Committee adopts stepped user-fee plan, amends Resolution 17-25 to fund ice-arena repairs

The Marathon County Human Resources, Finance and Property Committee on March 12 adopted a substitute amendment to Resolution 17-25 and then approved the amended resolution, directing staff to carry the committee’s funding plan and user-fee changes to the County Board.

The amendment replaces a flat, $80,000 user-fee plan with a stepped fee increase and adjusts the other funding sources in the draft resolution. Committee members voted unanimously to adopt the substitute amendment and then voted unanimously to approve the original resolution as amended.

Why it matters: committee members said the stepped approach reduces immediate taxpayer impact while signaling long-term reliance on user groups for capital participation if the county continues to operate the ice arena.

The committee and staff described a funding package the draft resolution lists at about $690,000 in total needs. The package discussed during the meeting includes: $290,000 carried forward from excess timber-sales revenue from 2024, $110,000 identified as excess timber-sales revenue from 2025–2026, a proposed $130,000 reallocation from a fence-repair CIP item, an advance from the general fund to be repaid over multiple years, and an increase in user fees. Under the option initially presented, $80,000 of the total would come from user-fee increases (about $20,000 per year). The alternate, stepped approach that the committee adopted would phase larger percentage increases over four years (examples discussed: 7.5%, 10%, 12.5% and 15%), which staff said would yield roughly $112,500 in additional user fees over the period and alter the portion needed from reserves.

Polly, parks director, told the committee the most urgent technical needs are the rink mat system and refrigeration piping work needed to ensure ice availability in the fall; she said the cooling tower “is on borrowed time” but that staff backed the cooling-tower work out of the immediate package to allow deeper capital planning and specific vendor quotes through the county’s capital process. Polly said a preliminary 2024 cost-recovery run for indoor-ice operations showed about 93% cost recovery for the season and an estimated $16,000 operating subsidy for 2024, subject to final accounts receivable adjustments.

Sam (staff member) summarized the draft budget entries in the resolution and the mechanics of the proposed funding. He described the timber-sales carryover, the CIP reallocation, the proposed user-fee increases, and an advance from the general fund to be repaid in $20,000 increments in subsequent years. He also explained that adopting the stepped fee approach would change the dollar amounts pulled from general-fund reserves and the timing of repayments.

Committee members discussed who pays (general users, contracted teams such as the Cyclones, and high-school programs) and how contractual rates limit immediate changes for some users. Jamie (staff member) said raising the baseline fee by the adopted increment would translate to roughly a $10-per-hour increase for general users under current usage assumptions but added that added programming or camps could offset some of the increase.

Supervisor Marshall and other supervisors noted the need to seek external support where possible; staff said municipalities’ room-tax proceeds are typically limited to marketing and event support and are not generally available for capital, with the exception of a local practice cited for Weston.

Formal actions: Supervisor Hart moved to adopt the substitute amendment reflecting the stepped fee approach; Supervisor Lemmer seconded. The substitute amendment passed unanimously. The committee then approved the original resolution as amended, unanimously. The committee asked staff to prepare the substitute-amended resolution for the County Board packet.

What’s next: staff were directed to update the resolution language and the funding tables to reflect the committee’s substitute amendment and return the revised packet materials when the item goes to the County Board.