motivated colleagues make his job successful and rewarding.

Mark described how he and his colleagues work to accommodate and facilitate the needs of the customers and institutions the county serves. Delinquencies of any kind are responded to with the goal of ameliorating the situation without fines, forfeiture, and civil rights violations. Property owners are encouraged to request property tax re-evaluations.

Real estate services, voter registration, and marriage licenses fall within the mix of county services. Krupski enthusiastically mentioned that a user-friendly information desk is available “to assist and direct Government Center visitors to the services they need,” in matters that include child support payments and avoidance of property foreclosures.

Proper and accurate document services, said Krupski, facilitate “legal, financial and electoral integrity, commerce, travel, and national security.” Mark explained how the collection and distribution of property tax revenues “support our schools, roads, law enforcement, fire departments, parks and recreation, community services,” and other entities and venues.

Mark summarized the customer service mission of the property, records and licensing division by showing me his business card with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi: “Customers are the purpose of our work. We are dependent on them. They give us the opportunity to serve them.”

The next time we have occasion to do business at the Olmsted County Government Center, we can be comfortable knowing Mark Krupski and his colleagues are on duty to pleasantly guide us through the processes of their “community connection” mission.

Tune in every Tuesday and Thursday from 11 to Noon to hear Tom and Andy Brownell during Rochester Today on NewsTalk 1340 KROC-AM.