DC Board covers needs for increased funding with state legislators
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — From increased pay for assistant district attorneys to more money for CNA and nursing programs to more funding for roads, the Dunn County Board has covered a wide variety of topics with area state legislators.
State Senators Jeff Smith (D-Eau Claire) (District 31), Jesse James (R-Altoona) (District 23), and Rob Stafsholt (R-New Richmond) (District 10), along with state Representatives Clint Moses (R-Menomonie) (Assembly District 20), and Rob Summerfield (R-Bloomer) (Assembly District 67) attended a meeting with the Dunn County Board February 6.
The county board has been hosting meetings with state legislators to talk about county issues and legislative priorities for the past five or six years.
ADAs
Assistant district attorneys are the backbone of the justice system to prosecute cases in all 72 counties, said John Calabrese, county board supervisor from Menomonie and chair of the judiciary and law committee.
The entry level pay provided by the state of Wisconsin in 2022 was $26.70 per hour or $55,536 per year, he said.
The rate of pay for ADAs has not kept up with inflation, the national average pay for ADAs or with pay for private sector attorneys, resulting in staff turnover that endangers public safety, Calabrese said.
There has been an increase in cases and an increase in complex felony cases such as sexual assault of children and adults, dealers who sell methamphetamine, battery, homicide and crimes committed online, increasing the need for ADAs, he said.
Child support
Dunn County is asking for an increase of $5 million in general purpose revenue statewide for the child support agencies for 2023-2025, Calabrese said.
For every $1 spent in state funding, Wisconsin receives $2 in federal funding, he said.
Dunn County child support services collected $5.4 million last year and had 1,850 filed cases, with 465 cases per manager, Calabrese said.
Wisconsin is falling in the national ranking for child support collected and was second in the nation in 2016 but was sixth in 2021, he said.
Last fall, the Dunn County Board approved a resolution asking the state Legislature for $5 million more statewide for child support agencies, he noted.
Child welfare services
The goal of the human services department is to serve the most vulnerable without causing more harm, said Diane Morehouse, county board supervisor from Menomonie and chair of the Dunn County Health and Human Services Board.
The health and human services board oversees the health and human services department, veterans’ services and the department of public health, she noted.
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The goal of child welfare services is to keep families together when possible, and the state allocation has not been keeping up with the cost increases, Morehouse said.
The health and human services board is asking for a $20 million increase statewide for counties, she said.
There is also an increasing elderly population, and the health and human services board is asking for a $32 million increase in funding statewide for Aging and Disability Resource Centers to keep pace with expanding needs and mandated services, Morehouse said.
Public health
The state Legislature must also preserve the statutory authority of the public health department over communicable diseases to control outbreaks, Morehouse said.
Health and human services is asking for a $36 million increase in funding statewide for staffing to investigate and mitigate communicable diseases, she said.
Veterans’ services
Inflationary increases have affected the veterans’ service offices, Morehouse said.
The $1,000 grant from the state helps with the work of outreach to veterans and other services, but it is not enough, she said.
The health and human services board is asking for the state Legislature to support federal legislation for federal funding for veterans’ service offices. The federal government has never provided funding for veterans’ service offices, Morehouse said.
A bill was passed in the U. S. House of Representatives on December 1, 2022, and was read in the U.S. Senate December 5, and the health and human services board is asking for support for the federal legislation, she said,
Land and water
The Dunn County Planning, Resources and Development Committee has a long list of items that are difficult to prioritize, said Tom Quinn, county board supervisor from Downing and chair of the PR&D committee.
One area is for the state to provide the full funding for local land conservation staffing that is included in state statutes, which would amount to $18.7 million statewide for county conservation funding, he said.
Over the next five years, $3 billion in federal funding will become available for new conservation programs, and counties will need professional support to take advantage of this historic opportunity, he said.
Water quality
There is a need for a statewide water quality program, Quinn said.
Dunn County has one-time funding for water quality testing to obtain a baseline, but additional funding is needed to continue the program, he said.
Already 800 residents have volunteered to have their wells tested, but additional funding is needed for continued monitoring, Quinn said.
Real estate fees
The PR&D committee also oversees the Register of Deeds office, Quinn said.
Counties retain a small portion of real estate transfer fees but should be receiving a larger portion, he said.
