Administrator warns of likely staffing cuts in 2026 budget as county faces limited net-new construction revenue

County Administrator Leonard told the Public Safety Committee on Sept. 9 that 2026 budget work is underway and that the county will likely need to reduce funded positions to balance rising personnel costs against limited new tax levy. "We're certainly going to have to make cuts," Leonard said, adding he expects to not fund "probably no less than 8" vacant positions outside the sheriffs office and that the sheriffs office funding for vacancies will be discussed separately.

Leonard described the countys constrained fiscal capacity: Marathon Countys net new construction equalized value is 1.68 percent, which he said yields about $837,000 of new operating tax levy, while payroll exceeds $70 million across roughly 750 employees. Given the disparity between personnel cost growth and available new levy, Leonard said staff are targeting vacant positions in several departments for non-funding and will pursue efficiencies and shared staffing where possible.

He listed preliminary examples of positions not proposed for funding in 2026: one Register of Deeds position that has been vacant, one Clerk of Courts position, two positions in the Health Department, and one position in Facilities and Capital Management. He also said the county will modify the UW-Extension contract rather than funding a full position and will have follow-up meetings with the sheriffs office about attrition-based funding.

Committee members asked whether the county planned to increase tax levy to cover these costs. Leonard said he does not find it reasonable to eliminate levy support for the medical examiner or other services immediately; instead the administration plans to maintain or modestly increase levy support in 2026 while pursuing fee revenue and establishing a non-lapsing reserve account to stabilize operations.

No formal motions were recorded on budget cuts at the meeting; the discussion was informational and intended to guide department follow-ups and the administrators forthcoming budget proposal.