Executive Committee - Regular Meeting — Minutes

Chippewa County Executive Committee Regular Meeting August 4, 2026 Chippewa County Courthouse, Room 302 4:30 PM 1. Call to Order The Chair called the meeting to order at 04:30 PM 2. Roll Call Members Present: Jason Bergeron, Joel Seidlitz, Kari Ives, Joseph Roshell, Karen Lotts Members Absent: Others Present: Others Present: Andy Albarado, Traci Bremness, Leah Simington, Brad Viegut, Jessica McDonald, Brittnay Fortuna, Bobbie Jaeger, Todd Pauls, Andy Bauer, Dennis Bachman 3. Members of the Public Wishing to Be Heard (Comments will be limited to 5 minutes per speaker.) 4. Consent Agenda (Unless separation of an item is requested, all items will be adopted under one motion.) Motion: Approved Result: Passed (5 - 0) Mover: Karen Lotts Seconder: Kari Ives Ayes: Jason Bergeron, Joel Seidlitz, Kari Ives, Joseph Roshell, Karen Lotts Nayes: None Absent: 1. Approve the Agenda 2. Approve the Minutes - July 21, 2026 3. Schedule Next Meetings: • Special Meeting 08/10/2026 • Regular Meeting 08/18/2026 5. Reports 6. Updates, Announcements, and Correspondence 1. County Board Chair Report 2. County Administrator Operation Report 7. Business Items 1. Resolution Establishing Parameters for the Sale of Not To Exceed $7,500,000 General Obligation Promissory Notes - Andy Albarado/Brad Viegut Albarado stated this resolution will streamline the process. The committee will establish the parameters and then we will lock in based on that criteria. Viegut explained this resolution also delegates authority to finalize the terms to the County Board Chair once the parameters are met. The County Board Chair will sign the documents to finalize everything. The parameter resolution allows us more flexibility to have more time in the market so we can get a better sale. The preliminary plan is to settle this on 09/02/2026. Then we will have the information to report to the County Board on 09/08/2026. The closing date for the sale is set for 09/21/2026. This resolution requires a majority vote at the county board level. This item was reviewed by the committee and will be forwarded to the County Board for review at the 08/11/2026 meeting. Motion: Forwarded to the County Board Result: Passed (5 - 0) Mover: Karen Lotts Seconder: Joseph Roshell Ayes: Jason Bergeron, Joel Seidlitz, Kari Ives, Joseph Roshell, Karen Lotts Nayes: None Absent: 2. Resolution to Approve Tax Levy for Salary Adjustments in 2027 - Andy Albarado For the 2027 budget, Albarado recommended at 3% across the board increase for employees on July 1, 2027. In addition, Albarado recommended a 1% increase to the control point for grade 1, which will increase the entire salary schedule by approximately 1% effective July 1, 2027. The progression between each grade will also increase from 6.1% to 6.2%. The increase to the salary schedule is consistent with the recommendation from our compensation consultant, Cottingham Butler, as part of the 2025 market analysis implementation and to remain competitive in the market. Seidlitz commented that the public wants us to make some cuts because they keep hearing about borrowing for the hospital. He stated the committees and departments aren’t finding any cuts, so he thinks the Executive Committee needs to make some hard decisions. He does not oppose the 3% across-the-board increase for the current employees but thinks we should keep using the old 2026 salary grid. The taxpayers are hurting. Oftentimes, they are not getting raises and their taxes keep going up. We need to figure out some kind of freeze somewhere along the line. Roshell also commented that it seems like we are always adding. They hear we are lacking, but then we keep adding more debt. He doesn’t think we should be adding positions either. Albarado explained that we can only increase our operating budget by net new construction. At this time, the estimate for 2027 will be a 1.77% increase, so that’s how much we can increase our budget. If we reduce the operating budget, then we would lower the amount of levy. Albarado clarified that if we left the salary schedule as is, it will result in current employees at the max not getting any salary increase and it also impacts those at minimum/starting. Albarado commented that departments are being asked to do more with less. He is recommending two new positions for 2027, one in Human Services and the other in Public Health. There were several other new position requests as part of the RWC. Even though those positions don’t require levy funding, they do require other levy funded positions to help support them, so he is not recommending that we add them at this time. Last year we did ask employees to start contributing towards their health insurance premiums. Bergeron does not support salary cuts as a way to save money. Public sector employees do not get paid what the private sector does. Oftentimes, they have good benefits to help offset it. If we need to make cuts, he