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Residents urge restoration of funding for Vernon County Historical Society and SMRT bus during budget hearing
Summary
During a Nov. 20 public hearing on the proposed 2026 budget, multiple residents requested restoring cuts to Vernon County Historical Society funding and to SMRT regional bus service; the board later added $15,000 to support SMRT but did not restore the Historical Society appropriation.
The Vernon County Board held a public hearing on the proposed 2026 budget at 9:00 a.m. on Nov. 20. Chair Lorn Goede asked speakers to sign in and use the podium. Several residents addressed the board seeking restoration of budget cuts for local services.
Dian Krause of Viroqua, who identified herself as board chair of the Vernon County Historical Society, asked the board to restore the funding that had been cut in the proposed budget. Lonnie Muller of LaFarge and Kevin Alderson of LaFarge also urged the board to restore Historical Society funding; Muller additionally proposed using Ho-Chunk funds to replace the county contribution. Multiple speakers from Viroqua — including Leslie Sullace, Jennifer Morales, Kathleen Kroska and Franchesca Voeltz — and speakers from Union and Hillsboro urged restoration of funding for the SMRT bus service.
After public comment, Supv Muller moved “to thank everyone for their comments and close the public hearing on the proposed Vernon County 2026 Budget,” and the Board closed the hearing. Later in the meeting the Board approved an amendment to the budget to contribute $15,000 toward SMRT service using excess sales tax revenue, but a motion to restore $12,500 to the Historical Society using Ho-Chunk funds failed on a roll call vote (5–13–1).
