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Welcome To the Latest Issue of eNews!
March 4, 2010 vol 1 issue 7 Welcome to La Crosse County’s eNews. Our purpose is to keep the people of La Crosse County better informed about your County government. County government has not always been as visible as some other levels of government. So we’ll provide eNews you can use like upcoming dates for public hearings, health clinics and reminders about deadlines for dog licenses and ordinance changes. We’ll provide detailed information about our budget, highlights of innovations and achievements and updates about critical issues facing the County, like how certain actions of the State & Federal governments will affect County services and County property taxpayers. We also want the people of our County to have a chance to learn more about the inner workings of County government by providing access to the Monthly Report to the County Board. On an alternating basis, roughly half the departments report each month on the most compelling statistics, activities and challenges confronting our staff working to provide the best in public service. Link to Monthly Reports. We hope you find La Crosse County eNews helpful and informative. If you have any suggestions how to make it better, please let us know using our email links at the bottom. eNews You Can Use! These La Crosse County Public Health Nursing clinics and screenings are available to anyone:
H1N1 and seasonal flu shots are still available by appointment at the La Crosse County Public Health Nursing Department, free to everyone.
The Department also offers screenings for Children’s Health, Tuberculosis, Lead contamination, Cholesterol/Diabetes Screening; plus Clinics for Immunizations, Foot Care and Pregnancy or HIV Testing.
For more information call: Public Health at (608) 785-9723 or go to: http://www.co.la-crosse.wi.us/Health/PublicHealth/index.htm
County's Expanded Role in
Economic Development One of the best ways to control property taxes is to increase the tax base through encouraged economic development. La Crosse County has made an increased effort over the past 5 years to expand our role in economic and community development – helping to facilitate activities that grow a diversified tax base within the County.
While our area is blessed with a healthy market for development when compared to other Wisconsin metro areas, the County has been able to add value in several areas. For example, our Community Development staff have been successful in accessing significant grant dollars, obtaining in excess of $2.5 million, from the State and Federal government to help prepare areas for development throughout the County.
Another area is in the promotion of collaboration across local governments and businesses on economic development. Through the annual County Collaboration Conference, we bring community and business leaders from throughout the County together to identify issues and look for collaborative solutions. For information and reports from recent conferences go to: http://www.co.la-crosse.wi.us/economicdevelopment/eventshome.htm
This spirit of collaboration has fostered many cost saving initiatives and joint development projects. One the most greatest examples: the partnership with the Village of West Salem, among others, to build the Lakeview Business Park – a rail-served business park that is now home to over 200 jobs and over $9 million in tax base, on a portion of the former County farm. This project used a first of its kind revenue sharing agreement between the County and the Village, whereby the Village passes tax increment financing revenues through to the County to finance development.
As economic development becomes more and more important to controlling property taxes, the County has been able to provide professional staff to assist with projects throughout the County, especially in small municipalities that don’t have development staff of their own. We have worked with many municipalities and agencies on varying projects, including grant applications, newsletter development, TIF planning, and tourism promotion, to name a few.
The County-administered Revolving Loan Fund leverages private investment, primarily through the use of State and Federal Grants. Since it’s inception in the 1993, the County revolving loan has helped to create or retain 439 current jobs. Total County Loans of $2,795,072 have leveraged $17,676,223 in private financing. The County revolving Loan fund is a lender of last resort that quite often provides gap financing, so there are times when the business ventures are not successful and the loan is not repaid. To date, 69% of loans have been repaid or are current with their payments, representing 80% of total funds loaned.
As our economy has become increasingly regional, it makes sense for the County to continue to expand our role in economic development throughout the region. We work every day to make our community more attractive for development of all varieties and to improve the quality of life for the citizens of La Crosse County.
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