Excerpt: Marathon County Board members put road maintenance and law enforcement at the top of their priority list for the coming year as services for disadvantaged groups slipped to the bottom of the list.
But board members said the rankings don't mean those programs will be the first to suffer as county officials face a tight financial situation.
The board during a retreat last week ranked as a high, medium or low priority every program that receives more than $50,000 from the county annually. It was the first time board members have been asked to prioritize first, instead of determining line-by-line spending and then considering where to cut back.
County Finance Director Kristi Kordus said the county's budget for 2011 will be about $159 million, and doesn't have much wiggle room for spending.
"It's pretty tight," Kordus said. "But this list has spelled out for us what the board and the citizens they represent expect."
Not mentioned specifically, the Marathon County Public Library is apparently in the middle range of the priority rankings.
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