By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — The Dunn County Board has postponed a vote until July 29 on authorizing a referendum question on the fall ballot for the solid waste and recycling division asking for $1 million recurring for five years.
Changes in state law, along with trying to obtain the county’s property valuation and mill rate numbers, means there are no figures to present on the impact of a referendum, said Nick Lange, corporation counsel, at the Dunn County Board’s June 17 meeting.
Postponing until the July 29 county board meeting will allow for further legal research and time to establish a tax levy and dollar figures for the referendum question, he said.
The law says to use the best available information for the referendum question, “but we have none,” Lange said.
If the vote is postponed until July 29, there is still time to get the referendum question on the November ballot, said David Bartlett, county board supervisor from Boyceville and chair of the county board.
Is there a cost associated with distributing information to voters about the referendum? asked Carl Vandermeulen, county board supervisor from Menomonie.
There will be a cost to promote the referendum and a cost for putting the question on the ballot, said Paul Miller, county manager.
Money is in the Dunn County Solid Waste and Recycling Division’s budget for the referendum, he said.
The proposed referendum question on the fall ballot would ask voters to approve $1 million per year for five years to fund capital improvements for solid waste and recycling.
The solid waste and recycling division had a $330,000 deficit this year, but the county board at the May meeting approved loaning $330,000 to solid waste and recycling from the county’s general fund.
Capital improvements for facilities and equipment are expected to cost $10 million to $12 million.