In 1969, the state mandated the fee rate of $1 per $1,000 of property value, and 50 percent went to the county and 50 percent went to the state, Quinn said.
In 1981, the fee was increased to $3 per $1,000 of property value, and the apportionment was changed to 80 percent for the state and 20 percent for the counties, he said.
In 2022, Dunn County generated $804,796 in transfer fees, Quinn said.
Over the last five years, Dunn County has lost $1,181,000 in revenue on the 80-20 division of real estate transfer fees, he said.
County budgets are strained, and Dunn County is not asking for an increase in fees, only a different allocation, Quinn said.
Lake districts
In the last six months, Dunn County has been following the process of creating a lake district, Quinn said.
The PR&D committee is asking for absentee voting for the annual meetings of the lake districts where projects and tax levies are approved, he said.
Citizens have questioned the state only allowing in-person voting and want proxy or absentee voting, Quinn said.
The Neighbors
The Neighbors of Dunn County is one of 36 county nursing homes in the state, said Michael Kneer, county board supervisor from Menomonie and chair of The Neighbors of Dunn County Committee.
The committee has three requests, he said.
There are not enough Certified Nursing Assistants, and the state should provide more funding to the technical colleges and universities for nursing and CNA programs, Kneer said.
The state also should expand nursing programs since only six of the 13 University of Wisconsin campuses offer nursing programs, he said.
The universities have a waiting list for programs, and if people do not get into the programs, they do something else and likely do not come back to the nursing program, Kneer said.
There also is still a need for increased Medicaid reimbursement rates for long-term care and to provide additional wages to nursing home workers, he said.
Facilities are experiencing problems with admitting more residents or with staying open because they do not have enough people to work. Long-term care facilities need to be able to pay competitive wages, Kneer said.
The cost of hiring traveling nurses and CNAs to cover the lack of staffing increased by 300 percent from 2021 to 2022, he said.
Tourism
More state funds are needed to support agricultural tourism, said Jim Zons, county board supervisor from Colfax and chair of the Dunn County Community Resources and Tourism Committee.
There are economic development opportunities for farm tours, museums, wedding barns and other activities, he said.
More money to support agricultural tourism would be a smart investment in the rural economy, Zons said.
Broadband
The state Legislature should support increased funding for rural broadband expansion, Zons said.
Last year, 71 grants were awarded to expand broadband for $125 million, he said.
In the next five years, $42 billion will be available in federal funding for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program (BEAD), with $1.2 billion for Wisconsin, he said.
The state should continue to support grants by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin and also federal funding to support broadband expansion, Zons said.
Levy limits
Current state law imposes levy limits on municipalities, said Gary Stene, county board supervisor from Colfax and vice-chair of the Dunn County Board.
Tax levy increases are limited to net new construction. In the last 10 years, Dunn County has had a 1.3 percent increase in net new construction but an inflation increase of 2.5 percent, he said, noting that last year, inflation was 8.6 percent.
Counties have had to absorb the increase in costs without enough increase in revenue, so they have depleted their reserve accounts or have had to do additional borrowing, Stene said.
Because of the levy limit law, fast growing areas can invest in more infrastructure and provide more services for their residents, while areas with low growth have stagnated, he said.
In counties with low growth, to do more of one thing, they need to do less of something else, Stene said.
Dunn County is asking for more exemptions for unfunded state mandates and is asking for counties to be able to increase the tax levy by the net new construction and by the increase in the Consumer Price Index for the region where the county is located, he said.
In addition, counties should be allowed to impose up to a 1 percent sales tax, Stene said.
Fuel tax
The fuel tax for gasoline and diesel fuel has stayed flat at 30.9 cents per gallon since 2006, said Kristin Korpela, county manager, who was speaking on behalf of the highway committee.
New alternatives are needed because of declines in fuel tax revenue due to an increase fuel economy and the use of hybrid and electric vehicles, she said.
Because of the pandemic, more people are working from home, resulting in a decline in work trips, Korpela noted.
A mile-based fee should be implemented, along with a highway use fee for new vehicles, and there should be a toll charge implemented for the interstate system, along with a flat annual surcharge for electric vehicles, she said.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will provide $1.1 billion over the next five years, resulting in an increase for Wisconsin by 25 percent in federal funds, Korpela said.
