Letters to the Editor published in the Nov. 9, 2022 issue of the Tomahawk Leader.

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Last night I virtually attended to Lincoln County public hearing on the 2023 budget, I did not waste the gas to attend in person as I was fairly certain the decisions had already been made. I was right.

The board adopted the budget on a 14 to 5 roll call vote showing that at least five board members care about the county more than their political affiliation. The board did not reinstate the $20.00 wheel tax which cost auto owners .39 cents a week but added over $500,000.00 to the county budget, they did however eliminate the University Extension Services with the exception of the 4H position. One wonders how effective this stand-alone position will be and what the morale is like for the last person standing. I wish them well.

The board gave up close to a half a million dollars in services provided by the University Extension Program to the citizens of Lincoln County to save around $200,000.00. Does that make sense to you, it certainly doesn’t to me.

 Wisconsin is losing its working-age population at an alarming rate, and the Board’s action definitely puts the county at a competitive disadvantage which does not seem to concern the board.

In my opinion, the citizens of Lincoln County were much better served by the previous non-partisan board than this current republican dominated board. The old board served the citizens of the county and was not beholden to a political party and its philosophy.

I do not think the future of the county looks very bright and this is truly sad. I also noticed in the two meetings I attended that no one spoke in favor of the Board’s position regarding eliminating the University Extension Program, I found this very interesting.

In closing, it seems like the county currently has a lot of open positions with people leaving and retiring I am not sure what is causing this but it should be a concern to anyone living in the county.

Walter B. Hobbs III

Tomahawk