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County financial consultant reports steady first quarter; ARPA closeout raises unassigned fund balance
Summary
A consultant told Ashland County's Finance & Economic Development Committee that first-quarter finances show no major problems and that closing out ARPA claims this year will add roughly $2.6 million to the county's unassigned fund balance; the committee discussed levy-limit debt practice and year-end reporting.
Ashland County's outside financial consultant briefed the Finance & Economic Development Committee on first-quarter results and on the county's American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) closeout, saying he did not see anything materially amiss.
"This is your report for the first quarter through March 31 of this year. Nothing too drastic here. I don't see anything that's, you know, a problem," the consultant said, reviewing year-to-date amounts and noting a key timing difference with prior-year revenues. He said the county's general fund revenue this year is materially different from last year because a one-time property-tax aid payment tied to delinquent Sanborn properties was received last year but not this year.
Why it matters: the committee heard that closing out ARPA claims now reduces the county's exposure to changing federal guidance and will bring a lump sum into county books that the board can later allocate. The consultant described a specific approach used to fully "earn" ARPA revenue by documenting qualifying 2024 expenditures (chiefly sheriff salaries and earlier capital repairs), which will allow the county to recognize roughly $750,000 of previously unclaimed ARPA-eligible costs and increase the unassigned fund balance to about $2.6 million.
Details and context: the consultant explained a common municipal borrowing practice under Wisconsin levy-limit law: the county issues a 366-day note (a one-year-plus note that qualifies as long-term) in late calendar year to fund capital purchases for the following year, and then repays the note when property-tax receipts come in. "We take a 366 day note out ... we have no prepayment penalty. So when the taxes come in in February, we pay it off," he told the committee.
On ARPA, he said county staff and consultants filed the county's ARPA report by the April 30 deadline and claimed eligible 2024 expenses so the county can recognize the remaining ARPA balance rather than trying to use ARPA funds to pay ongoing plan-year insurance deficits directly. "We just couldn't directly fund your deficit. ... You're still gonna get to do what you wanted to do, but we just had to go about it a different way," he said. The consultant recommended closing out the ARPA accounting now because evolving federal guidance could put unearned amounts at risk.
The consultant also described routine year-end reconciliation steps. He told the committee the state financial report form A (the Department of Revenue filing) would be submitted on time and may require an amendment later after the county's auditors complete last-minute journal entries.
Committee response and next steps: members asked clarifying questions about how remaining elevator and other 2024 invoices will affect the recognized balance; the consultant said he would confirm project-specific accruals and return with any needed clarifications. No formal action was taken beyond acceptance of the consultant's report.
Ending: committee members said they were comfortable with the closeout approach and asked staff to provide any follow-up detail on specific accruals and the timing of note repayments.
