[1:05] Jesus.
[1:25] » Oh yeah.
[1:32] that we
[1:51] just
[1:54] had. I was upstairs.
So, let's call this meeting of the
[1:59] Richland County Executive and Finance
Standing Committee together
[2:03] to order at 5:00 on September 8th, 2026
in the Richland County Board. Roll call,
[2:11] please.
[2:14] » Kramer
>> here.
[2:16] » Angel
>> here.
[2:17] » Wely
>> here.
[2:19] » Thompson
>> here.
[2:20] » Frank
>> present.
[2:21] » Severson. Do we
>> we have a quorum?
[2:27] » We have a quorum.
>> We have a quorum. Clarification of open
[2:31] meetings law
>> was posted. Yes.
[2:34] » And approval of agenda. Um couple two
things. The chair would like to remove
[2:40] two items. One is the number 10
discussion and possible action of the
[2:45] 2027
county draft budget. rationale being
[2:49] that um the healthc care numbers are
still coming in from departments and we
[2:54] placed it on the Thursday agenda so
we'll have better accurate um numbers
[3:01] and number 13 I'd like to remove because
public safety and judiciary
[3:08] um will not be recommending a new
ambulance purchase
[3:14] » correct yes
>> so with those two changes I have a M any
[3:19] other changes to the agenda? So we now
have a 20point agenda.
[3:25] Motion to approve by Welty, second by
Kramer. All in favor signify by saying
[3:31] I.
>> I.
[3:33] » Approval of the minutes of the August
24th meeting. Any changes, additions, or
[3:38] corrections?
[3:44] Hearing none, I will accept them as um
submitted.
[3:49] Public comment.
[3:53] Anybody online?
We have no one here present
[3:58] although I've encouraged somebody.
[4:03] » Admire all that you do as I'm learning.
>> So hearing none, um we'll move on to
[4:10] reports with the county administrator.
Right. So, demolition at the campus
[4:16] continues to proceed as scheduled. Three
of the four buildings have been torn
[4:20] down. Um, they will start working on the
copper top next week. We are in the
[4:26] final stages of the sale to the school
district for the remaining two
[4:29] buildings. Later this month, the city
will vote on the proposed CSM and then
[4:33] the sale can be finalized.
Um the ad hoc EMS district committee
[4:38] creation committee has begun having
meetings and held twoformational
[4:41] meetings with the town city villages. Um
and at this time the municipalities have
[4:47] stated or started the process of
exploring their next option and will
[4:51] reach out when they would like support.
Um our time in our office has really
[4:55] been focused on the transmission line,
the budget and insurance EMS and the
[5:00] audit is wrapping up. that should be
finished by the end of by the end of
[5:04] this month we should have the final
audit results.
[5:08] And then the last thing that I have is
um Rod Perry did resign from the board.
[5:12] Um I want to just take a moment to thank
him for his service um to the residents
[5:17] of Richland County and Mashemwell.
[5:24] » That is all I have. chair.
>> Can I um add something with our
[5:30] discussion with the ad hoc EMS? Um Dan
Tims is their chairman
[5:38] uh for this project and him and I have
been emailing back and forth. He has
[5:43] requests that they're they're coming to
me. I'm sorting them out and and as
[5:46] things can needed, I'm getting
information from
[5:51] admin administrator Clemens to make sure
they're getting that a flow of
[5:55] information. At this point, they've
asked like three questions. They have no
[5:59] one's asked us to come to any of their
township meetings. Uh at this point, um
[6:04] we've asked numerous times repeatedly
and they said they are they have a
[6:10] handle on it. I think their next meeting
is se September 28th.
[6:16] Uh we plan to do a public hearing
reach out on September 29th. Uh the
[6:25] committee chose to not do that because
at this point they are moving forward
[6:30] and that would be something that they
should do to share information. It
[6:33] really doesn't make sense to for us to
try and share.
[6:37] So, just as a followup,
>> any other questions or comments for
[6:43] county administrator
with that second item with the um
[6:49] transmission line? What we thought we'd
do is just open it up and see what
[6:54] people know so far. We have any new
information.
[6:58] The only thing I know is that um both
Kurtz and Kiesi came out adamantly
[7:06] against the current line and they're
claiming that that they need to go along
[7:11] existing power lines as as the
legislation as Keski has some idea of
[7:19] some legislation she'd like to approve
that she's going to work on this
[7:23] session.
So that's some positive
[7:27] feedback.
>> I also read today that Congressman Van
[7:32] Borgon has also done the same
opposition and encouragement to follow
[7:39] state statute as far as citing a long
[7:47] » chairman. Um, there was a meeting last
week with Wisconsin Counties
[7:51] Association, the eight counties of the
Becky line impacts. Carrie and I were
[7:55] both on that call and there will be more
calls to come.
[8:01] » And Carrie did write a letter as county
board chair. So,
[8:07] » so that's the update that we know there.
Anything more on that?
[8:12] The comment date passed yesterday was
the last of the com public comments to
[8:18] submit to Becky to MGS regarding the
line and now we're in a new period.
[8:24] » So I did submit a response last week on
behalf of the county. I worked with
[8:29] supervisor Carol to get that completed.
Um him and I both looked at it and we
[8:33] did get it submitted last week.
And I believe we have a resolution from
[8:37] natural resources and finances that's
coming before the full board next week.
[8:44] So we're moving on.
Um
[8:52] moving on to item number eight,
discussion of possible action. initial
[8:57] resolution authorizing not to exceed
$7.5 million in general obligation
[9:03] promisary notes for capital projects.
>> So today we have Carol Worth from
[9:08] Wisconsin Public Finance Professionals
here to present on both items number
[9:12] eight and nine. Um I do want to point
out in your packet is a PowerPoint from
[9:16] Carol's presentation that she will be
getting giving um an agreement with
[9:21] Wisconsin public finance professionals
the scope of enga engagement with Orals
[9:26] and Brady which is our legal council and
then the initial resolutions and then I
[9:31] will turn it over to Carol.
[9:37] Thanks for coming.
[9:55] I think that's
[10:06] okay. Well, thank you very much for the
opportunity to meet you in person and to
[10:11] present to you today. Um, in case you
don't know who I am, I'm Carol Worth and
[10:17] I am what's called a municipal advisor,
which is similar to a financial adviser
[10:22] to an individual. Municipal adviser is
an adviser that only advises
[10:27] municipalities. Okay. I've worked with
Richland County for 33 years.
