County warned of funding cuts

Wisconsin’s emergency preparedness efforts are facing oversized cuts with the potential reduction in federal funds. Taylor County Emergency Management Director Dan Gellert raised the alarm about shortfalls to members of the county’s law enforcement and emergency services committee on June 12. “We will have a drastic cut in Wisconsin emergency management,” Gellert said, reporting to the committee members about a recent legislative day visit taken to Madison. Gellert noted that cuts have already been felt such as the freeze imposed on the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. The county had been involved in updating emergency plans through the program and had contracted with Northwest Regional Planning Commission to do the work. Gellert said the county is working to get the first billing paid for and submitted for reimbursement before the state says there is no funding available. He cautioned the county could end up having to pay it out of county funds if the grant does not cover it and the efforts to update the hazard mitigation plan are on hold. Gellert warned that if the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) goes away the county needs to be prepared. He said one of the concerns is that the Wisconsin Disaster Fund has been underfunded at the state level. In other emergency management efforts, committee members approved a resolution calling for support of local and state emergency management programs. Members also approved a resolution proclaiming August 2025 as Emergency Management Appreciation Month. Gellert said this is an opportunity to get out and talk about what emergency management does. Committee members also received a jail report that there are currently 31 inmates in the jail with eight of them from Marathon County and six from Price County.