Dodge County HR Committee agrees to pursue Wisconsin Deferred Compensation option for employees

The Dodge County Human Resources Committee voted to move forward with adding the Wisconsin Deferred Compensation (WDC) program and asked staff to prepare a prefilled resolution to send to the county board.

Emily Lockwood of the WDC told the committee the program, administered under the state Employee Trust Funds (ETF) umbrella, has operated since the 1980s and now includes roughly 71,000 participants and $8.5 billion under administration. "By state statute, this plan has to be non‑profit," Lockwood said, explaining that fees are capped and reviewed by actuaries; under current rules participants pay an annual fee only if their account balance exceeds $5,000 (noted as $46.80 per year). She described participant supports including local advisors who provide no‑cost one‑on‑one planning once an employee is enrolled.

Human Resources staff told the committee the county would not incur a cost to offer WDC and that the program could be added in addition to existing deferred-compensation plans or through a freeze/merge approach for current plans. The HR Director said the next step would be a committee consensus and a resolution to the county board; the committee moved and approved a motion to proceed. The committee asked HR to include informational materials in the county-board packet and to target bringing the resolution back at the April HR meeting for subsequent county-board action. The committee recorded the action as a voice vote with no opposition.

The committee asked HR to notify affected employees and coordinate payroll set-up and any necessary mapping of existing plans if employees choose to roll balances into WDC. HR staff said implementation could take a few weeks to a few months depending on payroll coordination and whether existing plans are merged.