[10:33] So
um so I've gone through a lot of history
[10:37] with you.
All right. So what we're going to talk
[10:41] about today are actually uh there are
two initial resolutions
[10:48] and we're also going to talk about the
upcoming borrowings.
[10:53] Okay. And then we're going to review
that long spreadsheet that uh last time
[10:58] I was uh presenting over the Zoom
meeting. Um we looked at the spreadsheet
[11:02] for capital improvement projects and
then we also tied the second page to uh
[11:08] a larger project. We're not going to
talk about that today. We're just going
[11:11] to focus on what's happening now in
2026. Okay. So I'm going to begin my
[11:17] presentation by just going through in
general what an initial resolution is
[11:22] all about. Okay. So, this is required by
u Wisconsin statute the statutory step
[11:31] and what it does is it gives the county
board authority to do a borrowing in the
[11:37] future. So, it's all about the word
authority. Okay? You're not borrowing
[11:41] money when you actually take action on
it. You are giving yourself authority
[11:47] under the statutes. Okay? So that's the
step every single county in Wisconsin
[11:52] has to take when you want to do a
borrowing. You got to give yourself
[11:56] authority under the statutes. So that
authority starts with the adoption of a
[12:01] resolution called an initial resolution.
Okay? Like think of it as your first
[12:05] step. So it does not commit the county
to do a borrowing. Okay? It just gives
[12:12] you this authority to do a borrowing and
you can does not tell you how many times
[12:19] you can do a borrowing up to that dollar
amount. It you can do it in phases. You
[12:24] could do it all at once. If you do it in
phases, obviously the collective amount
[12:29] of the borrowings and phases cannot
exceed the dollar amount in the initial
[12:33] resolution. Right? So
the um and also in the initial
[12:40] resolution it talks about doing a
borrowing at a future date. So you say
[12:44] what happens if we don't ever do a
borrowing? Well, that authority is good
[12:49] for a period of five years.
If nothing is acted upon within that
[12:54] five years or all of the authority is
not used within that five years, it just
[12:59] expires.
Okay.
[13:03] Um the initial resolution itself is
prepared by Orals and Brady. That is the
[13:10] counties what called bond council. They
write legal opinions anytime you're
[13:15] going to do a borrowing. Okay. So,
really is has two things going on here.
[13:20] There's a not to exceed dollar amount
and there is a what's called purpose
[13:25] language. The purpose language is
written in a way that says if you are
[13:30] going to do a borrowing, it uses
authority. You can only use the borrowed
[13:35] funds for what is described in that
resolution. Okay? Those dollars can
[13:41] never go into the county's operating
budget. that only go for those projects.
[13:48] Now the other thing is the initial
resolution
[13:52] has a requirement that in order to be
approved it needs 34 vote of the members
[14:00] elect of the county board.
So I was using a calculation of 21 board
[14:07] members that would require 16 votes.
I've been aware of a vacancy. When you
[14:14] have a vacancy, you subtract it from the
number of board members that you
[14:18] currently have. Okay? So that would make
20 board members. Three quarter vote
[14:23] would mean 15 approved yes votes in
order to pass. Okay? If you have
[14:29] somebody who is absent,
an absence is an automatic no.
[14:35] Okay?
So that's the background of any initial
[14:40] resolution that would a county
considers.
[14:45] Okay, then I'm going to the next page
number two at the bottom. This is the
[14:49] initial resolution specifically.
It's a not to exceed $2 million
[14:56] general obligation Thomas knows for
capital improvement projects. Okay, so
[15:01] obviously right there at the beginning
it's a not to exceed number. Okay, first
[15:06] paragraph tells you what can it be used
for. Right. It says for public purposes
[15:13] including paying the costs of 2027
capital improvement projects. Okay. So
[15:20] we have a list of what those 2027
capital improvement projects are. So
[15:24] that is what you're tied to in terms of
a purpose.
[15:28] So then it goes on to say that it would
be desirable to authorize the issuance
[15:34] of general obligation notes. Um and if
so and again is a not to exceed number
[15:41] for that purpose and that if you do
author if you do borrow that money those
[15:48] will be considered
um taxable
[15:52] general obligation notes that are
prepaid
[15:56] through the taxes levied on all taxable
property in the county. So that's what
[16:01] general obligation means. Okay. The next
page is an initial resolution
[16:09] for a not to exceed 7 and a half million
general obligation notes. And this one
[16:16] says for capital improvement projects as
well. Now, so if you look at the first
[16:20] paragraph, that sentence that talks
about the purpose language says paying
[16:26] the cost of renovations and improvements
to the courthouse and other county
[16:31] buildings. Okay. So that is what is
considered to be the project those that
[16:37] is the purpose for which the 7 and a
half million is intended to be used for.
[16:43] So again everything else is identical to
the other ref other initial resolution.
[16:48] It just has the not to exceed number and
that purpose language. That's the only
[16:53] difference between them. And keeping in
mind that they don't that gives you
[16:59] authority
future date you borrow and you can
[17:03] borrow in phases that collectively
cannot exceed the dollar amount that not
[17:09] to exceed. Okay.
So now we're going to move on to page
[17:12] four and we're going to talk about the
short what we call to differentiate them
[17:18] we call them the shortterm notes. Okay.
So this is a practice that's been used
[17:25] by Richland County for the last seven
years. Okay, this goes back to 2020.
[17:30] This has been done where you borrow
general obligation promisory notes that
[17:36] are paid off in approximately three
months. So very short term. Okay. Okay.
[17:41] So, what you're doing is you're removing
certain capital projects from that were
[17:45] within your operating budget and you're
putting them on the borrowing side, but
[17:50] you're paying them off right away. As
soon as your taxes are levied, you
[17:54] collect the taxes, you pay them off.
So, you're not advertising and it's not
[18:00] like you're borrowing and then it's
taking you years to pay it back. You're
[18:04] as soon as the taxes are collected, you
pay them off.
[18:07] The debt payment is short-term, but it's
levied outside of levy limit. Right?
[18:12] Your operating budget is subject to levy
limits. So, when you pull the capital
[18:17] projects out of your operating budget,
you're putting them now on the debt
[18:21] side, which is outside of levy limits.
