[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.

Executive & Finance Standing Committee - 2026/09/08

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