County’s audit completed, state funding requested for mental health services
By Steve Van Kooten
Crawford County’s supervisors and committees had a lot more on their agendas than approving the first set of bonds for the law enforcement and replacement jail project. During the same week that the county officially broke ground on the $35 million project, supervisors passed a resolution to request state funding for mental health services and the finance committee received the 2023 county audit.
Dan McWilliams, director of the Crawford County Department of Health and Human Services, brought a resolution to the county supervisors on August 20.
The resolution would request the state of Wisconsin provide general purpose revenue (GPR) to cover counties’ costs to implement and maintain medical assistance services, crisis intervention and community support programs.
Both crisis and CSP programs are state-mandated services the county must provide.
The state provides some funding for MA services; however, the county is left with the remaining costs from crisis and CSP services, including law enforcement expenses. The federal government reimburses counties for 60 percent of the programs' costs.
Crisis intervention and stabilization assists people experiencing a mental health emergency and helps direct access to care services and resources. CSP programs provide assistance to those with severe and chronic mental illnesses that require more extensive interventions, according to McWilliams.
“Both of these programs are invested in each county,” he said, “and this effect is hopefully happening in every county.”
All 72 counties in Wisconsin are expected to take similar actions to show that state financial support for mental health programs is a priority.
If the state agrees with the counties’ request, it could alleviate expenses incurred by county governments. This includes “maintenance and effect” expenses the county does not currently receive compensation for.
“There’s a little calculation where some of the reimbursement that comes back to us the state hangs on to. We’d like to see that stop as well,” said McWilliams.
The resolution’s request would reimburse costs not for counties to run the programs, which will allow Crawford to spend money in other parts of the budget.
“Minimally, what that would mean for our county if this was fully funded by the state is about $50,000 a year that we could spend for that programming and get reimbursed for. That means our levy could go to pay for other things,” said McWilliams.
Further information about this resolution is available on page 18.
County audit
At the August 21 finance committee meeting, Jay Bennett, partner with Johnson Block, presented the county’s 2023 audit.
The 67-page report resulted in an unmodified opinion for the county.
“Basically, it means that everything was stated fairly on financial statements and to our standards,” said Bennett.
An unmodified opinion is the best audit a county can obtain, with modified (qualified) opinions, disclaimers of opinions and adverse opinions being the other, less desirable options.
The audit is another piece of good news for the county, which recently received an upgraded bond rating from Moody’s, an additional premium for the first bond issuance for the replacement jail project and a lower interest rate for their debt service.
Bennett said the county’s finances have remained “really consistent” over the past few years, with marginal variances in financial position in most categories, including assets, liabilities and fund balances.
The county had a low debt service in 2023 (approximately $2 million). By law, the county can only issue general obligation notes up to five percent of the county’s value. Bennett said that was approximately $88 million. The law enforcement and jail project, which will cost an estimated $35 million, leaves a substantial amount of debt service for the county.
Deanne Lutz, the county treasurer, said that the county will reimburse itself approximately $2 million from the bond issuance money, which will become available on September 9, to cover costs the county already paid on the replacement jail project.
The county has also maintained a “healthy” fund balance, according to Bennett. At the end of the previous year, the county had a fund balance equal to approximately 32 percent of its budget. The county has a resolution that requires the fund balance to be at least 20 percent.
The county has seen a steady revenue increase over the past five years. Property taxes increased 2.5 percent, and sales tax revenue increased nearly $1 million.
Crawford County obtains 42 percent of its revenue from taxes, including property and sales tax, and 41 percent from shared revenue, state and federal government money. The county’s third biggest revenue source is charges for services, which account for 12 percent.
Crawford saw a decrease in net-pension assets, which is money that comes from investments in the Wisconsin Retirement System.
“In the previous year, it had more assets than liabilities, and your share of that was a $4 million asset,” said Bennett. “This past year, the investments didn’t do as well, so you have a pension liability.”
Net-pension assets decreased approximately $6 million dollars from 2022. Bennett also noted that the county’s wheel tax revenue has hovered around $280,000 per year for the past few years.
Other business
• The county and the sheriff’s union agreed to a three-year contract after approximately three months of negotiations. Originally, the union asked for a 21-percent increase in the contract, and the agreement provides workers with a six-percent increase in 2025, five percent in 2026 and four percent in 2027. The supervisors approved the contract.
• Members of the UW-Extension requested a $6,000 contribution toward programming for employee engagement. A survey showed that more than 50 of 172 employed county workers approved of the health and wellness programming, including the snack of the month and increased visibility/contact with county supervisors. No action was taken.