By pulling the capital projects out of
[18:26] your budget, you're creating room inside
that operating budget for other
[18:30] operating expenses. Okay? So, that was
what the whole program was way back in
[18:35] 2020. that you've been following ever
since.
[18:40] So with that, we're just going to take a
quick look at what that structure looks
[18:44] like. On the next page, we'll see the
2027 capital improvement projects that
[18:51] make up that million90.
We're going to apply we're going to move
[18:56] it up to 10 uh by 10,000 up to 2 million
because we have to also cover expenses
[19:03] of this when we borrow. So, we have some
dollars that we anticipate coming in
[19:09] from what's called premium. That's part
of the process where the the winning
[19:16] bidder, the underwriter, sells the notes
to investors. The investors pay more
[19:21] than $100 for $100 worth of bonds. That
becomes premium. That premium is used
[19:26] for two things. So premium is um either
held back by the underwriter to pay
[19:32] certain expenses usually his expenses
sometimes all the expenses but in this
[19:37] case this is very short so he's only
going to pay his expenses
[19:41] and the rest of it if there is excess
comes back to the county it goes into
[19:46] debt service. So this is uh sources and
uses of funds that is uh showing that
[19:52] you're also going to be investing the
funds while you are paying your project
[19:58] costs and those funds the investment
earnings has to stay in the project
[20:04] account. Okay. So we're also going to
take advantage of some of that
[20:08] investment income to cover expenses of
issuance as well.
[20:13] The next page number six at the bottom
shows you at the top
[20:19] on March 1st of 27 the $2 million
plus estimated interest and we're
[20:26] assuming a rate of about five and a4
because this would be a taxable issue.
[20:31] And so the total amount in this case of
2,29750
[20:36] would be paid back on March 1. The
bottom part is the pricing schedule. It
[20:41] gets a little bit messy. What I monitor
is the yield column right in the middle.
[20:46] The yield column is the market. Okay,
that's what current investors are
[20:51] getting for this type of a structure.
Hear about market going interest rates
[20:57] going up or down. That's what would be
going up or down in terms of my
[21:01] monitoring. Okay. So I I keep this in in
a report so that when I come back to you
[21:07] with actual results, I have something to
compare that to to tell you what we
[21:12] originally were looking at and what that
final result. Okay? So these are
[21:17] estimates. Of course, they're not
guaranteed being estimates. And later on
[21:22] when you actually go through a
borrowing, that's when I'll be able to
[21:25] tell you what the actual rates are. Now
looking at the principal and interest
[21:31] payment of 2,ion29750
and if we divide it into your current
[21:36] equalized valuation that gives you a tax
rate of 88 cents which is $88 per on a h
[21:45] 100,000 of equalized or fair market
property value. Okay. So we're not
[21:51] talking assessed values. You'd be
looking at a tax bill. You'd be looking
[21:55] at the fair market values on the tax
bill.
[22:00] All right, we'll move on then to the 7
and a half million.
[22:05] 7 and a half million is expected to
occur in two phases.
[22:10] In this 2026 year, we're looking at
three and a half million and the
[22:15] remaining four million at this point
we're saying in 2029.
[22:19] Okay, that's how we're timing it.
There's a list of the projects right now
[22:24] that collectively make up seven and a
half. And the way they're spaced out is
[22:31] from the word update to the uh final
word courthouse flat roof replacement is
[22:36] what's expected to uh be financed with
the first three and a half million.
[22:42] The next two, the sec second floor and a
third the second floor remodeled
[22:48] expected to be covered a little bit in
this issue and a little bit the next
[22:52] issue. And then the bottom part is
expected to be covered in the in the 4
[22:58] million in 2029.
So we're going to only focus on the
[23:03] three and a half million right now. So
page eight has again the sources and
[23:08] uses of funds with the three and a half
million
[23:12] and in this case the um the premium
amount is a lot larger
[23:18] and we're expecting the underwriter that
bids on your issue to pay those expenses
[23:23] out of your premium. So therefore
whatever interest rate you're looking at
[23:27] includes all those expenses. Okay? And
then there is anything excess that is
[23:32] not used for expenses that comes back to
the county and is used to offset your
[23:37] death service. Okay. So that's page
eight. Page nine.
[23:43] This is what the
amortization looks like of that three
[23:49] three and a half million. Okay. So
you'll see from 2027 to 46 is how that
[23:56] issue will be repaid.
Fond means interest rate and the true
[24:03] interest costs of that column plus some
premium coming back to you is at 4.6
[24:10] and then that generates the estimated
interest column and then principal and
[24:15] interest together is total estimated
debt service. So that's your yearbyear
[24:19] and we'll be looking at that column
again on the last page. Okay,
[24:24] the next page is the pricing. And now
the yield column on this page, right, is
[24:31] again what I'm monitoring. You can see
this yield column is a lot different.
[24:36] Starting in 27, it's 2.85. When we
looked at the short term, it was 4%.
[24:41] That's the difference between something
being taxable versus tax exempt. The
[24:45] reason we're doing that is because if
the county stays under $5 million
[24:52] of tax exempt debt, the county then has
three years to spend the money without
[24:59] worrying about any monitoring for
federal law purposes and or the rebate
[25:05] of any of the investment earnings that
the county realizes during that period
[25:09] of time to the IRS.
So, it was like worth it to put the two
[25:14] million because it's so short. We're
calling that one taxable. So, therefore,
[25:18] it's not subject to these rules at all.
And it totally allows the county much
[25:23] more flexibility in keeping it money
that it uses during this investment
[25:27] period. Okay.
All right. And then moving on to the
[25:33] timeline,
um we're going to be coming back to um
[25:38] county board meeting and we're going to
present the same report to county board.
[25:45] We are also working on the preparation
of what's called an official statement.
[25:50] An official statement
is like a perspectus looks like this.
[25:56] It's a book. It's like a prospectus that
you would get if you as an individual
[26:01] investor was buying security and it
describes the county. It has your um
[26:07] most current audit has financial
information. It talks about the
[26:12] borrowing. Um so that is an official
statement.
[26:19] We are also going to be applying for a
rating from Moody's Investor Service.