There has been a disinvestment in roads for smaller counties and municipalities. In Wisconsin, 45 percent of the roads are in poor or mediocre condition, she said.
Bad roads cost state residents an average of $733 per driver per year for repairs, increased depreciation on vehicles and increased fuel consumption, Korpela said.
Sen. Smith
“It is not news to most of us that counties continue to struggle with funding,” Senator Smith said.
Counties administer priorities for the state and are a good example of unfunded mandates, he said.
The state has a $7 billion surplus, so $5 million for assistant district attorneys should not be difficult politically, Senator Smith said.
In water quality testing, PFAS [also referred to as “forever chemicals”] should be included, and all wells should be tested so people know what is in their water, and resources should be provided to fix those wells, he said.
Farmers should be supported in land use because they want to protect the soil and water. Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) give farmers a black eye because sometimes they are long-distance franchise operations, Senator Smith said.
Wisconsin should accept the $1.6 billion in federal funding for Medicaid expansion, but unfortunately it has become a political football, he said.
Mental health services must be increased and should be a centerpiece for all schools and veterans’ service offices, Senator Smith said, noting that Governor Evers has declared this year “the year of mental health.”
Nursing homes need more CNAs and nurses, but to have more nursing programs, more nursing educators are needed, and the salaries for nursing educators must be increased so that they are paid at the same level as a medical facility, he said, noting that nurses spend significant time and money to earn the PhDs that qualify them to be nurse educators.
The payback would be more CNAs and nurses, and we are all going to need them as we grow older, Senator Smith said.
Nursing programs cannot be expanded in the UW system because the existing positions for nurse educators cannot be filled, he said.
Broadband expansion is essential because “no one is connected unless everyone is connected,” Senator Smith said.
Broadband must be a public and private investment that is considered a utility, he said.
As for levy limits, what business does the state Legislature have in placing levy limits on local elected officials, who are elected to make decisions for their friends and neighbors, who also are the same people who elect state legislators, Senator Smith said.
The levy limits should be raised or eliminated, and democracy should be allowed to work, he said.
The governor has proposed using 20 percent of the state sales tax as state-shared revenue for municipalities, Senator Smith noted.
In 2005-2006, the Legislature stopped increasing the gas tax, but the state must also move in a different direction to replace the gas tax, he said.
Tourism is taken for granted in Wisconsin, and Wisconsin does not invest in tourism like surrounding states, Senator Smith said.
“We are getting beaten badly (in marketing tourism),” he said.
“We are not doing enough to encourage people to come to Wisconsin,” Senator Smith said.
Rep. Moses
Representative Moses noted that he has lived in Menomonie his whole life, that he has a chiropractic practice and that he is the new chair of the Health, Aging and Long-term Care Committee.
Sen. James
Senator James said he is from Altoona, that he is a senator in the senate district in which Kathy Bernier was senator, that he has a law enforcement background and that he had served four years as a state representative.
He noted that he is the new chair of the Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Substance Use Prevention and Children and Families Committee.
The mental health crisis must be addressed so that those who abuse substances are less likely to abandon or hurt their families, Senator James said.
“I know we can do better as a state,” he said.
Rep. Summerfield
Representative Summerfield said it was a good dialogue with the Dunn County Board and that there is “lots of work we can agree on” and that he is optimistic about shared revenue.
There is a need for transformational funding, and not just funding for Madison and Milwaukee, but for rural areas, he said.
Representative Summerfield previously served as chair of the broadband committee and said he was optimistic about broadband expansion in the state.
Sen. Stafsholt
Senator Stafsholt acknowledged there is a need for increased funding for assistant district attorneys and said he was curious to see how the increased funding for nursing homes had already helped.
Regarding agricultural tourism, Senator Stafsholt said he had introduced a bill to allow camping for up to three nights for three occurrences per year for farms.
Some county zoning will not allow that kind of camping, so he said he would be interested to see how how county zoning would affect the proposal for camping on farms.
As for transportation funding, there is, as expected, a divide between Republicans and Democrats, but there is often a bigger divide between rural and urban, Senator Stafsholt said.
There is usually an argument among state Legislators about funding mega projects in southeastern Wisconsin at the expense of transportation funding for rural areas and towns, he said.
