Dunn County executive committee flags $1.98M gap after round‑one budget review

County Manager (Dan) told the Dunn County Executive Committee on July 22 that round‑one budget modeling shows a projected gap of roughly $1,980,000 after the department submissions and initial revenue estimates.

"So we're looking at with the new revenues that we're projecting and the expenses that had been submitted in round 1 ... we're looking at a deficit about 1,980,000," the county manager said, noting state aid and other figures were still projections pending the state's formal release. He summarized projected changes in state aid (about $80,000), clerk of courts fee revenues (about $99,000), and a projected $267,000 from net new construction.

The manager emphasized that levy policy and discretionary revenue treatment shape how much of those costs can be covered. He said the county did not change levy rates in the round‑one submissions and asked supervisors to weigh tradeoffs among salary and benefit priorities, placements and CIP projects. For one‑time design costs in the 2027 CIP, he suggested using county road and bridge fund balance rather than general fund levy to avoid immediate levy pressure.

Supervisors discussed the 'poker chips' prioritization exercise used with department heads and asked staff to return with refined figures for Round 2. Jenna, who is compiling standing‑committee summaries, said the process is in phase 3 and that standing committees will return priority lists for executive‑level guidance.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the overall gap; staff said they would return with updated numbers after state figures are released.