[26:23] Okay. So that's going to uh require some
additional preparation of documents to
[26:31] uh have that conference call that will
occur I believe on October 9th. County
[26:36] is currently rated A1 by Moody's. So we
will uh as soon as we have that
[26:43] conference call then we're going to
distribute all the information the
[26:48] official statement out into the
marketplace. We're going to take bids on
[26:52] October 20th at
uh between 9:30 and 10 because there's
[26:56] two issues here. And then we bring those
results back to the county board that
[27:01] night at six o'clock uh for the adoption
of two different resolutions. Now we're
[27:08] going to they're going to call them
award resolutions. Those resolutions at
[27:12] that time you will be borrowing money.
That's a different type. That's not an
[27:17] initial anymore. that is you saying yes,
we are accepting the interest rates and
[27:21] the bid from the from the winning um
underwrite.
[27:26] Then all the money comes to the county
on November 19th. That's called the
[27:30] closing. So that's when all the wires
come in and each one of them goes into
[27:35] their project accounts. Okay? So that
would be the conclusion of the process.
[27:42] And then to the very last page, I'm
giving you one of those spreadsheets
[27:46] again. Again, just to keep track and
this spreadsheet is prepared in the same
[27:52] way, but I want to call your attention
to some differences since the last time
[27:57] we talked. Um, the valuation column, the
equalized value column.
[28:03] On my other report, we did projections
going out for for the first five years
[28:08] at 5%. Okay, this has been updated
because our 2026 equalized valuation
[28:17] which is actual now came in at 8.8%.
So we started with that 8.8% increase
[28:26] and then we went 5% for four years and
so on. Okay, so just updated it for
[28:31] that. The actual existing is the same.
So then we calculate a tax rate. The tax
[28:38] rate is just taking the debt service
divided into the valuation.
[28:42] Then we moved over one column to put in
the shortterm capital improvement, these
[28:48] $2 million notes. Okay? So we updated
the second number there to reflect the
[28:53] numbers you've seen in this report.
Again, you'll see there's that 88 cents
[28:57] as far as the tax rate. Okay? And then
moving over, you'll see to the to the
[29:03] right, you'll see the three and a half
million that we just talked about.
[29:07] There's the principal and there's the
interest and a tax rate. And then keep
[29:12] going. You'll see there is the
projection for the other four million of
[29:17] the seven and a half million coming in
in 2029.
[29:21] So you'll see that, you know, starts
obviously in the year 2030
[29:25] and and it goes goes down. And then
you'll have your principal and your
[29:30] interest and your tax rate. And then
your combined number
[29:36] and your combined tax rate. So right now
that combined tax rate is anywhere from
[29:42] four to five cents less than the number
that we looked at the first time. And
[29:48] that is driven strictly by the fact that
your valuation this year came in at 8%
[29:53] rather than 5%. That's all. Okay.
All right. I know that was the last to
[30:01] go through.
>> Very thorough. Thank you.
[30:04] » Okay.
>> Questions, comments, thoughts,
[30:14] » you are so thorough. There's no
questions.
[30:18] » I was going to say that that's good to
know because I always try to anticipate
[30:22] them.
>> Thank you very much.
[30:25] Um Shirley just asked about a motion. Um
county clerk, can we go to
[30:34] 7.5 million resolution, please?
Can you read that for us?
[30:52] uh resolution 26 um initial resolution
authorizing not to exceed $7.5 million
[30:59] general obligation promisory notes for
capital improvement projects. Now
[31:04] therefore be it resolved by the Richland
County Board of Supervisors that the
[31:07] county borrow an amount not to exceed
$7,500,000
[31:11] by issuing general obligation promisory
notes for the public purpose of
[31:15] financing the project. Um there be and
there hereby is levied on all the
[31:20] taxable property in the county a direct
annual tax such and in such amounts as
[31:26] are sufficient to pay when due the
principal and interest on such notes.
[31:33] Motion by Welty, second by
Thompson.
[31:40] It's still on the table for discussion.
Any discussion?
[31:45] » Just clarifying that this resolution
going through referring to the 7 million
[31:51] for projects that it is
going to have to go to what is listed in
[31:57] here under that seven and a half
million.
[31:59] » Correct. Okay.
Any other discussion?
[32:05] All in favor signify by saying I.
>> I.
[32:08] » All opposed.
>> And county clerk, we're moving on to
[32:12] number nine. Can you do the same thing
for the $2 million?
[32:16] » Yes.
[32:23] Initial resolution authorizing not to
exceed $2 million general obligation
[32:28] promisory note for capital improvement
projects. Now therefore, be it resolved
[32:33] by the Richland County Board of
Supervisors that the county borrow an
[32:36] amount not to see exceed $2 million by
issuing general obligation promisory
[32:41] notes for the public purpose of
financing the project. there be and
[32:46] there hereby is levied on all taxable
property in the county a direct annual
[32:50] tax in such years and in such amounts
that they're sufficient to pay what do
[32:55] the principle and interest on such notes
your pleasure
[33:01] motion by second by Thompson it's
on the table for discussion anything
[33:08] all in favor signify by saying I
>> any opposed motion carries
[33:14] Thank you.
Moving on to item number 11, discussion
[33:20] and possible actions on the 2027 county
health insurance.
[33:26] » So we have Kyle from the insurance
center should be online and if you could
[33:30] stop sharing so that he is able to share
your screen that would be helpful.
[33:36] » Okay.
>> So what we are looking to do um there is
[33:39] a resolution in the packet. Um, I will
let Kyle do his presentation and then I
[33:44] can highlight what the resolution would
look like. Kyle, are you ready to take
[33:48] over?
>> I am. It says I'm sharing. Can you all
[33:51] see it?
>> Yes, we can.
[33:54] » Uh, so we have kind of just a couple
updates to slides from the meeting last
[33:58] month. I thought I would just jump into
the relevant and updated information,
[34:02] but if there's any questions or, you
know, previous parts of the presentation
[34:06] you'd like me to go back to, I'm more
than happy to. To do a quick one minute
[34:10] summary, we've been looking at making
some improvements to the health plan
[34:13] while being conscious of the budget.
Last meeting, we decided that courts
[34:17] would be our best fit and we needed to
decide what we wanted to do with
[34:21] contributions with the county's
contribution towards it and what
[34:24] employees would contribute. So, as a
reminder, the 2027 budget with the ETF,
[34:29] if we were to remain there, was $4.6
million.
