Jeff French, Barron County administrator, presented a data‑driven review of the Wisconsin Counties Association’s 2025 "Green Book," saying the report shows Barron County is aging, has mixed job and population trends, and maintains comparatively low per‑capita debt while receiving above‑average state aid.

French led with demographics. He said the share of residents age 65 or older has increased to roughly 24.1 percent — “one out of 4, 25% of the people living in Barron County are aged 65 or older,” he said — and the county’s share of residents ages 25–64 has fallen. He told viewers that population change in Barron is smaller than the state median and that nearby Saint Croix and other counties are seeing stronger growth, in part from migration out of the Twin Cities.

The presentation turned to county finances. French reported Barron’s total county expenditure per capita in 2023 as $1,288 and described the county as relatively frugal compared with neighboring counties. He flagged several line items: highway expenditures per capita rose to about $133 (partly reflecting a new highway shop and earlier one‑time costs), general obligation debt per capita was about $491, and per‑capita personal income had risen about 22.5% from the base year though it still trailed the state average.

On social services, French said Barron spends about $518 per person on health and human services and linked the larger share of older residents to higher HHS costs. He also read the Green Book’s observation that health and human services is the largest county expenditure category and that keeping people in their homes is generally more cost effective than institutional care.

French described state aid patterns and tax measures. He read a WCA table showing statewide average state aid per person near $297 and said Barron received roughly $415 per resident in his readout, putting the county above the state average and median. He also clarified the property tax levy per capita (2024 levy payable in 2025) was about $485 and said Barron’s mill rate was about $3.25 per $1,000 of assessed value; he attributed recent millage declines in part to a roughly 21% increase in equalized property valuation over two years.

Housing and local economy figures rounded out the talk. French reported a 2024 median house price in Barron of about $269,900 (up ~13% since 2022), net new construction activity near 1.55% for the county (versus a 1.6% statewide average), and a corrected sales tax collection per capita of roughly $135. He noted job growth over the 2019–2024 period was weak in many counties and said Barron’s five‑year job growth measured about -2.4%, with unemployment creeping to about 3.6%.

French repeatedly framed these numbers as informational rather than judgmental. “This is meant to present what’s going on in Barron County,” he said, and he offered to provide viewers the spreadsheet or a PDF on request. The 2025 Green Book he cited was produced by the Wisconsin Counties Association with analysis from Forward Analytics.

The presentation included multiple side‑by‑side comparisons to neighboring counties (Saint Croix, Burnett, Washburn, Rusk and others) and emphasized that while some measures show strength (rising associate‑degree attainment, household income growth), demographic shifts and commuting patterns pose challenges to workforce and tax bases going forward.

French closed by asking viewers to request the spreadsheet if they wanted the underlying tables and reiterated that the review was informational. "I will certainly give it to you in the form of a PDF or in some other form," he said.