Hi! Hello! Howdy! What's Up Dunn County?
Hand Counting Ballots are So Fun and Easy to Do, Who Needs a Machine - The Triple Threat to Higher Property Taxes in Dunn County - A Night of Many Great Perspectives at the Candidate Forum
Oh the sight of the picture above! No electronic equipment in the polling place. Just a voter, a paper ballot to cast in a box with election officials to ensure the paper ballot is secure. Now imagine when the polls close at your Town Hall or Ward polling place. You reconcile your paper poll books for the last time, you set up some tables for your fellow poll workers to start putting the paper ballots that were casted in neat stacks of 25. Then you get out a really well organized and nicely put together Candidate & Referendum Tally Sheets to stage onto the table where the paper ballots will be counted. Have your dabber ready like you are getting ready to play bingo and place a poll worker to be a caller to call out each vote on the ballot while another poll worker will mark the tally sheet in the designated column of the candidate that was called out. While the caller and tally marksman are at work, two observers will be overseeing the hand count at the table to ensure transparency and accuracy. The chief inspector can decide how big or small of a batch to have at the hand counting tables. Some may prefer 100 ballots at a table if you have a small precinct or for a bigger precinct 300 ballots a table. The key is having a plan in place with a well designed tally sheet that will help the process flow efficiently and effectively with the chief inspector having ahead of time assigned poll workers as callers, tally marksman and observers in place. So let’s say you have 8 poll workers assigned at a polling place. You could have two tables going with a caller, tally marksman and your two observers at each table. Even with let’s say, 800 ballots that are in need of being counted meaning each table would be counting 400 ballots, 2 rounds of 200 ballots can easily be completed in an hour or a little over an hour. And yes, it has been done with 100 percent accuracy and efficiently. New California held a Demo election in 17 counties on January 27th, 2024 with great success. New California counted just under a 1000 ballots in 20 minutes. By the way, if you watch the Demo election in Riverside, CA they did not have stacks of ballots of 25 on their two assigned tables. They just took the ballots out of the clear ballot box and placed them in a tray in the middle of each assigned hand counting table which cut down on the total hand counting process. To learn more about their Demo Election go to www.newcaliforniastate.com or go to New California Demo Election at Riverside, CA to see an actual hand counting demo being conducted in Riverside, CA on January 27, 2024 starting at timestamp marker 4:19:36. Riverside demo election used the small precinct model. Here is another great resource from Linda Rantz of Cause of America in which she walks you through a hands-on demonstration in hand counting ballots using the dab and tally method. Hand counting demonstration Cause of America with Linda Rantz.
The other key to a successful election through hand counting paper ballots is to conduct a demo hand counting event in your ward or township to get acquainted with the process and become confident in the process. You want to be organized and prepared for election day. I remember working at a polling place for the Spring Election in 2022. After closing the polls and printing out the tape totals on the tabulator which was sloooow and took forever to finish printing out three required copies due to a lot of registered write-in’s on the ballots. If we hand counted that night we would of been done with the whole hand counting and tallying process with the results ready to report to the clerk way before the tabulator could finish the very exhausting list of the write-in’s and candidates tally totals. No setting up of machines, no waiting of tape total print outs and no tearing down of machines. Plus, this would allow us to save money for the county by not purchasing any electronics from 3rd Party vendors. We could use this money toward competitive wages for county employees or toward paying down our current county debt. Dunn County needs to take total control of our election process verses relying on a 3rd party vendor to manage our elections. We have awesome clerks, chief inspectors, poll workers and observers in our county that I am quite confident we can get the job done efficiently, accurately and effectively.
