Shawano County department heads have been told to trim 5% of their proposed 2025 budget or face the wrath of the county’s executive committee.
That was the decision of the committee when it gathered Aug. 21.
The proposed $18 million tax levy is about $3 million over the limit.
A 5% savings will knock $900,000 off the total, and the county is preparing to possibly borrow the remaining $2 million.
Carrie Buntjer, finance director, said she received an initial indication of 6% interest for short-term borrowing.
“If we do a 5% cut across the board, we’re still in a borrowing position,” she said.
The county’s capital improvement plan, any borrowing and a final budget all need to be decided in October, so preparations for borrowing, if it would occur, need to be made now so the County Board can take action at the September meeting.
The $2 million in borrowing would be a maximum.
Board Chairman Tom Kautza is concerned that some department heads may think the whole problem can be solved by borrowing, so they may not make any cuts.
“They’re not going to have a choice of whether they’re cutting their budgets,” Supervisor Randy Young said. “We’re going to say to bring back a budget that is 5% less.”
“They won’t do it,” Kautza said.
“Then we’ll do it,” Young responded. “As leaders, we’re giving them the chance to do it themselves. They know their budget better than we do.”
Jim Davel, county coordinator, asked about departments that already came in under the threshold. Would they still need to trim?
“Yes,” said Supervisor Kathy Luebke. “We’re Shawano County. This is a Shawano County budget.”
Young suggested department heads also hold off on any immediate rehires if an employee retires or resigns.
All positions will be reassessed to see if the work can be shifted to other employees, automate or otherwise performed without rehiring.
Categories