[34:34] Tough to predict because we don't know
if people are going to change within the
[34:37] plans. It could be more than that, but
if everybody kept the plan they had
[34:41] today, that would be the total cost for
next year. And of that mix, the
[34:46] employer, you, the county, was paying
$4.2 million, and the employees were
[34:51] contributing $400,000 out of their
paychecks towards the plan. So, with
[34:56] courts, we were going to bring in two
plans. A plan that would allow people to
[34:59] have a lower price point and a little
higher deductible, as well as HSA
[35:03] eligibility, should be new. and then a
secondary plan that was um or primary I
[35:09] guess better than what the current ETF
plan design was. So we're trying to give
[35:13] people a better option than what they're
used to or a less expensive option if
[35:18] that would be their preference. And so
we figured that number would land
[35:22] between 3.8 million and 4.037
million. So both quite a bit under what
[35:28] ETF cost would have been. uh Trisha and
the team and I have spent a lot of time
[35:33] going between the plans and the
contributions and what we came up with
[35:36] for a recommendation uh was having a
employer contribution of 90% towards the
[35:43] co-pay plan which again had co-pays
first dollar which does not exist today
[35:48] as well as better prescription coverage
um and a better deductible than what the
[35:52] current ETF plan was and then the HSA
plan having a 94% contribution and the
[35:58] reason that's higher is the full price
of that plan was significantly less than
[36:04] the current ETF premiums were. Uh we
didn't want to make it free for
[36:08] employees. We want to have them to have
some skin in the game. Um but you know
[36:14] having a higher contribution towards a
cheaper plan just makes a ton of sense.
[36:18] So if we do this and I have a slide
where I'll show you what that looks
[36:20] like. Overall the employer Richland
County would save $540,000
[36:26] for the year compared to going with the
ETF. and employees would save $65,000.
[36:32] So, we're splitting that savings
basically even with what the
[36:36] contributions would be. The numbers
could improve with these budget ideas. I
[36:40] mean, if more people choose the HSA
plan, the county saves even more. Our
[36:44] goal was to incentivize employees to
take the lower cost plan while keeping
[36:49] the better option very comparable to
what most people are paying today or
[36:53] potentially even less than what people
are paying today. Another idea within
[36:58] that was to incentivize employees to
move to the HSA plan. The county would
[37:03] take part of the savings uh and
potentially contribute towards an HSA
[37:07] for those who choose the higher
deductible option. And the reason for
[37:11] that is the county currently contributes
towards the deductible for those who are
[37:15] on the co-pay plan. So, it's not really
any new money. We're just shifting it to
[37:20] a different bucket. And obviously
overall the savings of $540,000
[37:24] to the county is pretty significant and
$65,000 less coming out of your
[37:30] employees pockets. So these were the two
plans. If this is too fuzzy, I can
[37:34] switch to the actual Excel spreadsheet.
It's hard to fit it onto a PowerPoint
[37:38] screen. But our option one again was
1,500 deductible, 3,000 out of pocket.
[37:44] Keeping the deductibles embedded,
meaning if one person meets the
[37:48] deductible, it's just individual.
whereas today they have to meet the
[37:51] entire family before their benefits kick
in. And then co-pays for prescriptions
[37:56] and doctor visits from first dollar
instead of having to meet their
[37:59] deductibles before any coverage kicks
in. And then on the right side is our
[38:04] HSA plan or higher deductible option
with a 4,000 deductible. We wouldn't
[38:10] force anybody into that, but they would
have the decision on which one they
[38:13] would go with. And the county would save
$175 per employee per month who chooses
[38:20] the HSA and $434 a month per family who
chooses the HSA plan. And you do have
[38:27] more families than you do individual. So
we are really really being conservative
[38:32] with these budget numbers. Obviously if
more people migrate to the HSA you're
[38:36] going to save even more money. But again
that combined dollar amount instead of
[38:40] being 4.2 million for the county for
here would be 3.6. six and the total
[38:45] cost for the employees would be 335
instead of over 400,000 for the year.
[38:54] Questions or I can slow down and revisit
any of that if you'd like me to.
[39:03] I do want to highlight with our
resolution um and just be very clear
[39:07] with the courts one option that is the
1500 or 3,000 deductible in employee
[39:13] contribution would be 92 a month for a
single planner 226 a month for a family
[39:18] plan we would have the H reimbursement
for the last 500 or thousand of the
[39:23] deductible 500 for a single,000 for
family that is what is existing for the
[39:28] HR and then the courts too would be the
$4,000 or $8,000 deductible. The
[39:34] employee contribution would be 45 a
month for single, 113 a month for a
[39:38] family plan, and then the county would
make a contribution to their HSA. Um,
[39:43] per year for a single would be 500, and
per year for a family would
[39:51] » Yeah. And with that, so we're not making
it free, but an employees net cost would
[39:56] be like a dollar a month to be on
coverage if they choose the HSA plans.
[40:00] By doing that, hopefully we have, you
know, your younger, healthy people that
[40:04] are waving coverage today because it's
too expensive
[40:07] find the plan to be a good fit. So,
we're doing everything we can to make it
[40:11] as close to free without being free and
still saving the county and the
[40:14] taxpayers a lot of money for the year.
[40:21] » Any questions, comments?
[40:25] Before we would go to the resolution,
I'll turn it to county administrator for
[40:31] her thoughts on on this.
>> I'm I'm in support of doing this. Um
[40:36] like Kyle stated, we've spent a lot of
time talking about this. Um I know there
[40:40] was some hesitation with leaving the
state plan because if we leave, there's
[40:43] a penalty if we go back. Um things that
we have to our advantage with leaving
[40:49] the state plan is we start to get our
data. We're able to start using that
[40:53] data to negotiate rates in the future.
we don't have that ability with the
[40:57] state plan. Um, and in all reality, we
got three different bids and they
[41:02] weren't bad bids. Um, so we're really
hopeful with being able to have our
[41:06] data, with being able to work with
employees on how to control costs that
[41:11] we'll be able to continue to get
competitive bids in the future. Um, we
[41:16] will continue to support being away from
the state plan.
[41:19] Are
>> there are there health incentives that
[41:21] go along with the court's plan? Whether
that's uh
[41:26] fitness center, health checks, things
that look forward to that might help
[41:31] these costs.
>> Can you answer that?
