Mayors Ask For Portion of Dodge County Sales Tax
9/17/15 – Efforts continue to have Dodge County share a portion of its half-percent sales tax. A shared revenue proposal is being championed by Rebecca Glewen of Beaver Dam who has enlisted mayors from throughout the county to lobby for a portion of the annual income, estimated at $4.3-million this year. In a presentation to the county board this week, Glewen framed her argument as a quality-of-life issue saying that communities in the county are strapped for cash. If local communities had an additional revenue stream for beautification projects and infrastructure upgrades, Glewen argues it would attract more young couples to Dodge County, strengthening its tax base. She notes that state statute allows counties with the additional sales tax to distribute all or part to local municipalities and touted revolving loan programs in Fond du Lac and Washington counties using their excess sales tax revenues. County Administrator Jim Mielke says it’s too late for this year’s budget. The county board on Tuesday adopted a financial plan for the 2016 budget that not only uses all of the projected revenue from the sales tax this year but also any surplus revenues in the account that had accumulated over previous years. While it may be too late to tap into this year’s sales tax revenue, the matter could be built into the 2017 budget assuming there is a successful vote by the county board. For the resolution to be brought forward, it would require the support of at least one county board supervisor. The half-percent sales tax was put in place two decades ago specifically to pay for the county jail but the scope of use was expanded in recent years to allow for general county projects.
Fond du Lac County Board Approves Revolving Loan
9/17/15 – Fond du Lac County supervisors this week unanimously approved moving $175,000 in county sales tax funds into a revolving loan fund. The money administered by the Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corporation will be part of a $425,000 loan that will go to developer Tom Rogers, who is redeveloping properties in downtown Ripon. A hotel is among the plans.
Walker Attacks Trump, TV Time Still Limited
9/17/15 – Governor Scott Walker questions Donald Trump’s business record during the second debate among Republican presidential candidates. Eleven of the 16 G-O-P hopefuls squared off at the Reagan Library near Los Angeles. Walker promised to be more aggressive than in the first debate a few weeks ago — and he was. Trump, the G-O-P front-runner at the moment, again challenged Walker’s fiscal record in Wisconsin. Walker responded by saying, “You want to talk about balanced budgets? You took four major projects into bankruptcy over and over and over again. You can’t take America into bankruptcy.” Trump replied that he catapulted into the Republican lead once voters in Iowa learned “the true facts” of the job Walker has done in the state. Walker again had limited T-V time compared to the others.
Wisconsinites Without Health Coverage Drops
9/17/15 – The percentage of Wisconsinites without health coverage dropped by one-point-eight percent last year, the first full year of Obamacare signups. The U-S Census Bureau says about 100-thousand more Badger State residents were covered, compared to 2013. Seven-point-three percent of Wisconsinites were not insured. Jon Peacock of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families calls it an “impressive gain,” but there’s still a long way to go. The Census Bureau says about 418-thousand Wisconsin residents were uninsured at some point in 2014.
BDUSD Fund Balance Below Amount Outlined In Policy
9/17/15 – The Beaver Dam School District may have to increase the amount of money in its general fund. Director of Business Services Bob Avery says Beaver Dam’s general fund balance of $3.3-million dollars represents nine-percent (9%) of the district’s $36-million dollars in assets. Current board policy dictates that the fund balance should be at 15-percent. Avery is recommending that the district move forward with a plan to bring the fund balance up to 15-percent, or roughly $5.4-million dollars. His plan would set aside one-percent of its total budget for the next seven years. The Department of Public Instruction has no guidelines when it comes to fund balance minimums. Avery says there are several advantages to being at 15-percent as it impacts how much the district has to borrow for cash flow purposes, which could lower interest expenses. In addition, not having the fund balance at 15-percent as outlined in district policy recently resulted, in part, to a lower bond rating from Moody’s Investment Services. Diverting one-percent of the district budget to the fund balance could have a direct impact on classrooms. Superintendent Steven Vessey says a more prudent approach may be for the school board to just to change the policy, which is only five years old.
Columbus Schools Laptop Initiative Powering Up
9/17/15 – The Columbus School District is close to achieving its goal of providing a laptop to every third through 12th grade student. This is the first year of the initiative called “One-to-World” and it is now in its third week of operation. All but 50 students have been issued their own lap top computer. Technology Manager Chet Bembenek reported that only one student computer has been turned in for repair after being dropped. There have been only a few instances where students or parents refused to accept the lap top devices. Students and teachers in all three Columbus schools will be learning how to get the most out of the new technology now that distribution nears completion.
Fox Lake Utilities Director Resigns
9/17/15 – There are going to be some changes to the way the Fox Lake Utility Department is structured. That stems from current Utilities Director Kip Peters resigning to become the Utilities Manager in the City of Hudson. Friday will be his last day. City Administrator Gary Rogers says the department will be reorganized where public works director Geno Huettner will oversee the utilities department. A utility supervisor position is being created to oversee the utility and report to the public works director. Rogers says Utility Operator Brad Ruenger who has been with the city for roughly two decades will be promoted to utility supervisor. The city will be creating one new position, a utility technician, who will work under the utility supervisor. That job will be posted shortly and its tasks include meter reading and flushing hydrants.
North Fond du Lac Fire Chief Arrested For Bilking Elderly
9/17/15 – North Fond du Lac’s Fire Chief and EMS Director is in the Fond du Lac County Jail wanted for allegedly stealing nearly $48-thousand dollars from an elderly aunt in Pennsylvania. Village Police took Richard Zmuda into custody on a warrant Wednesday. A complaint was filed in Pennsylvania Wednesday. It alleges he deceived an elderly aunt into believing he was investing money from an insurance policy for her. Zmuda joined the Village Fire Department last month coming from Bradford, Pennsylvania.
Hartford Man Facing Child Porn Charges
9/17/15 – A 30-year-old Hartford man has been charged with 15 counts of Possessing Child Pornography. Cory Bonlender made his initial appearance in Washington County Court this week. Bond was set at $3,000 cash and a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for October 7th. Sheriff’s officials say a search warrant was executed at his residence last year in the Town of Addison. The investigation turned up hundreds of images and video of child pornography on his computers and cell phone.
Suspicious Package Turned Out To Be Spoiled Meat
9/17/15 – A suspicious package in Superior turned out to have spoiled meat. Superior High School and two dorms on the U-W campus were evacuated early yesterday afternoon. That’s when the package was found, wrapped in a newspaper, on top of a sewer-cover near the Ross dormitory. A bomb squad checked out the package. Road closings and evacuations ended around 8:15am, once it was determined the item had no explosives. Surveillance camera footage identified the person who left the package. Officials say it had meat that was left in a car, and was about to spoil.
