County staff seek to recognize $19.88 million in delayed federal transit revenues and move funds into debt service reserve

County staff asked the Committee on Transportation and Transit to note receipt of $19,882,876 in delayed Federal Transit Administration reimbursements originally budgeted for 2024 and to authorize depositing the funds into the county’s debt service reserve.

Joe Lamers, director of the Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance, told the committee the county submitted a reimbursement request in June 2024 but did not receive the federal reimbursement until May 2025. Under governmental accounting rules the revenue could not be journaled back into the 2024 fiscal year after that year was closed, so the administrative request is to place the funds into the debt service reserve in 2025 to “mirror what would have happened at year end.”

Lamers said the late receipt reduced the 2024 county surplus (and thus the usual deposit to the debt service reserve) and that a delay of this length was unusual. He cited turnover at the federal administration and other processing delays as reasons. Lamers said one practical cost of the delay was lost interest earnings while county bank balances were lower than they would have been. He offered to follow up with a calculation of estimated interest loss when asked by a supervisor.

The item was informational to the committee and was referred to the Committee on Finance for action, per the statutory referral noted in the presentation (section 59.6 sub 8, Wisconsin state statutes). Committee members asked whether the funds might be applied to labor contracts, but Lamers and staff said the funds are intended to restore the accounting treatment that matched the original 2024 budget and not to substitute for other appropriations.

The committee took no formal vote on this informational item; staff said the item will be considered by finance.