There is so much going on in surrounding counties as well as our own on a number of fronts. First, one that is on a lot of my Dunn County neighbors minds is the SDMA Referendum which is fast approaching on February 20th, 2024. This particular referendum is related to the School District of the Menomonie Area in Dunn County as well as St. Croix County, Wisconsin in which we will be asked whether or not to authorize to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Statutes, by $4,200,000 beginning with the 2024-2025 school year for recurring purposes consisting of operational expenses. Also, River Falls, which is in both Pierce and St. Croix Counties will be having a similar referendum, exceeding the revenue limit with increments of $1,000.000 each year starting in 2024-2025 school year and by 2026-2027 school year will be at $3,000,000 and continue recurring at $3,000.000 thereafter. This is not the only referendum River Falls School District will be hit with. They will also be given the opportunity to decide whether or not to authorize $28,000,000 for the cost of a school building and facility improvement project. After finding out what is going on with a couple of our western county neighbors, they seem to have plenty of pondering to do as well if your are a homeowner or renter. I did run across a great series of articles from Menomonie Minutes in regards to the Menomonie School District Referendum when it comes to property taxes in Dunn County which was explained in three parts as well as on Revenue Limits which is stated in the referendum. Very well researched with graphs and charts of comparisons along with how the mill rates are calculated and such. It is worth looking into. https://www.menomonieminute.com/elections. This referendum will set the stage of the beginning of continued increases in our property tax in Dunn County should this pass. This will be based on a tax rate increase of $82.00 a year per $100,000 property valuation. So if your home is valued at $300,000 your tax increase would be $246.00. That is a pretty good chuck of change. The part I do not like about this referendum is it has no expiration date. It is recurring year after year after year. Very disturbing. So keep that in mind.
Now for threat number two of escalation of property taxes in Dunn County. Some may or may not know that we are currently sitting at 39 + million dollars in debt. Some may say it is an allowable limit for our county while others feel it is unacceptable. I happen to fall in the category of unacceptable. Part of the weight of the debt we are carrying is from the building of The Neighbors of Dunn County along with some up and down struggles during its years in operation. We also had renovations done with the Dunn County Government Center as well which added to the borrowing of funds. I am sure a lot of you are scratching your heads and saying, how did we get this far into debt? I know the cost of surfacing a road has become very expensive because of high inflation we are experiencing that has brought up the cost of the materials to do the necessary road work in our county. After looking at the cost of pick up trucks and other vehicles needed in various departments such as for the Sheriff’s Department, Highway Department and Transit Department it is mind-blowing to say the least. Let’s face it, this high inflation that we are experiencing is hurting everyone. You and I, the County, small businesses, school districts, homeowners, renters and landlords. Some where though we need to start having discipline along with sacrifices in our fiscal responsibility to have a balanced budget and help in the process to bring down our debt verses continuing to be in borrowing mode increasing our debt which only puts additional stress on the very residents who work, play and relax right here in Dunn County. Another tax levy increase from borrowing along with a passed SDMA referendum is a double threat to many homeowners and renters who may be pushed to either move to another county or state or become at risk of homelessness.
So some are thinking what is the triple threat? Call the triple threat as a latest development that actually is not really a very recent development. It is a development that was kept silent since last March and did not become public until October of 2023. You can thank World Relief, an NGO and sidekick of United Nations that only consulted with an appointed Eau Claire County Manger in regards to bringing in Refugees from war torn countries. According to the Refugee Act of 1980, 8 U.S.C. 1522 were not being followed by World Relief. This includes 8 U.S.C.1522(1)(A)(iii) that “local voluntary agency activities should be conducted in close cooperation and advance consultation with State and local governments”; 8 U.S.C.1522(2)(A) that “The Director and the Federal Agency administering subsection (b)(1), shall consult regularly (not less often than quarterly) with State and local governments and private nonprofit voluntary agencies concerning the sponsorship process and the intended distribution of refugees among the States and localities before their placement in those States and localities”; 8 U.S.C 1522(2)(8) that “The Director shall develop and implement, in consultation with representatives of voluntary agencies and State and local governments, policies and strategies for the placement and resettlement of refugees within the United States” ; and 8 U.S.C. 1522(2)(C)(ii) that “The Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement will provide for a mechanism whereby representatives of local affiliates of voluntary agencies regularly (not less often than quarterly) meet with representatives of State and local governments to plan and coordinate in advance of their arrival the appropriate placement of refugees among the various State and localities”. This absolutely needs to be resolved by World Relief and begin the process of including State and local governments that are within a 100 mile radius of Eau Claire to plan and coordinate in ADVANCE of the refugees arrival of appropriate placement within the State and localities. We also need to do our homework and research along with conduct a study of the financial impact it may have in our communities. It just makes sense along with wisdom to take a closer look of how it will impact our county budget and the residents that reside and live in our county. After 90 days, World Relief is no longer obligated to fund the Refugees that they resettled into the area meaning the financial burden lies with the local government and the taxpayers of Dunn County. It will surely impact Department of Health and Human Services, the Hospitals, the Sheriff’s Department, the Police Department, School Districts and property taxpayers along with the renters. And let’s not forget that St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls and Sacred Heart in Eau Claire which is a part of the HSHS Healthcare system along with Prevea Healthcare Systems throughout Western Wisconsin will be closing their doors this spring which will mean many healthcare professionals will be laid off and searching for work throughout the region. And with these upcoming closings it will put a strain on our healthcare infrastructure. We also have a lack of affordable housing along with a homeless population to help and serve in our communities. So many components within our county infrastructure that needs to be carefully weighed into of it’s possible impact to the county and residents of Dunn County before rushing into any kind of implementation of resettlement of refugees. So if this does come into play, do not be surprised to see another increase in your tax levy. Some serious food for thought.
I was honored and privileged to participate in the Candidate Forum hosted by Dunn County Patriots held at the Whistle Stop Cafe in Wheeler, Wisconsin on Thursday, February 8th. It was great to see some of the incumbent Dunn County Board of Supervisors present as well as new candidates running for a County Board seat. I truly enjoyed listening to the many perspectives and issues that were addressed throughout the night. The number one issue that was continually brought up was our current county debt of $39,000,000.00 million and the focus of the county having fiscal responsibility and to strive to reduce the debt. It was mentioned by Thomas Quinn from District 9 that a large amount of debt was incurred by the Neighbors of Dunn County. Other issues that were addressed to constituents in the room was of our roads throughout Dunn County that are in need of repair and the great expense to do it, is grant money by the Federal Government really a good thing?, the recent Housing Studies and our situation with lack of affordable housing, Broadband for rural Dunn County, the EV Transit situation, the vulnerabilities of electronic machines supplied by 3rd party vendors, Refugee Resettlement, SDMA Referendum, Railway Development from the Cities to Eau Claire, and overregulation which most agreed is an issue. What really struck a cord with me was when John Calabrese from District 14 stated the importance of participation with the County Board, getting more involved in our local government. He also is concerned about the division he is witnessing in our country, state and right down to the county level. Both John Calabrese and Carl Vandermelan of District 19 both exclaimed how immensely important it is to work and solve problems together! To listen and embrace each others perspectives, ideas, possible solutions to help improve the quality of life and greater opportunities for our residents, constituents, our neighbors right here in Dunn County : ) Its more effective and efficient to have 29 heads working together to solve a problem than just one. It is a beautiful thing! A big thank you for all the County Board candidates that came out to introduce yourselves and talk to the constituents that were present about the issues that effect all of us who reside in our county. Eventually, all of the candidates will be uploaded to Dunn County Patriots Rumble channel under “Dunn County Patriots Meet the Candidates”.
From one Dunn County Neighbor to Another - Let’s Be There For One Another : )
Laurie J Christianson
Now for Bulletin Board Moment!
February 20th, 2024 is the Spring Primary Election! Look on myvote.wi.gov to find your polling place. Polls open at 7 am and closes at 8 pm.
very good edition. very informative. much enjoyed.