Local municipalities seldom get federal or state grants with no strings attached regarding how the money can be spent.
That is not the case with a $200,000 windfall from the Wisconsin Department of Administration. The same amount of money was given to each Wisconsin county with a Native American tribe in its boundaries.
Shawano County departments were asked to submit requests for the funds, and those totaled $385,000.
At the May 20 executive committee meeting, supervisors reviewed the requests and opted to spend $170,000 and keep the remainder in reserve.
Nichole Zuehl, finance director, noted the four-week trial of Michael Ingold put the district attorney and clerk of courts offices over budget for the year, so there was a request to bring those budgets back in line.
However, several supervisors said they preferred the grant be used for one-time expenses rather than salaries or budget overruns.
“I’d rather spend this money on more material things than covering budgets and stuff,” Supervisor Randy Young said.
Later, Chairman Tom Kautza brought up the recent severe flooding and its effect on the county. No requests were made for these expenses.
“Do we give $5,000 or $10,000 to the highway department for their budget overrun from the last storm?” he asked. “That was three days straight, and that had to put an awful hole (in their budget).”
Sheriff’s Lt. Chris Madle, the emergency management director, said that amount could be included in the county’s overall request for state disaster aid funds.
“For fairness, looking at other departments being over budget, then you also have to take in consideration the other departments that were mentioned about being over budget because of the jury trial,” said Julie Hasser, human resources director and interim administrative coordinator.
“I wonder if we should hold off until the end of the year to see how bad we’re over budget on some of these,” added Supervisor Kathy Luebke.
Expenses approved were:
• $15,000 for a new audio system at the county park pavilion.
• $4,750 for the treasurer’s office for testing and email notification software.
• $10,000 for code enforcement software in the planning, development and zoning office.
• $53,000 for a new rescue boat for the sheriff’s department. The money will be reimbursed by the Department of Natural Resources over a five-year period.
• $5,000 for an industrial paper shredder for the register in probate.
• $5,000 toward a library fundraising feasibility study.
• $15,000 for human resources to transfer from the old to a new, more efficient and cost-effective management system.
• $30,000 for two backup generators at 911 towers.
• $6,600 for a mortuary lift and $750 for a stretcher for the coroner.
• $4,900 for mobile screens and carts for the library to be used for video presentations.
• $20,000 for two years of well testing in the northwest corner of the county and around the Stockbridge-Munsee area.
The remaining $30,000 will be kept for emergencies or other unplanned expenses. There is no end date on when the money has to be spent.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