doesn’t think it should come from salaries. Ives commented that departments are required to do more but don’t have additional staff and the current staff get burned out. It’s a difficult balance between trying to retain the employees so we can continue to provide the services. This item was reviewed by the committee and will be forwarded to the County Board for review at the 08/11/2026 meeting. Motion: Motion to amend the resolution to authorize the 3% ATB increase and to continue to use the 2026 salary schedule for 2027 Result: Passed (3 - 2) Mover: Joel Seidlitz Seconder: Karen Lotts Ayes: Joel Seidlitz, Joseph Roshell, Karen Lotts Nayes: Jason Bergeron, Kari Ives Absent: Motion to Amend: Forward to the County Board as Amended Result: Passed (3 - 2) Mover: Kari Ives Seconder: Jason Bergeron Ayes: Joel Seidlitz, Joseph Roshell, Karen Lotts Nayes: Jason Bergeron, Kari Ives Absent: 3. Resolution to Establish Health Insurance Plan Funding for 2027 - Andy Albarado Albarado explained in July 2026, our broker Brown & Brown provided us with a rate increase of 4.2% for the 2027 health plan renewal. The County has built a 5% increase into the Position Based Budgeting (PBB) reports that were provided to our department heads in June to help them prepare their 2027 department budgets. No additional plan design changes or additional employee contributions are being recommended for 2027. Seidlitz questioned if it would be bad if we passed some of the increase onto the employees. This item was reviewed by the committee and will be forwarded to the County Board for review at the 08/11/2026 meeting. Motion: Forwarded to the County Board Result: Passed (4 - 1) Mover: Kari Ives Seconder: Karen Lotts Ayes: Jason Bergeron, Kari Ives, Joseph Roshell, Karen Lotts Nayes: Joel Seidlitz Absent: 4. Resolution to Convert One LTE Environmental Health Specialist to One Part-Time Environmental Health Specialist Position in the Department of Public Health as Part of the 2027 Budget - Andy Albarado/Brittnay Fortuna Albarado explained the recommendation is to eliminate an existing LTE position and replace it with one part-time (1,044 hours) Environmental Health Specialist to expanding responsibilities including water laboratory operations, water quality monitoring, recreational water monitoring, Food Safety & Recreational Licensing inspections, and environmental health outreach and education. This position will be funded primarily by Environmental Health fee revenue generated from water laboratory testing and Food Safety & Recreational Licensing Program’s non-lapsing fund balance. This item was reviewed by the committee and will be forwarded to the County Board for review at the 08/11/2026 meeting. Motion: Forwarded to the County Board Result: (5 - 0) Mover: Kari Ives Seconder: Joseph Roshell Ayes: Jason Bergeron, Joel Seidlitz, Kari Ives, Joseph Roshell, Karen Lotts Nayes: None Absent: 5. Resolution to Create One Part-Time Social Worker Position in the Department of Human Services, Mental Wellness & Recovery Division as Part of the 2027 Budget - Andy Albarado/Bobbie Jaeger Albarado explained the County’s aging population continues to increase with approximately 21% of residents now age 65 and older. The number of screened-in Adult Risk referrals has increased by 39.3% between 2018 and 2025. This position will help address the increased workload for Adult Protective Services and will be funded entirely through County levy beginning with the 2027 budget. This item was reviewed by the committee and will be forwarded to the County Board for review at the 08/11/2026 meeting. Motion: Forwarded to the County Board Result: Passed (5 - 0) Mover: Kari Ives Seconder: Joel Seidlitz Ayes: Jason Bergeron, Joel Seidlitz, Kari Ives, Joseph Roshell, Karen Lotts Nayes: None Absent: 6. The Executive Committee will convene in closed session pursuant to Wisconsin State Statute 19.85 (1)(c) – “Considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility” (Review applications and select finalists for the County Treasurer position). The committee recessed to closed session at 5:24 p.m. Closed session to include Andy Albarado, Traci Bremness, Jessica McDonald, all committee members, and other County Board Supervisors. Motion: Approved Result: Passed (5 - 0) Mover: Joseph Roshell Seconder: Karen Lotts Ayes: Jason Bergeron, Joel Seidlitz, Kari Ives, Joseph Roshell, Karen Lotts Nayes: None Absent: 7. The Executive Committee will reconvene to open session. The committee reconvened to open session at 6:28 p.m. Motion: Approved Result: Passed (5 - 0) Mover: Karen Lotts Seconder: Joel Seidlitz Ayes: Jason Bergeron, Joel Seidlitz, Kari Ives, Joseph Roshell, Karen Lotts Nayes: None Absent: 8. Agenda Items for Future Consideration 9. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at: 06:30 PM Result: Passed (5 - 0) Mover: Joel Seidlitz Seconder: Karen Lotts Ayes: Jason Bergeron, Joel Seidlitz, Kari Ives, Joseph Roshell, Karen Lotts Absent: