The Sawyer County Finance Committee heard an updated treasurer’s report and approved reinvesting a $3 million certificate of deposit on a motion Tuesday, while members discussed budget pressures ahead of the 2026 budget cycle.

Treasurer Brian Lehner told the committee that tax-collection efforts and recent land sales have improved county revenue this year. “We’ve collected $8,446,000 in revenue … about $500,000 more ahead of schedule,” Lehner said, and reported that county land sales have disposed of 26 of 37 listed parcels.

The reinvestment decision came after Lehner recommended replacing a maturing $3 million CD with a PMA WISC CD at a quoted rate of about 4.16 percent. Stacy Hessel moved to approve the recommendation; Mark Hellwig seconded the motion. The committee voted to approve the recommendation (motion recorded as “approved” in the minutes). The committee did not record a roll-call tally in the transcript for that vote.

Why it matters: County officials said the improvements in collections and land sales help the county’s near-term cash position but do not eliminate budgetary challenges expected in 2026. Lehner and other speakers flagged rising costs in purchased services — particularly out-of-county placements in human services — as a driver of a projected structural deficit that the finance office will continue to analyze.

Key details from the meeting: Lehner said 7 properties were acquired after an August 11 judgment day and that some owners may try to repurchase properties. Sale proceeds from the parcels were presented in the treasurer’s report as roughly in the range of $270,000–$275,000 in total. Sales-tax settlements tied to May activity were reported as approximately $55,000 higher than the previous high for that month, and Lehner said sales-tax receipts are projecting about a 7 percent increase year over year on current trends.

Lehner also reviewed department-level budget performance through July (about 58 percent of the fiscal year). He said overall county revenues are running slightly ahead when netting out fund-balance draws and that county forest stumpage and investment interest have been stronger than budgeted. Human services revenues lag and are commonly grant-timing dependent, while purchase-of-service expenses have increased and are an area of concern.

Other items: The committee discussed strategic-plan input requests being circulated to committees to identify areas of focus for a county-wide strategic plan. Members were briefed that the county’s ARPA funding has been fully expended and that investment balances look smaller than a year ago primarily because last year’s report included unspent WISC note proceeds (roughly $3.4 million) that have since been drawn down.

Hazard mitigation funding — a roughly $90,000 grant the county had been at risk of losing — was added to the agenda. The treasurer said the grant “is back on the table” but not finalized and the county will continue to monitor its status.

The committee approved the minutes from the prior meeting on a motion by Tom Duffy, seconded by Jeff Haney (vote recorded as approved in the minutes). Committee members closed with routine committee updates and a reminder that the Sawyer County Fair was underway.

The finance office said it will present a preliminary budget report at the September finance committee meeting and continues work to identify revenue and expense adjustments to address a projected 2026 shortfall.