Northern Wisconsin Officials Find Little Help From Lawmakers On Road Repairs

Northern Wisconsin leaders are expressing disappointment that lawmakers aren’t budging on a bill that would let counties ask voters for a sales tax to pay for road repairs.

Douglas County Administrator Andy Lisak is among a group of northern Wisconsin officials in Madison to meet with lawmakers as part of Superior Days. The event isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon, Lisak said, and they’ll continue to lobby for ways to pay for road repairs.

One option the county hasn’t ruled out is bonding.

“If the state’s not going to help us, we’re going to do our part,” he said. “We’re going to continue to move the needle of improving Douglas County roads.”

Bayfield County Board member Fred Strand said they’re using profits from timber sales on county forestland to pay for road projects.

“If things don’t change, and/or our profit from managing county forest diminishes, we’re going to be in a bind similar to other counties, (in) that we won’t have enough revenues to maintain the county highway system,” Strand said.

Both counties repair roughly six miles a year with hundreds of miles of road to go.