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Board adopts anti-crime Plan C to restore court security funding, bolster dispatch pay and add positions
Summary
The Washington County Board unanimously adopted an anti-crime funding package (Plan C) that restores court-security funding aided by Wisconsin Act 179, adds a drug-prosecution position, increases dispatch pay to aid recruitment and reinstates a radio grant program; the package includes fiscal adjustments to be addressed in a fall reconciliation resolution.
The Washington County Board unanimously approved Resolution 16, a package labeled anti-crime Plan C that funds a mix of public-safety pay adjustments, one district attorney position focused on drug prosecutions, dispatch pay increases and radio grants.
Mister Seager, who presented the item, said Wisconsin Act 179 — enacted earlier in 2026 — will increase court fees and generate roughly $336,000 that helps offset some of the plan’s costs. He described the plan as addressing court security, supporting a drug prosecutor dedicated to narcotics prosecutions and adjusting pay and classifications for sheriff’s administrative staff.
Seager emphasized recruitment and retention concerns in dispatch: "It takes a special person to be a dispatcher... we're still not fully staffed," he said, urging pay adjustments and noting the mental-health stresses associated with the job. The package also included restoring a radio grant program with $200,000 to replenish a fund that had been exhausted.
Mister Dahl summarized fiscal implications and a plan to close a projected structural gap: the fiscal note showed a $72,000 shortfall in 2026 and a larger $142,000 gap in 2027; Dahl said the board will address the latter with a budget reconciliation item in the fall and that vacancy savings and other revenue measures could help absorb near-term impacts.
Supervisors across the aisle expressed support while asking questions about longer-term funding sources such as opioid-settlement receipts; a county staff member said the county will receive opioid-settlement payments through 2038 and that about $5 million remains in proposed or unspent allocations. A friendly amendment updated the funding exhibit and source language; Supervisor Bossert moved the amended resolution and Supervisor Mary seconded. The amended resolution passed unanimously by electronic vote.
The board’s action directs county staff to implement the plan and return with any additional fiscal-repair language as part of the upcoming budget reconciliation work.
