LA CROSSE COUNTY BOARD PROCEEDIN

The La Crosse County Board of Supervisors Retreat was held on April 29, 2008 at Forest Hills, 600 Losey Blvd., La Crosse WI. Chair Doyle called the meeting to order at 12:53 p.m. and the County Clerk Marion I. Naegle took attendance. All supervisors were present except as noted:

DISTRICT - NAME		DISTRICT – NAME

1	Richmond, Andrea	19	Keil, Robert - Absent
2	Geary Jr., Ralph	20	Bina, Donald - Excused
3	Veenstra, Joe	21	Manthei, Dennis
4	Johnson, Jai - Absent	22	Ebert, Ray A.
5	Erickson, Robert	23	Gamroth, Tammy
6	Billings, Jill	24	Pfaff, Leon
7	Plesha, Roger - Excused	25	Schroeder, Jeffrey
8	Freedland, Maureen	26	Burke, Vicki
9	Hampson, Sharon	27	Pedretti, Marilyn
10	Wood, Margaret	28	Doyle, Steve
11	Kader, Audrey	29	Pfaff, Brad - Absent
12	Flood, Bridget	30	Spiker, Charles
13	Brockmiller, Bill - Absent	31	Fisher, Ann
14	Medinger, John D.	32	Schippers, Patrick - Absent
15	Mach, Beverly	33	Berns, Jim - Excused
16	Sebranek, Gerald	34	Rauk, Tom
17	Meyer, Donald - Excused	35	Bilskemper, Joe
18	Johnson, Tara

· Topic of decorum – there should be no food in the County Board room during meetings and Supervisors should always be respectful of other supervisors.

· The City of La Crosse needs a County Board Supervisor on their MTU Board. The Supervisor must come from a rural area, not the City of La Crosse.

· Noted to new supervisors that anyone can be a member on the LEC Addition Committee.

Two years ago, as a new County Board embarked upon its term of office; I delivered my first State of the County Address. Many unresolved challenges faced that Board—implementing a Comprehensive Plan as mandated by the State, finding a solution to the jail overcrowding dilemma that had been nearly a decade in the making, and holding the line on taxes and spending in an uncertain economy. That Board proved up to those challenges as three years of input and debate led to the adoption of our Comprehensive Plan, the jail expansion project was approved on a unanimous vote and La Crosse County remained the third lowest taxing county (per capita operating levy) in Wisconsin.

However, the black clouds on the horizon of our state and national economies will present an even bigger challenge to the Board that took office two weeks ago. Just today, several respected economists announced what most Americans already suspected—our country is in an economic recession. With gas prices skyrocketing toward $4 a gallon and the housing market in freefall, many families are struggling to make ends meet, especially when one of the family wage-earners loses his or her job.

Therein lies the dilemma for government: as families and businesses suffer, the need for governmental services grows, yet the ability to pay for those services diminishes. That is the challenge that has been handed to this Board and how you meet it will be the measure of your accomplishment. Here are the parameters of your challenge: levy limits, along with the simple inability of taxpayers to pay more, will restrict the amount of taxes you can raise. Flat state and federal revenues despite inflation have shifted more burden to local taxes, mainly the property and sales tax. A slower economy equates to a slower tax base growth which would otherwise be counted on to help fill the gap. Health care costs, which make up a substantial portion of the county’s budget, are increasing at several times the rate of inflation. And our county, like much of the nation, has many unmet infrastructure needs.

Yet, as we start our new term, I have much more optimism than pessimism. I believe La Crosse County, more than any county in our State, is prepared to meet those challenges. And here is why.

While our state government appears frozen in place upon realizing that its rainy day fund won’t survive a light shower, La Crosse County’s general fund balance has grown to just under 55% of our total budgeted general fund expenditures.

Recognizing our strong financial position, Moody’s rating service upgraded our bond rating in 2005 to AA2, which saves us tax dollars each time we need to borrow. Only six Wisconsin counties have a higher rating. And in recognition of the thoroughness, professionalism and detail included in our financial reporting, La Crosse County was awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association.

Several years ago La Crosse was one of a handful of counties to pilot the Care Management Organization, also known as Family Care. This program eliminated waiting lists and provides quality, customized services to elderly and disabled persons. We have now taken that program a step further and have become the first in the state to go regional. The new organization known as Western Wisconsin Cares, will provide long term care services to a larger population—and provide a better allocation of our limited tax dollars.

