Board approves 2026 capital improvement funding and several sales-tax transfers; first reading held on zoning ordinance updates

The Chippewa County Board of Supervisors considered the proposed 2026–2030 capital improvement plan (CIP), heard departmental summaries, and approved a series of resolutions authorizing sales-tax transfers and fund uses for highway projects, facilities and parks, IT equipment, land conservation, the sheriff’s office and the Chippewa Valley Regional Airport as part of the 2026 budget.

County staff summarized the 2026 items in the CIP. Highlights included a proposed $500,000 Phase 2 replacement for the large parking lot north of the courthouse (facilities and parks), a Branch 3 jury box remodel, planning funds for a sheriff’s department remodel, highway and bridge projects totaling approximately $11.3 million in projected expenditures (funded by sales tax, borrowing, and grants), fleet and IT replacement programs, and land-conservation items including planned Hickory Ridge warming shelter and maintenance-shed work funded primarily by state grants and donations.

Supervisors raised questions about prioritizing projects paid from discretionary sales-tax revenues versus those funded by grants or restricted aids. One supervisor noted the parking lot had received a chip seal as an interim measure and suggested deferring full…