[41:35] » Yep. I I can I heard you. Uh so those
are all things that we would look to
[41:38] implement in the first year, two, three
years of working together towards us to
[41:43] keep rates down. When you're with the
ETF, there just isn't any reward for
[41:47] doing those things because even if you
have a good year of claims, you still
[41:50] get the increase of everybody else in
the state. So, we've already been in
[41:54] talks about steering employees to
centers of excellence, bringing in a
[41:58] wellness program in the future as well,
and those would be, you know, points of
[42:03] discussion for next year that we could
really turn on any time. Um, or um, you
[42:08] know, courts can include some of those
things, but we did not include those
[42:11] things in the court's plans today
because there's not a lot of that going
[42:14] on currently either. but with a $600,000
savings in county costs. Not that we
[42:21] want to spend that, right? But there's a
lot of things that the county could do
[42:25] with that, you know, to invest in
employees.
[42:31] After our meeting um two weeks ago, I
did send an email to all employees
[42:37] outlining what the next step was going
to be so that they were aware. I did
[42:42] say, "Please reach out if you had
questions." Um, I did have a couple of
[42:45] questions that were brought to me. Um,
but I did not have anybody with
[42:50] pitchforks outside of my office.
[42:54] » Yeah. And I I think it's worth just
reminding, you know, we did multiple
[42:58] educational meetings with your benefits
committee this year. We surveyed all of
[43:01] the employees and got really good
engagement from the surveys um to make
[43:05] sure that if we spent the time to
consider this, we were doing what the
[43:09] employees were asking for, not just what
for sure I thought was right or what the
[43:14] budget felt was right. You know, we
wanted to make sure that it was what
[43:16] they wanted, not just what we wanted.
[43:22] I really appreciate all the time and
effort that went into working with
[43:26] employees, surveying them, having
multiple codes, and coming up with when
[43:33] both employees and the company. So,
thank you.
[43:37] » Sounds like we're ready for the
resolution to be read.
[43:57] All right. Um, but we're going to
probably need that back on the screen.
[44:02] » Yeah,
>> thank you.
[44:06] Here we go.
[44:10] » Yep. I stopped. You want Do you want me
to stop sharing? Is that what you were
[44:13] saying?
>> Yes.
[44:17] I think I already did. Jeff,
>> I think we're good. I took it. Uh,
[44:23] resolution approving the contribution
and reimbursement schedule for health
[44:27] insurance for 2027.
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the
[44:31] Richland County Board of Supervisors
that approval is granted to change the
[44:34] premium and reimbursement schedule as
follows.
[44:38] Uh, ports one $1,500 to $3,000
deductible. Employee contribution $92 a
[44:45] month for a single plan 226 a month for
a family plan. HR reimbursement for the
[44:51] last 5001,000 of the deductible. 500 for
a single a,000 for a family. Quartz 2
[44:59] $4,08,000 deductible employee
contribution $45 a month for a single
[45:03] plan. $113 a month for a family plan.
HSA contribution by the county to the
[45:09] employee. $500 a year for a single.
$1,000 a year for a family.
[45:20] » Pleasure.
Motion by Kui, second by Welty. Any
[45:26] further discussion? All in favor signify
by saying I.
[45:31] » Opposed. Motion carries. Thank you.
Item number
[45:38] 12, discussion of possible action
resolution to leave the state of
[45:42] Wisconsin's employee trust funds health
insurance.
[45:46] » So if we are leaving um the state plan,
we have to provide notice to them by
[45:52] October 1st that we are going to be
leaving and that has to include a
[45:56] resolution by the full county board. So,
I do have a draft resolution um in the
[46:01] packet um that I would be asking you to
submit.
[46:06] » Please read it.
>> A resolution terminating participation
[46:11] under the Wisconsin Public Employers
Group Health Insurance Program.
[46:15] Now, therefore, be it resolved by the
Richland County uh Board of Supervisors
[46:19] that approval is granted to terminate
participation in the Wisconsin Public
[46:24] Employers Group Health Insurance Plan.
The further result is effective December
[46:29] 31, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.
[46:35] » Motion by Cooey, second by Thompson.
Any discussion?
[46:41] All in favor signify by saying I.
>> I. Any opposed?
[46:45] » Motion carries. Thank you.
Thank you for all your work
[46:50] and we appreciate your time.
>> Absolutely. Thank you everybody. Have a
[46:54] great night.
[46:59] Um
[47:02] item number 14.
So where this one comes from is when we
[47:07] were initially doing
the evaluation for the county
[47:13] administrator, we each ran into real
difficulties with the IT program and our
[47:23] iPad. So, what we'd like to do today,
um, Trisha's already talked to him about
[47:29] one issue that she'll talk about. What
we'd like to do is generate a list of
[47:34] issues that we'd like them to respond to
today.
[47:39] Okay. So, issues that we had that we'd
like it to respond to. And here is one
[47:46] and it's resolution from the
administrator.
[47:50] » So, one of the challenges was documents.
when documents are sent to you um and
[47:54] being able to complete them on the iPad.
What we're looking to do is that we will
[47:58] have them create the documents, them
send the documents to you so that we
[48:03] know that they are compatible to the
iPads. So that is one thing that we will
[48:07] look to do moving forward. Anytime there
is a document, we'll send it to them.
[48:11] They will send it out to so hopefully
that will help with that issue in the
[48:15] future.
>> Other issues
[48:21] And we should be able to send it back
filled out.
[48:23] » Yes. Yes.
[48:27] Send it again. Yes.
[48:33] » I know with mine when I tried to save
it, anything is Word. Word hasn't hasn't
[48:39] been uploaded on this yet. So, I'm
wondering if all the iPads have uploaded
[48:47] Word
programs on them or some do and some
[48:51] don't.
>> I don't I don't know because mine will
[48:55] say uh when it first comes on there's an
update to be done, but I don't have the
[48:59] room doesn't have the room on the
>> Okay.
[49:05] What I learned is there's this icon
that's iOS apps
[49:10] » and that anything that's in the iOS apps
is available to download to your iPad.
[49:18] » I didn't know that
until month or so ago.
[49:22] » What is the name of that icon?
>> iOS apps.
[49:30] » Looks like this. It looks Yeah,
[49:35] » but maybe I it got pushed to me because
I kept asking for things. Um,
[49:45] » and that is one thing that we'd like to
do when I talked with MIS is to create a
[49:50] kind of a frequent problem and how to
solve it. If we could even have that as
[49:55] an icon on your iPads that that might
help.
