Dunn County’s proposed $78.4 million budget uses $1.17 million of general fund balance
By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — Dunn County’s proposed $78.4 million budget for 2017 uses $1.17 million of the county’s general fund to balance the budget.
The general fund balance going toward the 2017 budget is more than has been used in the past, said Tonya Kusmirek, Dunn County’s chief financial officer, at the Dunn County Board’s October 19 meeting.
Using $1.17 million of the county’s savings account to balance the budget is not sustainable, she said.
Kusmirek said she is planning to hold workshops in January to begin working on the 2018 budget.
The proposed budget of $78.4 million for 2017 compares to the amended budget of $77.69 million for 2016, representing a .77 percent increase.
According to budget information presented to the county board, all together, the proposed 2017 budget uses $3.24 million of fund balance.
The planned use of the public works fund balance for capital projects in the highway division will use $2.02 million.
The planned use of public works fund balance also will use $6,324 for bridge aids.
The highway department has a healthy fund balance, so asking the highway department to use part of the fund balance to reduce the levy request was appropriate, said Steve Rasmussen, county board supervisor from Boyceville and chair of the county board.
The highway department is requesting $13.5 million in appropriations for 2017.
The tax levy request for the highway department is $5 million.
“We all have to work together to make (the budget) sustainable,” Rasmussen said.
Out of the planned use of the public works fund balance, another $45,000 will go for improvements to the Dunn County jail.
Appropriations
Other appropriation requests for 2017 include $1.21 million for emergency communications; $1.5 million for environmental services; $1.3 million for public health; $6.6 million for the sheriff’s department; $2.7 million for solid waste; $3.9 million for debt service; $10.22 million for human services; $14.5 million for The Neighbors of Dunn County; $2.2 for facilities and parks; and $8 million for health insurance.
According to the budget information presented to the county board, of the $1.17 million in general fund balance that will be used, The Neighbors will need $478,000.
This is the first year that the budget contains long-term debt for The Neighbors, noted Dave Bartlett, county board supervisor from Boyceville.
Prior to this, debt payments for The Neighbors were not part of the tax levy.
In the past, Dunn County has not maximized the state’s levy limit for long-term debt, Kusmirek said.
Even if The Neighbors were breaking even, Kusmirek said she would recommend maximizing the levy calculations to accommodate debt for The Neighbors.
If the county does not levy to the limit one year and is under the levy limit for that year, the county cannot then go over the levy limit the next year to make up difference, said Gary Stene, county board supervisor from Colfax.
Concerning the state-imposed revenue limits that were put into place in 1993, municipalities “are not rewarded for running a good ship,” Stene said.
“At the town, village and county level, you are foolish not to take the levy limit,” he said.
Neighbors
Rasmussen, who is the chair of The Neighbors committee, reported that a company out of LaCrosse has been hired to develop a marketing plan for the facility.
The marketing plan will be intended to increase The Neighbors’ census so the facility has more residents, he said.
The Neighbors also will be contracting with a food service provider instead of making meals in-house for the residents, Rasmussen said.
So far this year, The Neighbors has lost about $500,000, he noted.
Dunn County will continue to lobby the state Legislature for improved Medicaid rates, Rasmussen said.
Part of the financial problems for The Neighbors is that Wisconsin has the lowest Medicaid reimbursement rate in the nation for skilled nursing facilities, he said.
“Wisconsin is dead last on Medicaid reimbursements,” Rasmussen said.
Another part of the facility’s financial problems is related to the number of the residents and the “mix” of residents among Medicaid, Medicare and private pay, he said.
The Neighbors has recently reduced the facility’s daily rate by $15 to compete with other facilities in the area, Rasmussen said, noting that the facility is on target for the number of private pay residents.
Tax levy
The proposed tax levy of $21.591 million for the 2017 budget that will be used to calculate the mill rate represents a $695,583 increase over 2016, or in other words, a 3.4 percent increase.
The 2016 tax levy was $20.895 million.
Equalized value in the county has increased by $99.9 million, representing a 3.63 percent increase.
Equalized value for 2017 is $2,851,932,600, compared to an equalized value for 2016 of $2,751,987,300.
The mill rate for 2017 is expected to decrease by two cents per $1,000 of property value, going from $7.59 for the 2016 budget to $7.57 for the 2017 budget. (When the equalized value increases, the mill rate decreases.)
The Dunn County Board will hold a public hearing on the 2017 budget Tuesday, November 15, at 7 p.m. in the county board room at the Dunn County Government Center on Wilson Avenue.
