Category: Budget
-
Marathon County 2025 Budget: Vote No on Amendment 1
The goals and purpose of Amendment 1 could be discussed and decided on after the budget process and could be easily implemented with out an additional tax increase using funds already included in the 2025 Budget Proposal. Administrator Leonhard and County Staff have prepared and provided a very good 2025 Budget Proposal. The proposal follows…
-
Marathon County Finance Director Palmer is Retiring
Administrator Leonhard announced Finance Director Kristi Palmer’s retirement at the May 16th, 2024 Executive Committee meeting. Director Palmer served Marathon County for 23 years.
-
Does Continued Failure to Provide Timely Financial Statements Expose the County to Legal Liability?
I was recently asked by a current Marathon County Board Supervisor if I felt that the County’s continuing failure to provide timely financial statements exposes either the County or members of the Board to potential liability. Since I am not an attorney and don’t know the answer to the question, I am posing the question…
-
2+ Years, Multiple Missed Promised Dates, Still No Monthly County Financial Statements
In my opinion, at this point, it is probably a reasonable question to ask what else is being hidden? October 14th, 2022 Email September 19th-20th, 2023 Emails Supervisor Lemmer Again Requests Monthly Financial Statements, 2/7/24
-
County Administration Commits to Key Audit Change to Improve Financial Reporting Transparency
I want to publicly thank Administrator Lance Leonhard and Finance Director Kristi Palmer for committing to move forward with providing an Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) as part of the audit of the 2023 County Financial Reports. As I explained in an earlier post, the recent rapid rise in County Fund Balances seems to coincide…
-
An Open Letter to Kronenwetter District 23 Residents
Graphs Additional Information
-
Marathon County Fund Balances Increased by $26.9 Million or 46% in 4 Years.
I was asked to put together a graph showing the aggregate change in the Fund Balances that may have previously qualified to be included in the CIP Rollover Program. As I explained in a earlier post, the previous (or current??) CIP Policy seems to be vague and ambiguous as to which Funds should actually be…
-
Marathon County Board passes 5.7%, $3.1 million tax increase, largest percentage tax increase in 14 years
The Marathon County Board adopted a 2024 property tax levy of $57,954,347, which is an increase of $3,115,687 or 5.68% over the 2023 property tax levy of $54,838,660. This is the largest increase in the Marathon County part of the property tax bill on a percentage basis in at least the last 14 years, based…
-
County Highway Fund Unrestricted Net Position grew from $36,584,660 in 2017 to $54,318,896 in 2022
The rapid growth and significant balance in the County Highway Unrestricted Net Position raises questions regarding the justification for the County Wheel Tax, the justification for voting down the proposed $1,500,000 reduction in the 2024 property tax increase, and the justification for plans to borrow $58,625,000 for a new Highway Facility. These topics will be…
-
No Library Resolution this Evening
I have decided not to propose my Library Resolution this evening. The resolution would have increased the 2024 Library tax levy by $220,535 compared to the 2023 library tax levy and would have fully funded the 2024 Library Budget Request using tax levy, non levy revenue, and Library reserves. The resolution was the subject of…