By Shereen Siewert
The Marathon County Board of Supervisors on Thursday unanimously passed next year’s $171 million budget, while amending the budget to continue fiscal support for five nonprofit organizations that would have seen their funding reduced in 2020.
The Women’s Community, United Way’s 211 program, North Central Community Action, the Marathon County HIstorical Society and the Entrepreneurial Bootcamp will retain their funding for 2020, but with some changes.
“…we did it in a way that changes our relationship with these organizations,” said Dist. 1 Supervisor Katie Rosenberg, on her supervisory Facebook page. “We won‘t just give them donations anymore, we’ll contract for services and demand metrics and an understanding of outcomes for the county.”
The decision only impacts the 2020 budget, which means the issue will come up again next year.
Crime Stoppers, The Boys and Girls Club, Marathon County Development Corporation, Partners for Progressive Agriculture, the Wisconsin Valley Fair and Judicare’s Mediation Services Project will see their county support phased out, starting with a 25 percent reduction in 2020.
“We still have work to do,” Rosenberg wrote. “We need to continue advocating for and supporting the District Attorney’s office. There’s a real problem with how the state has allocated prosecutors. It’s not fair, their workloads are unsustainable, and we need the state to step up and support justice in Marathon County.”
