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Administrator and staff preview 2026 budget impacts for conservation, parks and solid waste
Summary
County Administrator and staff told the Environmental Resources Committee the proposed 2026 budget is largely status quo for departments under the committee, highlights include fee adjustments, position defunding and preserved funding for select priorities.
Marathon County Administrator Leonard and department staff presented highlights of the proposed 2026 budget to the Environmental Resources Committee on Sept. 30, describing a largely status-quo package with targeted adjustments for department revenue, fees and staffing.
Administrator Leonard told the committee most departments under ERC (Conservation, Planning & Zoning; Parks, Recreation & Forestry; Solid Waste) worked to align fee-for-service revenue with personnel and operating costs. He said the budget includes fee increases in areas such as nonmetallic mining and park services, and that some positions were defunded countywide to accommodate the compensation plan update — roughly the equivalent of 15 full-time positions countywide, one of which was within CPZ and one within Parks, Recreation & Forestry.
Solid Waste staff described plans to reduce overtime and modify Saturday hours to control costs; staff said that department’s reserves have been depleted by recent construction and operations costs. Parks staff and the administrator said the county re-examined cost allocations for multi-jurisdictional services (for example, parks services provided to the City of Wausau and the Aging and Disability Resource Center shared across counties) to ensure intergovernmental partners share support-service expenses for HR, legal and finance.
Administrator Leonard highlighted two specific budget additions the board has directed: a minimum revenue guarantee for Central Wisconsin Airport and continued funding to address homelessness in coordination with the city of Wausau and the Health & Human Services Committee. The HR Finance chair noted the HR Finance Committee accepted the budget and that the county will publish the budget Oct. 13 and accept amendments through public hearings and committee action in November.
Committee members asked for timing and access to documents; staff said the budget was posted prior to the committee meeting and that standing committees should review and provide input in the October–November schedule. No formal committee action was taken; the presentation was informational and staff invited committee members to offer amendments before publication and the public hearing process.
