Sawyer County veterans office reports more than $21 million in benefits returned in 2024; tribute study moves toward site testing

The Sawyer County Veterans Service Office told the Administration Committee that its 2024 services brought more than $21 million in federal, state and other benefits to county veterans and their families and outlined ongoing outreach, burial and transportation assistance.

"Our office brought $9,326,616 directly to our veterans and their spouse's pocket for the disability, claims and pension," the Veterans Service Office reported during the committee meeting, and added additional VA health-care and other benefits in 2024. The office also reported nearly $1 million in dependency and indemnity compensation and almost $146,558 in returns from the Wisconsin Disabled Veterans Property Tax Credit for eligible veterans.

Why it matters: Committee members said the veterans office represents a substantial county investment return. The office contrasted its operating budget of roughly $175,706 for 2024 with the benefits it helped secure and emphasized both direct cash payments and noncash supports such as VA health-care enrollments, transportation to specialized care in Minneapolis and assistance with burial benefits and education programs.

Details: The office provided multiple program tallies and outreach metrics. Among the items presented were:

- Retroactive disability payments and direct benefit payments totaling in the millions across several benefit categories. The presenters separated some home-loan figures provided by a state data source from the main benefits total because the county office said it could not verify the county-level home-loan accounting reliably.

- Transportation: 47 veterans transported to Minneapolis VA Medical Center for specialized care in 2024.

- Contacts: the office logged more than 16,000 contacts for 2024 across phone, email and in-person service points (the presenter summarized the total contacts as 16,052).

- Veterans relief fund: the commission administers a small, need-based grant (typically capped at $500 per veteran per year with up to two applications) to assist with emergency needs such as utilities; the county treasurer pays approved grants directly to vendors.

Officials and colleagues praised the staff. "I'm humbled to work with the veterans," an office staffer, Nicole, said, describing how cases become more complex the more the office staff learn about secondary medical conditions and benefit interactions.

Tribute project update: The committee also received an update on the veterans tribute planning study. Phase 1 (background research) flagged two historical holding tanks on the prospective property and the committee discussed the necessity of completing phase 2 core samples to check for subsurface contamination before purchase or final design. The county has asked consultant SEH to schedule the phase-2 work; SEH reported the task remains in its docket.

What the committee directed or decided: Committee members did not vote on a purchase or on mitigation actions tied to the tribute site at this meeting. The committee asked staff to follow up with the consultant and to report a schedule for the core sampling once SEH confirms availability.

Local context and next steps: Members noted the veterans office's high return-on-investment figures and encouraged continued outreach. The tribute project will proceed to site testing if and when SEH completes phase-2 sampling; the committee emphasized due diligence before moving to purchase or construction to avoid future mitigation costs.

Ending: Committee members thanked the veterans office staff for outreach across the county and encouraged attendance at upcoming veterans events listed by the office.