County bank account is in a healthy spot

There’s a certain level of comfort and feeling of security that comes from a fat bank account.

That’s the feeling Ozaukee County officials have as they prepare to craft the county’s 2027 budget with the largest cash reserves ever, thanks to an influx of state and federal cash in recent years, record-setting sales tax collections, favorable interest rates and conservative planning.

“The county, as an organization, benefits from focusing on fiscal matters and has excelled at that for many years,” County Administrator Jason Dzwinel said this week. “Undoubtedly, our cash position has improved by investing smartly, the strength of sales tax collections and inflows of funds from the state and federal governments in the last 5 years.”

County cash reserves totaled almost $47.7 million in June, up more than $5.2 million from same point in 2025.

That’s more than double from the same month in 2019, before the pandemic, when cash on hand was $22.1 million and almost $10 million more than 2021, when federal American Rescue Plan Act funds began pouring in.

The county received $17.3 million in ARPA funds and sent more than $3 million to the municipalities for emergency  medical services and more than $1 million went to nonprofit organizations in the county. The county constructed a community based residential facility at the Lasata Campus and completed more than 25 other capital projects with the funds.

Dzwinel said the swelling saving accounts is due in part to the ebb and flow of tax collections throughout the year.

  “Much of the increase of cash that the county currently has on hand is due to increased tax levies in cities, villages, and towns in Ozaukee County,” he said, explaining that the county holds half of the property tax collections for the other levels of government in the county and pays those funds out in the August during tax settlement period.

And taxes went up for many of those municipalities because of referendums to support emergency medical services.

“A total of 10 municipalities increased their levies $5.8 million for 2025 countywide. In addition there was a school district that passed an operating referendum of $1 million,” Dzwinel said. “At least half of those funds will be held by the county.”

More money in the bank means more interest earnings, which have steadily climbed for the county.

Through June, interest payments to the county have totaled $880,736, County Treasurer Sandi Tretow said.

Last year, interest earnings totaled almost $1.82 million, compared to $1.3 million in 2024, and $1.37 million in 2023.

Meanwhile, sales tax collections continue to climb, setting records every year.

Through April, sales tax collections in the county have totaled nearly $4.28 million compared to $3.59 million in the first four months of 2025.

Last year, the county collected $12.65 million in sales tax revenue, a record, according to the state Department of Revenue. It collected almost $12 million in 2024, also a record at the time.

While all that money is earning interest, a lot of it is committed to projects or specific reserve accounts.

For instance, the Transit Department, which operates the Share Ride Taxi, has more than $2 million in a fund balance, thanks in large part to the largesse of the federal government. That fund been used to purchase new vehicles and cover other capital costs.

The Human Services Department also maintains reserves totaling about $1 million, plus $1.7 million in opioid settlement funds to fund efforts to combat drug use and mental health issues. That fund is expected to grow by another $2 million through 2038 as a result of a court case involving drug manufacturers and retailers.

But what to do with the funds that are not committed.

During last year’s budget debate, with revenues rising, costs dropping and a $3 million budget surplus, some county supervisors suggested that the money be returned to taxpayers in some fashion, including dropping the tax rate precipitously.

Doing so is generally frowned on, however, because a sharp drop in the tax rate often leads to sharp increases in subsequent years.

Taxpayers prefer stability vs. tax rate whiplash, officials say.

Other supervisors suggested banking the money instead since savings rates at the time were around 3%.

Dzwinel and County Board Chairman Lee Schlenvogt, however, suggested paying down debt, which at the time was costing the county about  2.25%.

“We’re not really supposed to be a savings account for the taxpayers,” Schlenvogt said at the time. “This is one of the only ways we can return money to the taxpayer. If we can help by giving some of it back, we should do that.”

So, that’s what the County Board approved  this past February, paying off about $1.2 million in bonds, saving more than $400,000 a year over three years beginning in 2027.

The county also used about $400,000 in cash reserves to purchase vehicles for the Sheriff’s Office instead of paying for them via the property tax rolls.

“In total, these uses of reserves return more than $1 million per year to the taxpayers,” Dzwinel said.