In a 23-0-2 vote, the Portage County Board of Supervisors passed the $98 million 2016 budget, Monday, Nov. 1. Supervisors Dale O’Brien and Jeanne Dodge were excused from the meeting.

The budget will be finalized at the next regular board meeting Wednesday, Nov. 11. Portage County Executive Patty Dreier will have until that time to make vetoes to the board’s budget, though Dreier said she has no vetoes to submit this year.

The board made several changes to the original budget proposal, including a vote to reinstate funding to the tune of $10,000 to the Portage County Public Library so that it can continue to have Sunday hours.

Due to a tight budget this year nearly all of the county departments were asked to make reductions, varying from 1 to 7 percent, depending on the department. Increases in insurance costs, decreasing state funding and a net new growth of only 1 percent limited the 2016 budget.

The library was among those departments asked to reduce its $1.6 million budget.

“We are squeezed on county levy, and we are going to continue to be squeezed,” Dreier said. “There was a 1.5 reduction asked of the library, just as most units were asked to make reductions. It’s a tough thing to do.”

Part of the measures the library was going to have to take to meet the budget allocation was closing on Sundays, which would reduce staff hours and thereby reduce operation costs. Supervisor Tony Patton proposed reallocating $18,000 from either the Portage County Business Council contract, the Stevens Point Area Convention and Visitors Bureau or the contingency fund.

Several members of the public spoke at the meeting and asked the board to maintain funding for the library, saying the library was a valuable asset to the community.

Supervisor James Gifford amended the proposal, reducing the figure to $10,000 and instead suggesting the funding come from county sales tax, which finance director Jennifer Jossie projected to be higher than originally estimated. Jossie said, with the sales tax trending upward, there will likely be enough extra to cover the $10,000 for Sunday hours.

The board voted 22-1 in favor of Gifford’s motion, with Jerry Walters voting against the amendment.

Patton proposed two other amendments, one to reinstate $40,000 to the library to be used for materials and updating library equipment, and one for an additional $18,000 to fund new positions for seasonal hours and a 20-hour reference clerk. He suggested that the funding be taken from the contingency fund.

The Finance Committee recommended rejecting both amendments, and the board voted both down. The amendment to reinstate $40,000 failed 7-16. Voting in favor of the amendment were supervisors Tom Mallison, Chris Doubek, Dave Medin, Jeff Presley, Marion “Bud” Flood, Tony Patton and James Krems.

Voting against the amendment were Perry Pazdernik, Dan Dobratz, Bo DeDecker, Stan Potocki, Don Butkowski, Donald Jankowski, James Gifford, Allen Haga, Philip Idsvoog, Jerry Walters, Larry Raikowski, Matt Jacowski, Barry Jacowski, Lonnie Krogwold and James Zdroik.

Patton’s last amendment failed 5-18, with support from Mallison, Medin, Patton, Krems and Gussel.

Dreier suggested an alternate funding source of a matching grant and partner with community organizations as a one-time source of revenue for the library. The library used to be supported in part by the efforts of a group called Friends of the Library, which helped to raise private funds for day-to-day operation.

“It was a valuable capacity that our citizens used to help raise funds and leverage private dollars with public dollars to make improvements and enhancement to our library. I would like to propose that we incentivize the development of our Friends group again,” Dreier said.

She recommended that the county offer a matching grant of up to $25,000 to be taken from contingency, for the next two years. If the private dollars can be raised, this would give the library an additional $50,000 for materials.

“It is an opportunity for stakeholders to step up and say ‘I care about my library and I want to enhance it and here is a way.’ We would be increasing revenue to the library rather than only dealing on the expenses side of the equation,” Dreier said.

The board did not vote on the suggestion Monday, but it will be taken into consideration at the committee level. If deemed appropriate, the matter will return to the County Board at a later time.

Another change the board made was to increase the Emergency Medical Services levy by $36,000. This came at the last minute after negotiations were settled with the city of Stevens Point and the Amherst Fire District to provide ambulance services for the county. The Stevens Point EMS contract will increase by 0.5 percent and Amherst’s contract, which was still due a 1 percent increase from last year, will see a 1.5-percent increase.

These funds will be used for such things as supplies, equipment maintenance, transportation and wages.

The increase was approved 22-1, with Barry Jacowski voting against the amendment. Jacowski voiced concerns over the fact that the Amherst Fire District still has not updated its ambulance service to a paramedic level. He said the plan to upgrade to a paramedic level has been in the works for several years, but still hasn’t come to fruition, and he would like to see that happen.

The increase to the EMS tax levy will bring the tax rate to $5.11, which is the same as the tax rate from the previous year.

After the board made its final adjustments to the budget, the total tax levy came to $26.7 million, with a total budget of $98,693,898.

“It certainly wasn’t an easy budget time or budget scenario for us. Closing a million dollar gap was no small endeavor,” Dreier said. “Maintaining the kinds of services at the levels and in the ways we have done it in this budget is really a good thing for the people of Portage County.”