Kewaunee County’s Finance Committee approved $179,500 from the general fund on a voice vote Thursday to pay for design work on a proposed new highway shop and took three additional routine fiscal actions, committee members said.

The approvals came during the committee’s monthly finance update, when staff reviewed January receipts and a mix of one‑time items and year‑end adjustments that will be finalized later this spring. Committee members voted by voice: “All in favor, say aye,” after which the chair declared the motions carried.

The motion to allocate design funds was presented as a request to use future capital-improvement reserves in the general fund to cover the expense. Committee discussion focused on where the request fits within the capital projects balance; staff said last year’s allocation to the future-capital account was about $1,535,000 and that some previously reserved solid-waste funds will not be needed this year, freeing capacity for capital projects.

On overall finances, staff reported a January sales-tax remittance (payment number 12, recorded as 2024 revenue) of $144,408 and a year-to-date sales-tax total of $1,000,764.28. That year-to-date figure was about $11,600 higher than the same point a year earlier but remains below the adopted sales-tax budget target of $1,550,000. Staff also reported receiving a $4,009.61 check described as a closing payment tied to a pit (identified in the minutes as “pit number 200”).

The committee heard a solid-waste update: last year’s reimbursement check arrived for $44,214, described in committee comments as about half of the amount the county submitted. Staff said a change in state law may relax investment restrictions on the county’s solid-waste trust funds, which could let the county earn higher returns and avoid a roughly $3,200 annual trust maintenance cost going forward; staff said they have started the process to pursue that change and to confirm audit procedures for 2024.

Votes at a glance:
- Approve $179,500 from the general fund for design of the highway shop (motion carried by voice vote; mover and second recorded in the meeting transcript; no roll-call tally provided).
- Approve 2025 budget adjustments to human services to add two grant line items (crisis intervention, $24,004.96; youth testing grant, $54,000) (motion carried by voice vote).
- Approve supplemental payroll as presented (motion carried by voice vote).
- Adopt meeting agenda as published (motion carried by voice vote earlier in the meeting).

Each of those items was passed by voice vote with no recorded opposition in the meeting transcript. Staff said department-by-department year-end closeout work will continue through March and that the committee will see a list of carryovers and a proposed handling of year-end surplus in April.

Ending: Committee members scheduled follow-up items for future agendas, including the year‑end carryover list and the county’s tax‑due‑diligence item (discussed administratively but not acted on at this meeting). The committee did not set an effective implementation date for the highway shop design work beyond saying the project would be funded from future-capital reserves.