Two years ago when I delivered this address, one of the most difficult problems facing us was the multi-million dollar shortfall facing our Lakeview Health Care Center operation. Using a unique approach never tried in our state that legally permits other Counties to pay for their fair share of client costs, La Crosse County established a partnership with other counties to join us in operating this much-needed facility. This consortium, now called Mississippi Valley Health Services, will continue to provide long term mental health services for eleven counties—and save La Crosse County taxpayers an estimated $750,000 a year. I would like to thank Tara Johnson and Roger Plesha for their leadership on these issues.

Around the State and around the nation, jobs are a major concern. In La Crosse County we have done more than worry—we’ve taken action. Using the first-ever Village/County Tax Incremental Financing District in Wisconsin, we partnered with West Salem to develop the Lakeview Business Park. This project has already added over 200 jobs to our community, plus over $8 million of tax base. I would like to thank Dennis Manthei for his leadership on this project.

As I noted earlier, La Crosse County is the third lowest spending county per capita in Wisconsin, a fact confirmed by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. And from 2000 to 2005, La Crosse County spending rose per capita at less than one third the average per capita rate of increase for all Wisconsin counties.

Take out your property tax bill and look at the line for County taxes, then add 45%. That’s how much your county taxes would have to increase--$11.7 million countywide—to equal the average tax levy of the eight Wisconsin counties closest in population to us. And we are continuing this trend—our past five budgets have actually grown slower than the previous five. For this achievement, I would obviously like to thank our County Administrator, Steve O’Malley, for his leadership.

The economic storm clouds rolling across our country won’t leave La Crosse County untouched. However, we are prepared to face those rainy days. We won’t need to look into the eyes of the abused or neglected child and say, “sorry, we can’t help.” Or the business person looking to expand or relocate and say, “sorry, we have nothing to offer.” Or the farmer and say, “sorry, we no longer help with assistance and advice.” On the other hand we also will not have to look into the eyes of the senior citizen on a fixed income and say, “sorry we raised your taxes so much that you lost your house.” Why is this the case? Because our county has been and continues to be lead by the best and brightest elected officials working hand in hand with the sharpest and most dedicated public servants around. I’m proud to be part of this organization whose mottos is “the best of public service.”

· Gary Ingvalson Audit/Finance Director explained a little about each of the Systems and Support Departments which included the Treasurer, County Clerk, Finance, Personnel, Printing, Register of Deeds, I.T. and Administrator.

· The following Department Heads spoke to issues and information pertaining to their Department:

· Christine McArdle Rojo, Library Director explained how the Library system for La Crosse County works. It has five branches. It is a Unique Department structured under Chapter 43 of Wisconsin Statutes. She explained how the recent press covering the State’s Legislative Audit Bureau Report on Best Practices had numerous misconceptions due to how the information is originally reported for the Department of Public Instruction’s annual state report. The La Crosse Tribune had given the City of La Crosse Library an “A” and La Crosse County Library System a failing mark. The report used only the Holmen Branch information which was compared to the City of La Crosse making it look inadequate. See below the comparison.

· Supervisors broke up into 5 groups and determined what their group’s top goals of the 2008 two year term were.

· The goals were then condensed and each supervisor received 5 stickers to put next to the top 5 goals they thought should be worked on.

The above minutes may be approved, amended, or corrected at the next Board meeting.

I, Marion I. Naegle, La Crosse County Clerk, in and for the County of La Crosse, Wisconsin, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the Journal of Proceedings of the La Crosse County Board of Supervisors at the County Board Retreat held Tuesday, April 29, 2008 and that it is the whole thereof IN WITNESS THEREOF, I HAVE HEREUNTO SET MY HAND AND AFFIXED THE OFFICIAL SEAL THIS 2^nd DAY OF MAY 2008.

Library Service	La Crosse County	City of La Crosse
On-line catalog	Shared through WRLS	Shared through WRLS
Internet	Free at all 5	Free at all 3
Wireless Internet	Holmen, Onalaska, West Salem	provided at all 3
Inter-library loan services	Access to WISCAT	Access to WISCAT
Reference Services	On duty at Onalaska all hours	Contracted by WRLS as backup reference as Resource Library
Youth Services	Story time, programming, Summer Reading Program	Story time, programming, Summer Reading Program

STATE OF WISCONSIN	)
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COUNTY OF LA CROSSE	)