Dunn County committee backs 'service catalog' operational planning to guide 2027 budget

The Dunn County Executive Committee agreed to pursue an operational-planning approach to help set budget priorities for 2027, asking standing committees to build a "service catalog" that defines core services and outcomes and using a 'good / better / best' framework to show public consequences of service levels. Presenters from UW Extension and county staff described a two-part workshop series to guide committee chairs and department heads through creating the catalogs and metrics.

Garrett (UW Extension) explained the process and encouraged committees to develop policy-level "lenses" (for example, fiscal sustainability and equity) that will guide evaluations. Presenters used practical examples — parks mowing schedules and senior nutrition delivery — to show how levels of service map to public outcomes. Chair McCullough framed the urgency: "We are essentially in a budgetary emergency and have been for a decade," and said the process is meant to help the county make hard decisions in the context of limited revenue.

Board members raised concerns about timelines and the scale of work for complex departments such as human services; staff said committee-level work would begin in May with deliverables timed to inform the July/August budget workshops and the first committee meetings for the new board in May 2026. The executive committee indicated general buy-in and asked staff and department heads to begin developing the catalogs and lenses.