The Village of Ashwaubenon Finance and Personnel Committee on May 30 reviewed four finance policy updates — debt management, continuing disclosure, fund balance and purchasing — and approved them as presented, with staff noting only limited changes to purchasing card procedures.

Why it matters: Debt, disclosure and fund balance policies guide long‑term borrowing capacity, investor transparency and reserve targets that affect credit ratings and budget flexibility.

Debt and capacity: Greg, a finance staff member, summarized the village’s debt position and statutory limits. He said Wisconsin law caps general obligation debt at 5% of equalized value and noted the village’s theoretical limit and current use. "Your statutory is it's 5% of your equalized value," Greg said, explaining that while the village could carry substantially more debt by statute, it currently uses only a portion of that capacity and that ratings agencies consider prudent limits when assessing creditworthiness.

Continuing disclosure: Staff reiterated the village’s use of EMMA (the federal Electronic Municipal Market Access system) for required investor disclosures after debt issuances and said the village has been posting budgets and annual financials as expected.

Fund balance and purchasing: Fund balance policy retains a 20–30% target range. Purchasing policy changes are administrative and focus on how the village processes credit card charges and thresholds for quotes and bids. Committee members asked whether long‑lead capital procurements (for example, fire trucks or refuse trucks) need additional explicit language; staff said outlier purchases are handled through existing board approval steps and that they would review whether the purchasing policy could be clarified further for multi‑year procurement arrangements.

Action taken: A motion and second to approve the debt management, continuing disclosure, fund balance and purchasing policies carried on a voice vote.

Next steps: Staff said it will review the purchasing policy language regarding long‑lead vendor arrangements and return with suggested edits if needed.