Dunn County has unassigned fund balance of $14.2 million
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — Dunn County had an unassigned general fund balance of $14,183,972 as of December 31, 2022, according to the audit report presented to the county board.
The unassigned general fund balance represents 56 percent of the general fund expenditures, said David Minch of KerberRose, a Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firm and Dunn County’s auditing firm, at the Dunn County Board’s September 20 meeting.
KerberRose is a new CPA firm conducting the audit in Dunn County. Clifton Larson Allen previously conducted the county’s audits.
Government accounting principles recommended by various auditing firms state that the general fund balance should be maintained at 25 to 33 percent of the general fund operating expenditures.
As of December 31, 2021, Dunn County had an unassigned general fund balance of $13.9 million, representing 60.6 percent of unassigned fund balance to general fund expenditures.
Later on in the September 25 meeting, the county board approved a fiscal policy establishing that at the end of each year, Dunn County’s unassigned general fund balance will be maintained to provide no less than 35 percent and no greater than 50 percent — plus or minus three percent — of the general fund operating expenditures.
Surplus in the unassigned general fund that is over 50 percent of the general fund operating expenditures can be used for capital improvements or capital equipment, can be used to prepay debt service for callable bonds or notes or can be used as a beginning cash balance to support the annual budget to pay the costs of one-time expenditures, according to the ordinance.
The Neighbors
The Neighbors of Dunn County suffered an operating loss in 2022 of a little over $3 million, and there was a transfer of $2.1 million to The Neighbors, Minch said.
In 2021, The Neighbors of Dunn County had a positive year and transferred $1.3 million to the county’s general fund, according to the 2021 audit report.
Highway department
The Dunn County Highway Department had an operating loss of $7.6 million in 2022 that was subsidized by property taxes and grants, Minch said.
The highway department had a net positive position of $1.6 million, he said.
In 2021, the highway department’s unrestricted fund had a deficit of $4.7 million, and in 2020, the unrestricted fund had a deficit of $4.8 million, a deficit of $1.6 million in 2019, and a deficit of $1.3 million in 2018, according to the 2021 audit report.
Debt
Dunn County had general obligation debt of $47.9 million in 2022, Minch said.
During the year, $17.81 million in debt was paid off, leaving the county with a debt of $31.08 million at the end of 2022, he said.
The highway department incurred new debt in 2022 of $2.1 million, Minch said.
Dunn County “is in a good position for the debt limit and is $181 million below the debt limit,” he said.
State law allows municipalities to borrow up to 5 percent of the municipality’s equalized value.
If no new debt occurs, all of Dunn County’s existing debt will be paid off at the end of 2032, Minch said.
In 2021, the county’s general obligation debt limit was $192 million, and Dunn County had 24.4 percent of general obligation debt as a percent of debt limit.
In 2020, the county’s general obligation debt limit was $180 million, and Dunn County had 27.3 percent of general obligation debt as a percent of debt limit.
In 2019, the county’s general obligation debt limit was $168 million, and Dunn County had 23.1 percent of general obligation debt as a percent of debt limit.
Internal service funds
Dunn County’s workers’ compensation fund had a balance of $1,934,967 at the end of 2022, while the county’s health insurance fund had a balance o $3,277,655, Minch said.
The health insurance fund had an increase of $1.6 million, and the workers’ comp fund had a decrease of $619,054, which was transferred to the health insurance fund, he said.
Opinion
KerberRose issued an “unmodified” opinion on the audit of Dunn County’s finances, which is a “clean” opinion and the highest opinion that can be issued, Minch said.
While doing the audit, the accountants ended up making many year-end adjustments, but as time goes on, the number of year-end adjustments is expected to decrease, he said.
Dunn County could make improvements in the area of segregation of duties, Minch said.
KerberRose makes the same recommendation to most of the municipalities for which the company conducts audits because the municipalities do not have enough employees to segregate duties, he said.
Dunn County could have more of a segregation of duties with a reorganization of tasks, he said,
The county could have more internal controls over cash as well, Minch said.
Treasurer’s report
Sifia Jevne, Dunn County treasurer, also presented the treasurer’s annual report for 2022 at the September 25 meeting.
Dunn County had a total of 32,657 parcels in 2022, she said.
The treasurer’s office calculates taxes based on the budgets of the county, the municipalities and the school districts as well as prints all tax bills, Jevne said.
The treasurer’s office collects first installments of property taxes for 13 municipalities and collects second installments for all 30 municipalities. In August, a tax settlement is completed for the school districts in the county as well as Chippewa Valley Technical College, she said.
Top 10 taxpayers
Jevne included a chart in her annual report of the top 10 business taxpayers in Dunn County in 2022.
Here are the top 10:
• Walmart distribution — estimated fair market value of $55,678,200; assessed value of $48,982400; paid property taxes of $917,486 for 2022.
• Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M) estimated fair market value of $37,963,500 assessed value of $33,223,500; paid property taxes of $622,274 for 2022.
• Phillips Plastics — estimated fair market value of $27,403,800; assessed value of $24,104,400; paid property taxes of $451,290 for 2022.
• MW Distribution Property LLC (Private equity firm/industrial real estate) — estimated fair market value of $26,001,400; assessed value of $22,870,800; paid property taxes of $428,388 for 2022.
• Cardinal Glass — estimated fair market value of $18,745,000; assessed value of $16,488,100; paid property taxes of $308,820 for 2022.
• Westconsin Credit Union — estimated fair market value of $12,861,400; assessed value of $11,313,000; paid property taxes of $211,669 for 2022.
• Conagra (Swiss Miss) — estimated fair market value of $12,681,900; assessed value of $11,099,600; paid property taxes of $207,826 for 2022.
• Big River Resources (ethanol plant in the Town of Hay River) — estimated fair market value of $100,743,700; assessed value of $10,732,300; paid property taxes of $203,136 for 2022.
• GATW (Bill’s Distributing) — estimated fair market value of $12,108,900; assessed value of $10,650,900; paid property taxes of $199,472 for 2022.
• Chippewa Valley Warehouse (food grade storage and distribution) — estimated fair market value of $11,363,400; assessed value of $9,995,200; paid property taxes of $187,188 for 2022.
Larry Bjork, county board supervisor from Menomonie, pointed out that a certain number of the top 10 taxpaying businesses are located in the vicinity of Exit 45/county Highway B and provide a good reason why it is necessary to reconstruct Highway B and make improvements to the road.
The northern portion of the Highway B project in the area of Exit 45 is expected to cost $4 million, with $1 million being reimbursed by the state of Wisconsin.