[50:00] So, one of the things that I've noticed
is when I go to the Richland County
[50:07] site
and if I'm navigating around and I go
[50:11] back every single time, it takes me to
the administrator page and I have to
[50:16] close it out al together, start over
again.
[50:21] Does anyone else have that problem?
>> Yep. It made me feel important.
[50:27] I I guess I didn't realize it had to do
that to be. Yeah.
[50:33] One thing I would like to correct with
this is every time I go to
[50:39] download all the little stuff in my
packet, my iPad will not do it. So, I
[50:46] have to go through a series of I have to
clear off all my back screens. I have to
[50:50] shut it off, turn it back on, go back
into it, and then try to download it. do
[50:56] it three times then it will download my
packets. That is a sequence I have to do
[51:01] every every single time or it will not
download my
[51:06] packet will only download if I'm here in
the room
[51:10] otherwise it's incomplete and it just
hangs up.
[51:17] So I haven't been downloading the
packets.
[51:23] Do you um one question they had, do you
shut down your iPads on a regular basis?
[51:28] » Yes. Okay.
>> Yes.
[51:34] » Wow.
[51:40] » So good.
[51:43] » I didn't I changed it up, but I don't
think I hit the middle button or
[51:47] something to change the temperature. No
over behind. you know, when we have 20
[51:52] different users with 20 different skill
sets in terms of computer, I wonder if
[51:59] you know, once
live by monthly we would have like a 20
[52:04] minute board accounting board session
iPad training
[52:11] or something like that basic basic iPad.
Well,
[52:15] » to get all 20 on the same page given the
skill sets can be really difficult.
[52:21] » Well, the other thing too is like like I
say, my iPad is as full as they can get.
[52:26] » I can't upload, you know, anything.
>> Uh there's there's stuff here like
[52:32] safety features or whatever. This little
guy just is not going to take it because
[52:36] there's no more room. And when I got
this iPad, I took it over across the
[52:41] street. Come to find out, he says,
"Well, yeah. you need these pictures.
[52:45] And I go, "What pictures?"
And he and he said, "Well, you I said, I
[52:50] don't need any pictures. I just need the
basics." And uh so when when some of
[52:56] these iPads are given out to county
board members, there's a lot of old
[53:01] stuff on there that should have been
clean before we even got them. And that
[53:06] takes up room
on your memory.
[53:12] And I know there's probably still some
stuff on this little guy that I don't
[53:17] know how to get to it or how to get rid
of it.
[53:24] » And they're old.
>> Oh, do you
[53:28] » any other thoughts or anything on this?
[53:34] » I would think if you ask the full county
board,
[53:37] they have list.
>> Pardon? I think if you asked the full
[53:41] county board of supervisors if they had
items, they would have four.
[53:46] » So, shortly after I got them in this
role, we did a county board survey with
[53:51] MIS. Would you like us to do that again?
>> Only if we can comment and note on it
[53:57] and send it back. Well, I might ask
you by um here's the previous survey
[54:05] that we did if you want to just take one
and pass it around and let me know if
[54:08] you want other questions added and then
I will have MIS add this to the packet
[54:13] or add share this with you so that it
can be fillable and returnable.
[54:19] Um
>> Microsoft
[54:21] something
[54:33] And like do you have access to Microsoft
Word on your iPad?
[54:36] » Access to it. Yeah. Ongoing training
pops right up.
[54:43] Well, it takes a while.
And they said that, "Oh, you can do this
[54:48] at home, but then it comes back to where
I have to have back down there with my
[54:53] computer and my phone is I'd like to be
able to have my emails on my phone
[54:58] » so that I have quicker access to them
rather than my iPad because a lot of
[55:02] times with that, you know, you have once
you flip it on all stuff and and and get
[55:07] your emails, I would rather be able to
see it almost like instantly every day
[55:12] on my phone." And I've kind of gone
round and round with them and they're
[55:14] like, "Oh yeah, you just do this, this,
this, and I do what they say at home and
[55:19] it doesn't work because then it says
needs
[55:22] provider access or something from it."
And it's
[55:26] I would love for them to be here and
just do it.
[55:31] » Anything else?
[55:36] » Thanks. And um
it's a good chance.
[55:42] » Um
[55:46] can we just quickly bring chair up to
date? Um we did pass
[55:53] 7.5 million and $2 million resolutions.
We postponed the county draft budget
[56:00] because the budget numbers weren't in.
We're going to do that Thursday.
[56:04] We did pass the county resolution on
county health insurance. We did pass the
[56:10] resolution to leave the state.
>> That's where we're at.
[56:16] Um,
now we are on number 16, which is
[56:23] supervisor's
question.
[56:27] » I'm sorry.
[56:32] » Oh, yeah. 15. 15. Yeah, that's a This
was your
[56:38] suggestion you put on the agenda.
>> Yeah, the board of adjustments currently
[56:43] has three members. We need five. And so
I would ask that
[56:50] the county board of supervisors to
perhaps contact people and see if we can
[56:55] bring people from throughout the county.
It'd be helpful if people were from
[56:58] different townships and not having
duplication with townships too.
[57:04] So I know that that's an issue with
board of adjustments and perhaps other
[57:08] committees that make I don't know.
[57:13] » We can certainly add that to the agenda.
It would be nice to have a short blurb
[57:16] about what the adjustments do.
I'm not sure everybody knows.
[57:23] » Yeah, I can talk about it. I'm not the
chair of that.
[57:26] I was going to say I did put something
on the news and announcement section
[57:29] about the board of adjustments probably
six weeks ago and had a little blurb of
[57:34] what it is, but we could add that to the
full county board packet and ask them to
[57:39] phone a friend and see if they can get
somebody.
[57:41] » That'd be helpful.
>> That'd be helpful.
[57:44] » If we have one issue where a member
would need to refuse themselves,
[57:53] » anything else on number 15?
Item 16, measures to increase effective
[57:59] communication. Tiffany, this was the
agenda item that you asked to have on.
