The Vernon County Board passed three resolutions last week which will be considered by the Wisconsin Counties Association at its annual meeting in La Crosse in September.

The board met last Thursday and passed resolutions forwarding the Vernon County Sales Tax to the Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA) for its endorsement; seeking the end of unfunded state mandates; and opposing proposed changes to the state’s prevailing wage law.

The board was not supposed to meet in May. The meeting was set up so the items could be passed by the county board in time to be on the WCA’s annual meeting agenda.

"It was critical that we hold this meeting now so these resolutions could be passed before June 15," Vernon County Board Chairman Tom Spenner said. "These resolutions are important to us, timely and really important statewide."

The resolutions regarding the Vernon County Sales Tax and an end to unfunded state mandates have local origins.

Last year, county voters approved a referendum to establish a .05 percent sales tax to be used to pay for dam repairs. Since that referendum has been passed, it has not been considered by the state legislature, which must pass the measure before it can be implemented.

If the resolution is approved by the WCA, it will go before the legislature.

When discussing the sales tax resolution, Supervisor Kevin Gobel said he was disappointed the county’s referendum had made no progress at the capitol.

"It should have been in Madison being dealt with," Gobel said.

In a telephone interview Tuesday morning, Rep. Lee Nerison (R-Westby), said introducing a bill regarding the sales tax now would lead to its failure.

"There isn’t support for it, and I’ve been talking to both sides of the aisle," Nerison said. "I’m trying to find money allocated somewhere else to be used to repair Vernon County’s dams — federal stimulus money, money in the budget of the Corps of Engineers, any money that would fix what needs to be done."

Nerison said he wants to exhaust all other avenues before drafting a bill on the sales tax. He said getting a bill supporting the county’s sales tax to be considered by the legislature could take four to six years.

Nerison said in Wisconsin there are 31 counties that have damage to high hazard dams. That damage totals about $82.5 million. To get the dams fixed will take a concerted effort by the governor, who Nerison is trying to meet with personally to discuss the scope of the problem.

Vernon County’s resolution regarding its sales tax, which was passed by the board, does not specifically reference dam repairs, although that was the focus of the referendum county voters approved. County corporation counsel Greg Lunde said the resolution was simply in regard to a sales tax to improve county infrastructure, because other counties would like to use the same method to pay for other repairs.

The resolution regarding the sales tax passed, 27-0. Supervisors Chet Lee and Harry Baller were excused from the meeting.

The resolution seeking the reduction of unfunded mandates was originally brought forward by Vernon County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Jim Hanson. Hanson told the county’s strategic planning committee about escalating problems with state mandates about three months ago.

"What we regularly see is the state mandating that the county provide some service and funding it for two years," Spenner said. "Then after the next budget, the state drops its funding, but we’re still under the mandate to provide the service, for which there’s no money."

The resolution reducing unfunded state mandates passed, 27-0.

The third resolution opposing proposed changes to the state’s prevailing wage law passed on a vote of 21-6.

This resolution came from the WCA and it opposes an effort by Gov. Jim Doyle to have the prevailing wage law changed.

In addition to arguing that changes in the state’s prevailing wage law would hurt rural contractors, the information preceding the resolution said that the prevailing wage law should not be changed by the governor’s budget, but rather by a separate legislative bill.

In another matter, the county approved a resolution to establish a social services aide position for the Aging and Disability Resource Center.

The aide position is completely funded by federal and state money. If that money would no longer be available, the position would be eliminated, county human services director Pamela Eitland said.

"The public needs to understand we’re not making bigger government," Gobel said.

The resolution passed on a 26-1 vote with Supervisor Todd Overbo casting the lone dissenting vote.