FARGO (KFGO) - More discusssion, sometimes sharp, at Monday night's Fargo City Commission meeting over the cost of resettling refugees.
Commissioner Dave Piepkorn has questioned that cost for weeks, saying an audit of Lutheran Social Services, the non-profit agency that handles refugee placement, shows the local cost is about $4 million, significantly more than what local officials had said earlier. and he has a problem with that.
He said because local government has no say in the resettlement,"it's like having the fox guarding the hen house, L-S-S determines the number of refugees and the more refugees they get the more money they make." He also said the issue would soon be in the hands of the state legislature.
Other commissioners disagreed with Piepkorn. Tony Grindberg said the federal government decides the quota, not L-S-S. Grindberg, a former state senator, also said issues with resettlement would be handled by congress and not the legislature.
Commissioner John Strand said the nearly $4 million spent yearly on refugee resettlement are federal dollars and not a local cost, something Piepkorn has not mentioned. Strand also took issue with Piepkorn's continued criticism of Luthern Social Services. Piepkorn said he has no intention of backing down and will continue to ask questions.
Fargo's Human Rights Commission has been assigned to investigate the resettlement costs and should be allowed to complete its work before any more judgements are made about the program.