Rock County board adopts 2026 budget after votes on sirens, highways, parks and staffing

Rock County's Board of Supervisors approved the 2026 recommended county budget as amended after hours of debate over a series of finance committee proposals on Wednesday, voting 27-2 to adopt the final package.

The meeting began with several finance-committee amendments to the administrator's recommended budget, all of which were incorporated into the final budget. Among the changes the board approved were funding for digital-evidence software and new laptops and scanners for the district attorney's office ($73,948), the addition of 0.4 FTE in the veterans office ($19,530) funded by reductions to board per diems and community initiative payments, the reclassification of two facilities positions and the addition of a float maintenance assistant, and a $70,000 allocation for a security-information and event-management solution to strengthen county IT security.

The board also voted on several amendments that shifted how sales tax and health-insurance fund balances will be used. The finance committee's motion to postpone a planned $531,000 upgrade to the county's siren system and instead redirect sales tax to reduce the debt service levy passed on a roll-call vote, 19-10. Kevin Wernett, the county's emergency-management director, told supervisors the current activation system is unzoned, unencrypted and partly dependent on aging radios and local power; he said the proposed upgrade would add encrypted cellular receivers, site batteries and zoning to reduce false and countywide activations.

The board also approved a finance-committee amendment moving $2.2 million from the health-insurance fund balance to pay for two highway road projects and reduce 2026 debt issuance by a like amount. Finance staff explained the transfer reduces planned borrowing for capital work but drew concern from some supervisors who said the health-insurance trust should be preserved to protect employees and to avoid potential rating impacts.

Several borrowings and projects were postponed or reduced. The Sportsman's Park Shelter project was postponed with a $700,000 reduction in 2026 debt issuance; supervisors cited either roof repairs or grant opportunities as reasons to delay. The board also reallocated some sales tax previously budgeted for capital projects to lower the debt levy.

On personnel matters embedded in the budget, supervisors approved a $1-per-hour wage adjustment in place of the originally recommended 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment; that change was estimated to cost $460,650 and was funded from the health-insurance fund balance. The board also approved a reclassification package for two facilities positions and added a maintenance assistant position the facilities director said will reduce outsourced contract spending over time.

The final budget totals in the adopted resolution were presented by the finance director as approximately $79.79 million for 2026; finance staff explained that the county's equalized property value rose, meaning the aggregate levy increased while the equalized mill rate fell slightly from the prior year.

Quotes from the meeting capture the competing priorities. Kevin Wernett said of the siren system, “Our siren system is based on technology that's 30 or 40 years old...the system is unsecure...the proposal is to push us over to an encrypted cellular receiver that works off the cell phone system.” Supervisor Grama warned against delaying safety upgrades simply to reduce the tax levy: “I'm not gonna vote to delay funding for sirens and safety to give a tax cut to folks.”

The board recessed briefly after the budget vote and moved on to set the tax levy and rate for 2025 under a separate resolution. The tax-levy resolution passed on a recorded voice; finance staff said the county's levied dollars rose but the equalized mill rate declined due to higher assessed values.

The board will now implement the changes included in the amended budget and staff said several items still require follow-up: purchasing steps (RFPs/bids) for capital projects, PS&J committee vetting on certain projects and administrative actions to execute reclassifications and hires. The chair announced a recess and the meeting then moved to remaining consent items and adjournment.