County Council Meeting Notes: Sept 18, 2023, 6;00 p.m.  County Budget, Financial Status (not good), Voter Integrity

UPDATE: The budget estimates were required to be Published via the “Notice to Taxpayers”. The final budget has not been approved – there is still work to be done.

This post at the Facebook Group – Brown County Matters

Audio of the Meeting.  Discussion on the state of county finances at the beginning of the meeting and election integrity at the end.

Context. We have a one-party monopoly on political power – never proven to be a good thing. The leadership of the local GOP over the last few years has put us in a financial hole. It appears that we may now be at the point where there is consensus to “Stop Digging.”  All 11 republican precinct chairs are up for election in the 2024 primary.  A good time to start identifying candidates that have specific goals and priorities. The precinct chairs and their vice chairs elect the GOP Chair – The current chair is Mark Bowman who has stated he does not support a county political platform.  List of current precincts, chairs, and vice chairs at the following: Brown County Republican Party (GOP) – Organization, Governance, Precincts

County 2024 Budget.  2024 Brown County Budget Notice. 

2021-2025 Actual and Projected Cash Balances –  Combined funds chart-1

Financial State of the County – Not Good.   The first part of the meeting was a presentation on the financial state of the county – not good. Out-of-control spending that the previous commissioner (s) proposed and the previous council approved, put us in a situation where we have $1.5 – to $2 million more expenses than revenues. (1) Current trends in spending indicate that cash reserves will be depleted by 2027 and that we will need to cut about 2 million of pending out of the budget over the next few years.   Health insurance costs are a major contributor and personnel costs are always the largest expense.

(1) Deficit. Does not include unfunded liabilities such as infrastructure costs to include maintenance, repairs, and replacements.  We have to borrow money for these expenses.  This process requires the commissioners and council to agree on specific needs. FINALLY, Commissioner Ron Sanders has taken the lead in developing the capital improvement plan and budget. This is “The Document” that justifies the borrowing – it identifies what is needed and why. Prior to this year, the local GOP has refused to develop this plan – a reason would include that the cost identified would compete with other favored spending projects. Sanders was “not” the preferred candidate of the local GOP – cross-over votes from Democrats helped to get him elected.  Vote County Interests in the 2024 Republican Primary – Cross-over Votes Needed

The Good News?   It appears that the current council and commissioners have a mutual understanding that we have a problem – the first step in “recovery” followed by better leadership.

Election Integrity. A local group of volunteers provided an excellent presentation on improving election integrity and reducing costs.  The county can save approximately $188,000 if we eliminate the voting equipment and transition to manual counting.  The good news is we do use paper ballots but machines are used to tally and transmit the votes. “Hack-proof equipment” has yet to be developed.  The council will need 4 votes to cut the spending. The initiative also is supported by the Republican National Committee (RNC).

The local GOP Chair (Mark Bowman) supports the status quo and equipment-related spending. What is the justification?