Without DC funding, Dunn County Economic Development Corp. will likely cease operations
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — Without funding in Dunn County’s 2022 budget, the Dunn County Economic Development Corporation will likely cease operations at the end of December.
Bob Bossany, executive director of DCEDC, presented a request for $78,000 in funding at the Dunn County Community Resources and Tourism committee’s August 9 meeting.
DCEDC also receives funding from the City of Menomonie, villages in the county and some businesses.
“Without county support, Dunn County Economic Development will cease to exist. It will go away at the end of this year,” Bossany told the committee.
This has been a tough year for economic development. Because of inflation in the construction industry, companies are putting projects on the back burner, he said, noting that he has been working with a software company, a medical supplies company and a large manufacturing company.
If the large manufacturing company locates in Dunn County, “that will put Dunn County on the map,” Bossany said.
Dunn County is the largest contributor to the DCEDC budget, said James Anderson, county board supervisor from Menomonie and chair of the Community Resources and Tourism Committee.
According to a report provided at the last community resources and tourism meeting by Gary Stene, county board supervisor from Colfax, Dunn County Economic Development was started in 1991 by the executive committee of the county board at $3 per county resident for a total budget of $45,000, Anderson said.
DCEDC’s request for $78,000 is $1.80 per capita, he said.
Jim Zons, county board supervisor from Colfax and a member of the CRT committee, said he was concerned that if the committee recommended funding Dunn County Economic Development that the money would be stripped out of the budget by the executive committee “like it did last time.”
Dunn County is facing another dire budget situation, and the county board’s hands are tied thanks to the state legislature not allowing an increase for the tax levy limits, he said.
Zons said the CRT committee is in the position of trying to figure out how to move the funding request forward and wondering if the amount will change in spite of what the committee votes.
“That is exactly what happened last year, and yes, that’s a possibility,” Anderson said.
Budget
If the committees do not come up with savings in the 2022 budget over last year, then the chief financial officer and the county manager will have to remove items from the budget to make a balanced budget, said David Bartlett, county board supervisor from Boyceville and chair of the Dunn County Board.
During the budget process in Dunn County, departments put together their budget requests for a preliminary budget, and then the Dunn County Board reviews the preliminary budget in July.
After that, the committees overseeing the departments make adjustments to the budget, and the adjusted budget is sent to the executive committee to make more adjustments. If the executive committee cannot balance the budget, then county administration makes adjustments until the budget is balanced.
The county board reviews the balanced budget in October and approves the budget and adopts the tax levy in November.
The tax levy for the preliminary budget reviewed by the county board in July is $2.7 million over the state-imposed levy limit.
If every committee passes the budget as presented, there will be cuts to get a balanced budget, Bartlett said, with an emphasis on “will.”
If the county board decides economic development is important, the county board can add in the $78,000, but that’s adding $78,000 to the budget, and something else will have to be removed from the budget to make up the difference, he said.
The last couple of years, the committees have said “yes” to budget requests from their departments, and then in the proposed balanced budget, the committees discover “things were cut they don’t want cut, but there’s only so much money go around,” Bartlett said.
Walmart
Dunn County should fully fund economic development in Dunn County, said Larry Bjork, county board supervisor from Menomonie and a member of the CRT committee.
Walmart Distribution is the biggest taxpayer in Dunn County, and not only does Walmart Distribution pay property taxes, but the people who work there also pay taxes and spend money to support the local economy, he said.
The money spent to bring Walmart Distribution to Dunn County was “money well spent,” Bjork said.
In 2019, Walmart Distribution paid $997,252 in taxes, followed by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M) at $735,994, while Phillips Plastic paid $671,900.
Also included in the top 10 taxpayers are WI MN AB Biynah LLC (private equity firm/industrial real estate), Cardinal Glass, Juul Labs, Big River Resources (ethanol plant), Conagra (Swiss Miss), Andersen Menomonie (windows) and Chippewa Valley Warehouse (manufacturing).
Agenda
The Community Resources and Tourism committee’s support for Dunn County Economic Development only gets DCEDC “on the agenda,” Anderson said.
If CRT does not support Dunn County Economic Development, then it will not even be part of the budget discussion, he said.
It is important for the Dunn County Board to discuss support for DCEDC, and Dunn County must be the lead on the funding, Anderson said.
If CRT moves forward with a request for economic development, “it will be facing strong scrutiny, but if it is not moved forward, it will not even be part of the discussion,” he said.
The CRT committee should be in support, but maybe for a smaller amount, Zons said, adding that he is in favor of having an economic development corporation that is looking out for all of Dunn County rather than only looking out for Menomonie.
The Greater Menomonie Development Corporation is focused on economic development for the City of Menomonie.
Tom Quinn, county board supervisor from Downing and a member of the CRT committee, said he was leaning toward the idea that it is appropriate to move forward with support but that he “was nervous” about the amount.
Dunn County Economic Development may need to find other sources for funding, he said.
Motions
The consensus seems to be that the CRT committee wants to support Dunn County Economic Development, but committee members are concerned about the amount, Anderson said.
Bjork offered a motion that the Community Resources and Tourism committee supports the Dunn County Economic Development Corporation request for funding at $75,000.
The motion died for the lack of a second.
Bjork then offered a motion that the Community Resources and Tourism committee supports the Dunn County Economic Development Corporation request for funding at $65,000, but that motion also did not receive a second.
Dunn County is the major contributor to the Dunn County Economic Development Corporation, and Menomonie is the second biggest contributor, Anderson said.
Menomonie and the other municipalities will not support DCEDC until they see what Dunn County is willing to do, he said.
The other municipalities say they cannot do it alone without Dunn County, Anderson said.
Bossany said he had talked with the mayor of Menomonie and the city manager and that both of them had said if Dunn County supports Dunn County Economic Development, then Menomonie will provide support as well.
Bjork offered another motion that the Community Resources and Tourism committee supports the Dunn County Economic Development Corporation request for funding at $55,000, which did eventually receive a second after Zons offered an amendment to change the motion to “up to” $55,000.
The Community Resources and Tourism committee unanimously approved a motion, as a recommendation, that Dunn County support the Dunn County Economic Development Corporation up to $55,000.
Anderson said he supported the motion, and that although the amount was not enough, CRT’s support will “get it on the table” for discussion.
Bossany thanked the committee for their consideration and the opportunity to move forward on the discussion of funding for the Dunn County Economic Development Corporation.
