On Thursday, September 18, the Clark County Board met at the Courthouse in Neillsville. The meeting started off with the Pledge of Allegiance, and then Roll Call with 27 present (2 virtual), and 2 absent. The meeting started off with the 2024 Audit Report presented by Jon Trautman, CLA. He went through the report that the members had in front of them and stressed that it was mostly informational. It started with opinions and an overview of the standards, terms, and the financial statements. The first part of it is designed to be in common English terms so that it’s easy to read and not filled with a lot of financial jargon. The report also contained information on the government side of things, and finished with going over the incomes and expenses. Leonard Stoecker asked about some specific points that Terri Domaszek answered. One of Stoecker’s points of confusion was that if one department pays another, how is that considered revenue. Trautman admits that there is confusion there, but that it would be considered a “True Expenditure” and that they record every expense so that they possibly get it covered with grant money. Additional confusion comes from the government rules that don’t capture liabilities, especially for “compensated sick leave.” Trautman finished by saying that the 2026 audit will be fairly light because of all of the work put in during the 2024 and 2025 years. A motion to approve was presented by Rueth, seconded by Kolzow and passed.
The next report was the 2024 Clark County Economic Development Report presented by Peter Kaz and Greg Glisczinski. They started with an overview of their current theme/mission statement: Essential Collaboration for Our Future. From there, they went through an overview of what they do to support businesses in Clark County. That included a brief overview of their partners; the Economic Development of Residential and Business Park Growth; their Work Force Council; Housing Growth; New Projects; Continued Partnerships; Ribbon Cuttings; Ground Breakings; their role in communicating between members, individuals, communities, and businesses; marketing; promotional flyers; honoring veterans; promoting agriculture; and their new E-Newsletter which is released bi-monthly. They also covered how they promote the county through tourism. They showed that they use sales tax and unemployment rates to judge how well they are doing as a department. A motion to approve was presented by Rueth, seconded by RoyTyznik and passed.
The next report was the 2024 County Clerk Report presented by Christina Jensen, the County Clerk for 24 years. She went through the revenues collected by the County Clerk’s office, including marriage licenses, special dispensations, DMV fees, voting equipment audit, directories sold, and dog licenses. She then went through in more detail about the elections and voting processes, highlighting that for the office of the County Clerk, voting is not just a single day, but a yearlong process. She discussed her role for compiling the agenda and minutes for the County Board and Committee Meetings. She then explained the office’s role with the DMV, followed by a brief summary of dog licensing. She finished with a brief rundown of the programs that are mandated by statues or administrative rule in the department and what programs are not mandated and the reason that the office assists with them. She concluded her presentation with noting that she has been the Treasurer for the WI County Clerks Association for five years. A motion to approve was presented by Rueth, seconded by Kodl and passed.
The next item on the agenda was a presentation on the 2026 debt by Terri Domaszek. She explained the background of why the County takes out a short-term 1-month debt. The counties have been limited to how much they can increase their tax rate. For the last several years, the County has used short-term one month debt to pay for road projects and some other capital assets. It is a way to fulfill the needs for running the county departments and staying within the confines of the law. The formula used is based on the previous year’s levy, not the expenditures. The calculated amount for 2026 is $6.1 million. If the debt does not pass, that amount of road work and other assets that it funds will have to be removed from the budget. The term limit of the loan would be from January 2, 2026 to February 2, 2026. Domaszek then covered exactly how the $6.1 million is divided up. She then explained that the board is receiving the basic information today. On October 9, the full budget will be presented with more information on the debt. There will be a resolution to pass the debt for the 2026 year, including the loan application. It will need 3/4 approval of the entire County Board (22 supervisors voting yes). On November 11, the County Board will meet to pass the 2026 budget. By November 15, the county will need to submit the amounts to the state of Wisconsin so that the amount can go on the December Real Estate Property Tax Bills. If anyone has any questions, they are free to contact Domaszek at 715-743-5149 or Terri.Domaszek@co.clark.wi.us. After the initial presentation, there were some questions. Raymond Mulderink asked that if Forestry and Parks had a $8 million reserve, why were the libraries underfunded. He was told to ask the Finance Committee. A few other things were clarified, the General Fund covers all the small departments. The Land Conservation “Capital Asset” is for alder shearing and after a discussion most thought that it should go under Maintenance instead. A motion to approve passed.
The next two items on the agenda were connected. They involved approval of the Intergovernmental Cooperative Agreement with the Ho-Chunk Nation Transportation Authority (HTA) and Expressing Appreciation for the HTA Contributions to the Highway M and the Highway G Bridge Replacement projects. Brian Duell explained this in more detail, that the Ho-Chunk Nation has roads of interest in Clark County, particularly those that intersect with waterways. Through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, there is funding for bridges. The County asked the HTA for compensation for both bridges and was granted it after a lot of leapfrogging and waiting on the government. The costs for the reimbursement are not currently in the 2025 or 2026 budget, and will be entered as excess revenue. They started the application process right after COVID. Reuth asked if they have any other projects planned. They do have one planned for County Highway J. Both of the agreements were passed.
The next item on the agenda was to authorize the acceptance of DATCP grant funding for the Clean Sweep Agriculture and Household Hazardous Waste Collection Programs and it was accepted and passed. After that was authorizing the marriage license fee increase from $75 to $80 and the three-day waiver from $10 to $20. That was also passed. The last item on the agenda was to approve the amendments to the Clark County Code of Ordinances in regard to “Tobacco Products.” This was voted by roll call, with only two voting against adopting the ordinance. After that, the August meeting minutes were approved before going to public discussion. One person wanted to remind everyone of the Charlie Kirk Memorial. The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.