[58:04] Yes, we talked about it a little bit
before in some other meetings and um
[58:10] wanted to bring it up again just because
I think it's a very useful thing with
[58:15] the different things that have come
across the county and different things
[58:19] that as far as not wanting to be
blindsided by the public on being asked
[58:24] different questions. It would be nice
that if um there could be just an email
[58:29] sent out from the administrator or
clerk, whoever has to send it out. So,
[58:34] it's not a a forum thing. Um, you know,
just to send out an FYI. Hey, look, this
[58:39] is what happened, you know, if questions
are brought up. Um, you know, hey, here
[58:45] here's a good response, you know, just
so that we're all on the same page. We
[58:50] come across with what I feel like a
unified truck so that it's not like
[58:55] somebody asks you a question, you I
don't know anything about that, you
[58:58] know, and and you just you're just
caught off guard and then you don't get
[59:02] back with with it. So that's that's what
I would like
[59:07] to kind of discuss.
[59:17] Do you have an idea or
[59:22] what what would the trigger be? What
would the the
[59:27] is it
the water cooler doesn't work? Is
[59:32] obviously we're not interested in that
people may be upset about. But I mean
[59:36] what what's what what do you create as a
trigger to make sure that that is a your
[59:41] guideline maybe
[59:46] I don't want to keep bringing up the
school board but with that what we've
[59:50] done through our guideline with that is
anything that would hit the media
[59:56] is what we put on there because anything
that's going to hit the media and of
[1:00:00] course nowadays you've got stuff going
on on social media constantly and it
[1:00:04] blows up in a hurry. Um, different
things like that. So, anything that
[1:00:08] would hit the media, it would be nice to
be notified it of it before it hits the
[1:00:14] media so that we're prepared.
Um, I know one comment was the
[1:00:21] while ago the flooding that happened at
the campus. I remember people asking me
[1:00:26] about that and I'm like,
I don't know what you're talking about.
[1:00:29] They're like, what was there flooding?
And I'm like, I don't think so. You
[1:00:32] know, I'm like, I didn't hear anybody.
Then it came on the radio, you know, and
[1:00:36] then, you know, it was the community was
all talking about why wasn't this, why
[1:00:41] wasn't this, why wasn't it, you know,
monitored and all all this stuff. It
[1:00:46] just would have been nice to say, here's
what happened. It was being looked
[1:00:50] after. This was, you know, just so you
could foresee like some of the questions
[1:00:56] that would come forth so that the county
would have been able as far as the
[1:00:59] county board would have been able to
feel those questions and all be looking
[1:01:05] like we all know what's going on.
[1:01:12] I know Darene if so going back to the
water situation that was a little
[1:01:18] » I learned about I wasn't on the county
board and I learned about it right away
[1:01:22] because I attended one of the standing
committee meetings where it was
[1:01:26] discussed and so I'm wondering whether
it would be helpful to have the ch
[1:01:33] committee chairs standing committee
chairs an ad hoc committee chair if
[1:01:37] there is an item that is somewhat
[1:01:43] of interest by others perhaps to submit
those to the county administrator and
[1:01:48] then the county administrator could
back
[1:01:55] that you that you received input. It
wasn't solely on you to figure out
[1:01:59] sifting through everything that comes
up. Is this an item or not? But perhaps
[1:02:03] the chairs of the committee that
entertains those topics.
[1:02:08] » Yeah. Like E. coli in Pine Valley water
is important. That'd be newsworthy.
[1:02:14] » That newsworthy idea. It's pretty clear
>> as long as we're not talking social
[1:02:19] media news.
>> Correct.
[1:02:22] » There's a difference.
>> There's a big difference.
[1:02:24] » Yeah.
Everything else
[1:02:29] has no weight to it whatsoever.
>> Yeah.
[1:02:32] » Yeah.
>> I do like the idea if the chair says,
[1:02:35] "Hey, administrator, please share this
with the board." I think they should
[1:02:38] know. I love that idea because it's not
just me trying to figure out what it is
[1:02:43] you want to know.
[1:02:48] Carrie, that might be part of your
chair's report. You recommend the
[1:02:53] department chairs that whenever there's
something newsworthy that happens that
[1:02:57] we inform all the capable members.
I think it's it could be department
[1:03:03] chairs, it could be standing committee
chairs. It's people that are informed
[1:03:08] and aware that they recognize that
there's a greater need to share this
[1:03:12] with the
>> it's pretty much common sense. I don't
[1:03:16] think we need a formal notion on it or
anything. And I would I guess I would
[1:03:21] think that if something comes up like
the campus wire, I guess for some reason
[1:03:26] that keeps creeping out. Um and I think
I was on that committee that brought
[1:03:31] that up and that was probably
days later, but we may not have had a
[1:03:35] meeting for three weeks.
So unless the chair knew about that to
[1:03:42] say, "Hey, maybe we should do something
about this."
[1:03:45] It just happened. I said that for three
days after it happened, we had a meeting
[1:03:50] and I got a call on it too and I I
called the administrator said going on
[1:03:56] and answered questions.
I think it's pretty common sense because
[1:04:01] last time I remember it happened real
clearly was when the county board chair
[1:04:06] found out about the election, he sent
that right right about right away.
[1:04:09] » Okay. Right.
>> Yeah. So it it was pretty clear. So in
[1:04:13] that case, it wasn't it wasn't presented
at a meeting, but he found out about
[1:04:16] something and then address it.
>> Then he immediately responded to
[1:04:20] » perfect what you're saying. They didn't
have to wait for for that committee to
[1:04:23] have a meeting,
>> right?
[1:04:25] » Make that decision. All right.
>> That makes more sense.
[1:04:28] » I understand
>> because that was media focused.
[1:04:33] » Anything else on this
hearing? None. We will move on to number
[1:04:40] 17, the close session. The chair may
entertain a motion under close session
[1:04:44] pursuant to Wisconsin statute section
19.85
[1:04:48] considering employment promotion
compensation and performance evaluation
[1:04:52] data by the employee over which the
government has jurisdiction or exercise
[1:04:57] responsibility the county administrator.
[1:05:02] Do we have a motion to go into close
session? Motion by second by Kramer.
[1:05:09] Roll call vote please.
[1:05:15] Kramer,
>> yes.
[1:05:17] » Angel,
>> yes.
[1:05:18] » Wely,
>> yes.
[1:05:20] » Johnson,
>> yes.
[1:05:21] » Frank,
>> yes.
[1:05:23] » Sever
[1:05:30] » speaking up.