by Emmitt B. Feldner
for The Beacon

SHEBOYGAN – County government came through the year of COVID-19 with a positive balance.

County Administrator Adam Payne Tuesday gave the County Board a quick update on the county’s year-end fiscal picture for 2021.

The county ended the year in the black in all its major funds and with a final positive balance of $5.6 million.

That left the county’s reserve funds at 27 percent of the county’s total budget, within the county’s policy-set range of 15 to 30 percent, Payne added.

“Our rainy-day fund is in good shape,” he told the supervisors.

Despite the year-long economic impact of the pandemic, the county collected $12.5 million in sales tax revenue, which exceeded the projected amount of $9.9 million.

Payne attributed much of that positive outcome to two major events which drew a large number of visitors – and their dollars – to the county in the second half of 2021, the Ryder Cup golf tournament at Whistling Straits and the NASCAR races at Road America.

The county uses the one-half percent sales tax to fund transportation projects, including sharing a portion of the revenue with cities, towns and villages for their use on transportation projects.