On Thursday, October 9, the Clark County Board met at the Courthouse in Neillsville. The meeting started off with the Pledge of Allegiance, and then roll call with 26 present and three absent. The primary item on the agenda was the presentation on the 2026 Budget. The floor was yielded to Terri Domaszek who explained the “small book” for the budget. She started with a brief rundown on the 2025 budget. She also explained that the next year’s budget is more difficult to plan for since so many grants and their funding is unknown. The county is restricted by state law on how much they can increase their levy, but they do follow a formula for it. Domaszek also explained how their fund balances are replenished and how the General Fund worked, highlighting that as much as there are different departments, it is still one county. After that she talked about the short-term debt that is being proposed and then mentioned the county’s long-term debt and their payment plan for that. Domaszek then spent some time talking about the highway projects. The current plan for 2026 is to redo 15.6 miles of road, with an additional 29.7 miles chip sealed. This is in par with their current plans to do about 15 miles of county highways every year on a 20-year rotation. If the short-term debt is not approved, these projects will be cut.
After that, Domaszek went over the liabilities that the county holds. Then she highlighted the transfers between the different departments and funds which are not considered expenses. Domaszek also said that they will fund the libraries at the minimum state requirement of 70% and will not pay for Marathon County residents which will affect Dorchester, Abbotsford, and Colby libraries the most.
Domaszek then introduced Heather Roman to go over the wages and benefits. The changes seen for these lines reflect what was agreed on back in April. The presentation went back to Domaszek who went over the changes that the Finance Committee made. The focus then shifted to the comparison of the proposed budget for 2026 compared to the 2025 budget and the trends over the past several years. Domaszek finished the presentation stating that the larger budget books would come out in a couple of weeks with more details if anyone wants more specifics. There was only one question and that was about the equalized value for townships. Any questions can be directed to Domaszek at 715-743-5149.
The next items on the agenda were the resolutions. The first, was on tax-deeded properties, and it passed. The next item was to accept the short-term debt policy which needed a 3/4 majority vote. It passed with 26 voting yes, with three absent. The next item was to adopt a donation policy that passed. The last item was to approve a circuit court grant which had a motion and second and it also passed. The September meeting minutes were approved.
The meeting then opened for public comment. The first was from Fred Schindler who expressed that he saw serving on the county board as an honor. And that he was astonished at how much other counties paid their county board members. He also expressed concern about the county employees and their compensation. The second comment was from ReAnna Oestreich who is the new Library Director at Dorchester. She said that nothing else has changed in the funding other than Clark County refusing to pay for Marathon County circulations but that alone means that Dorchester Library has $20K less in their budget for next year and that she wants the Board to consider that. After that, the meeting was adjourned with the next meeting set for November 11.