Dunn County Board approves 2026 budget with lower tax rate and an ambitious road improvement program

MENOMONIE, WI — The Dunn County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday, Nov. 12, overwhelmingly approved a 2026 budget that continues the recent trend of reducing the tax rate used to assess property taxes, while continuing to improve more county roads and offer essential services. 
 

“This is a budget that maintains and even improves some county services and still is able to reduce our tax rate,” said County Manager Dan Dunbar.  “The supervisors and staff worked hard to get the budget to this point.” 
 

The 2026 tax (mill) rate will decrease $4.30 per $1,000 of property value, a nearly 6 percent reduction from the 2025 rate of $4.53 in 2025. The rate was $4.83 in 2024. The tax rate in 2020, when the reductions began, was $7.10 per $1,000 in property value. 
 

The county rate is one part of the total tax bill that also includes municipalities, school districts, technical college districts and the state forestry tax. 

The total operating budget will increase 1.54 percent to $83.4 million, while the tax levy will increase 1.73 percent to $25.2 million.  
 

The budget contains a number of alterations in county operations.  For example, the position of chief information officer was eliminated, and the parks and facilities director position was merged with the transit director position, saving a total of $135,000 a year. 
 

The policy for allocating salary increases was altered to give officials more options to reward high-performing employees.  Instead of using the traditional step increases, raises will be tied more directly to performance evaluations. 
 

“This is a more sustainable approach to wage increases,” said Jenalee Nutter, Assistant County Manager and Human Resources Director. 
 

The 2026 capital improvement plan includes $10.3 million for replacing four squad trucks and equipment in the Sheriff’s Department; updating the Judicial Center’s HVAC system; performing park and facility maintenance; and replacing aging network switches to maintain security and performance. 
 

The budget includes improvement of almost 17 miles of county highways in 2026, along with two bridge replacements and one bridge rehabilitation project, a considerable increase over the historical number of miles usually improved.