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Dunn County considers discounted land deal to help staff childcare shortage
Summary
County staff told the executive committee they will pursue a negotiated sale of a small county parcel to a local developer to create childcare capacity with prioritized placements for county employees; the facilities committee will review agreement language in January before executive and full-board consideration.
County manager Dan told the executive committee the facilities committee has authorized staff to pursue negotiations to sell a small parcel near the county parking lot at a steep discount to a local individual planning a childcare facility. Dan said the county would seek an arrangement that provides "some prioritized placement for our employees to be able to get their kids into that childcare facility" in exchange for the land.
Staff argued the partnership has potential budgetary benefits: Dan described how filling childcare slots for employees could reduce overtime or contracted staffing costs when positions cannot be covered because of family leave, citing a local example and concluding the county could recoup the cost of the discounted land over time. He noted infant wait lists are long, saying, "wait lists for an infant are over a year."
Dan said county staff will draft parcel boundaries and agreement language; the plan is to present materials to the facilities committee in January, then to the executive committee before going to the full board. If the agreements are not finalized in time, the schedule could slip into February.
