Marathon County infrastructure committee reviews 2026 budget, flags deferred capital and highway shop financing questions

Administrator David Leonard told the Marathon County Infrastructure Committee on Oct. 2 that the proposed 2026 budget implements the county board—s priorities, reduces the county tax rate and relies on shared sacrifice across departments to fund a countywide wage study.

"This really is ... the county board's budget," Leonard said, adding that department heads and staff aligned their requests with budget priorities and assumptions adopted by the full board.

The budget aims to reduce the tax rate while maintaining services and funding board priorities such as the minimum revenue guarantee and continued homelessness funding. Leonard said roughly 15 full-time-equivalent positions were defunded across county departments as part of the effort to balance costs.

Nut graf: The committee heard that while…