County staff propose special revenue fund for transit; state and federal grants cover most operating costs

Walworth County staff told the Transportation Coordinating Committee on June 2 they plan to recommend creating a special revenue fund for the county's transit program to improve transparency and fiscal management.

Mark (county staff) and Jessica Conley (mentioned in packet) explained that a separate fund would make revenues and expenses for Walworth County Connect easier to track year-to-year and more visible in county financial statements. Mark said that, historically in other jurisdictions, transit has been treated as an enterprise-like fund to isolate its finances from general county operations.

Raul (Finance) briefed the committee on current fiscal performance and grants. He said the program is running below the budget-utilization goal for the first four months (26.6% actual vs. 33.3% target for that period) and noted the county received a WisDOT payment of $287,044 for 2025. Staff also told the committee the shared-ride taxi grant agreement remained pending at the state level but that the county typically receives notice of awards in the summer; the state application is submitted in December.

In discussion about funding mix, staff said state and federal funding together cover roughly 54% of total operating costs and the county levy covers approximately 46%. Staff noted that increasing farebox recovery would lower levy dependency but did not propose immediate rate changes at the meeting.

No formal budget action was taken; staff said they will include the special revenue fund proposal and updated budget materials for committee review during the county budget development process leading up to presentation of the administrator's budget in September.