Here’s a guest column from Joshua Schoemann, the Washington County County Administrator.

If you’ve had time to see local newspaper headlines lately, or you’ve thumbed through the newsfeed of your favorite social media app, you may be inclined to be a bit pessimistic.  Do not be dismayed my friends, there is plenty to be optimistic about here in Washington County!

While doing some work this past week in preparation for a visit by Governor Walker, we took a long overdue tour of the building affectionately referred to as the “Old Courthouse.”  Many of you may know this building as the current home of the Washington County Historical Society.  Others may recall the building from days gone by as the place where you picked up your marriage certificate, birth certificate or conducted other county business.  However, if you see this building today, one can hardly pass through the walls of the gorgeous relic and not feel the history surround you.

In admiring the interior of the building during my visit that day I couldn’t help but wonder what those who came before us would think if they could see us now.  I could almost hear them saying, “Look how far you’ve come! This community (our County) has so much going for it. What was once a small rural outpost between Milwaukee and Fond du Lac is now a beautiful rural suburban haven, close enough for commerce and culture yet far enough for peace and tranquility. You have so much opportunity!”

As I stepped out of that beautiful building and sat down to write this month’s column I did so with a new found energy and optimism.  This community is in fact extremely blessed.  The opportunities for innovation and improvement are almost endless.  We have so incredibly much to offer to ourselves and those who one day will call Washington County home.  We have fantastic schools, just take a look at our national rankings, and our state test scores.  We have a wonderful network of nonprofits supporting a quality of life for all citizens of our County.  We have terrific natural resources.  Where else can you go where you live 30 minutes from the hustle and bustle of the big city, and yet are surrounded by beautiful woods, marshes and farm country? We have a superb business community with incredibly generous corporate citizens.

Picture for yourself the beauty of the Romanesque Revival architecture of our “Old Courthouse”.  Now consider, if you will, what it must have took to build that wonderful structure back in the late 1880’s.  I can tell you this, it wasn’t done by any one person alone.  The only way such an amazing building was erected at that time in history was by the collective effort of hundreds of people dedicated to making their community one beautiful piece of Wisconsin.

We have so incredibly much going for us in Washington County.  Now we need to take the collective work of the hundreds of thousands of us who call this place home to build whatever the next “old courthouse” is going to be.  In the words of John F. Kennedy, “One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.”

This is a no brainer. There is not reason that taxpayers should own and run a golf course. Even if it might start to turn a profit, it’s not worth having on the books as a liability if it doesn’t turn a profit. Furthermore, the county government has no business running a business in direct competition of private businesses in the county.

Sell it. Move on.

“The arguments against it are very principled,” Schoemann said. “Government should not be in the business because the sport can independently make it on its own. On the other side of the coin now though, we have just paid off, last month, the final debt payments on the course, and now we believe the course will create some profit.”

Schoemann said the Washington County Golf Course is one of the highestrated courses in the area. It first opened in 1997, but the initiative started in 1991 thanks to contributions from several private donors, including Walter Malzahn of West Bend.

In yet another example of how every vote counts – especially in those local elections.

In the Feb. 16 primary for the District 22 seat on the County Board, Zoulek finished tied for second with incumbent Supervisor Dennis Myers with 234 votes. But Canvass Board meetings in Richfield and Germantown on Monday produced one more vote from an absentee ballot for Zoulek, breaking the second-place tie. The Washington County Board of Canvassers reviewed the ballots and certified the results during their meeting Tuesday morning.

First-place finisher Rock Brandner also received one more vote through an absentee ballot filed in Richfield, giving him a final total of 438. Dale Peterson finished last with 74 votes.

This is a positive thing to wake up to today.

It was a struggle, but after a more than a two-and-a-half hour debate Washington County supervisors Thursday night finally approved the budget for 2016 that includes another tax cut.

Several amendments were offered during the lengthy meeting at the county courthouse, but a final budget was approved that calls for the mill rate to decline nine cents from about $2.69 per thousand in 2015 to about $2.60 per thousand in 2016. The rate change means that for a home with the median value of about $226,000 the average county-wide tax on the home would be $589 — a $21 reduction from 2015 when the same home would have paid $610 to Washington County.

In a year when county officials could have increased tax revenue with little impact on taxpayers to offset increases in the cost of doing business, the 2016 budget reduces the county’s tax levy by $250,000.

The total tax levy for 2016 will be about $35,176,000.

Sadly, this could be the most contested Washington County Board election in a generation.

Earlier this year, the Washington County Board of Supervisors voted to downsize from 30 to 26 members as part of a larger government reorganization effort.

At the July 14 County Board meeting, supervisors voted on what the redistricted county would look like for the 2016 election, when everyone will run for their respective seat. Only two supervisors voted against the draft plan, which the board ultimately passed.

This means there may be up to four contested elections with eight incumbents in the spring.

The county has redrawn districts 3, 8, 13 and 22 as effective next year, with two incumbents each in their borders.

County Board Chairman and District 2 Supervisor Herb Tennies and District 3 Supervisor Ralph Hensel will both reside in the new district 3. The area covers the west-central and southwestern sections of West Bend.

Tennies announced earlier this year he would not run again for county board chairman after holding the title for eight years. County Board chairperson is elected by supervisors, not popular vote.

Tennies has not made up his mind whether he will run again for county board supervisor, however. He said he will make the announcement in the fall, when supervisors take out election papers.

Huzzah, huzzah… this is long overdue.

The Washington County Board will reduce its size to 26 members from 30, effective April. In a 16-10 vote at today’s meeting, some supervisors said they opposed the measure because they wanted an even greater reduction than proposed.

A 26 member board is still too large, but it is worth recognizing that they voted to do it themselves. Kudos to the 16 board members who voted in favor of this. Now let’s work on reducing it further.

Some excellent things happening in Washington County.

As presented at the May 13 meeting of the Washington County Board of Supervisors, Schoemann committed to reducing the County’s tax levy by one million dollars, or about three percent. Schoemann also aimed to discontinue the historic practice of “across the board” cuts by department, instead employing a measured approached based on needs and priorities. Schoemann then subscribed to the County Board’s initiative to invest in the employees of Washington County, seeking to work a modest cost of living adjustment into the 2015 budget.

When asked about what key factors led to this budget, Schoemann noted, “For starters, we were again fortunate to take advantage of savings related to the retirement of another $1.5 million of debt, which translates to roughly $550 thousand in annual debt payments. This savings, combined with various efficiencies across several departments helped make it possible to return one million dollars back to the taxpayers of Washington County, while also providing the ability to propose a two percent cost of living adjustment for our employees on March 01.”

The proposed 2015 County budget achieves a number of unique milestones, including the largest reduction in County tax levy, as a percentage, in over 30 years; the largest reduction in County tax rate, as a percentage, in over 30 years; the lowest County tax levy since 2005; the lowest County tax rate since 1985; and, the first cost of living adjustment since Act 10.