County calls for state to reverse human services funding cuts

Taylor County Human Services is getting proactive as director Suzanne Stanfley asked the board to support signing a resolution to forward to the governor’s office in response to the 25% cut that hit the Northern Income Maintenance Consortium during a meeting on Wednesday, September 10. The resolution asks the state to figure out where that 25% will come from rather than leaving counties to come up with funding. Stanfley reported that the Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA) has asked all counties to take part in the resolution.

Board member Scott Mildbrand said, “We send these in all the time and it’s just a waste of time, the feds are going to do what they're going to do.”

Stanfley responded that if the state doesn’t come up with a solution, counties will be forced to make cuts in their workforce. In addition, the Northern Income Maintenance Consortium is tasked with keeping errors in foodshare allocations low, and when the consortium doesn’t meet error rates set up by the state, they’re faced with paying that money back.

Mildbrand questioned if income maintenance was overstaffed, stating that the department is still getting their work done after the loss of one position.

“I’m not going to agree with you,” said Stanfley. “The amount of workforce we have now is working to our benefit because we are one consortium that has the lowest error rate.”

“I think the real problem is our consortium is probably one of the best in the state and they have a low error rate, the frustration is that other counties, other consortiums that aren't doing their job properly are causing the problem,” said board member Mike Bub. Bub lamented the individuals who are abusing the system by utilizing services when they are able to work.

The board also discussed their 2026 budget which will call for a general tax levy of $1,662,800, an increase of $64,800. Employee wages increased $151,268 from 2025 to 2026, partially because the 2026 budget was based upon 49 employees while the 2025 budget was based on 46. Contracted clinical services remains comparable to 2025. The board voted unanimously to approve the budget.

In other business, the board:

• Heard that the executive committee voted unanimously not to pursue action against the Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) of the Northwoods for the total repayment of a $75,000 loan the county made for assistance with cash flow. Earlier this summer the county received a check for $52,000, leaving $23,000 of the loan unpaid.

• Approved unanimously three new contracts that Human Services planned to enter into; Jefferson County Human Services’ Youth Crisis Stabilization Facility, Prentice House, and Oakbrook Health and Rehabilitation in Thorp.

• Voted to remove the global positioning system (GPS) monitoring systems from three of the vehicles used by Human Services after a lengthy discussion. According to Stanfley, she has logged into the GPS monitoring system once since she has returned from maternity leave. “I feel it’s a waste of county money,” she said, with board members reporting that it costs $240 per vehicle each year. Stanfley reported that if she is concerned an employee hasn’t returned back from an appointment or transport on time, she will first call law enforcement to track the individual’s cell phone rather than log into the GPS portal. Furthermore, she does not believe that her staff is taking advantage of the county vehicles. Bub stated that he felt the resolution should be written in such a way that requires all vehicles to be tracked as different committees aren’t following the resolution as it was intended. “I do not understand why we’re making resolutions that are optional,” he said. The committee voted to remove the trackers from human services’ vehicles with Bub and Scott Mildbrand opposed.

• Learned that the quarterly surveys the department is required to send out to their consumers are seeing a rise in participation after switching to online surveys. 16 have been completed this quarter, with feedback that workers are professional, helpful, and kind.