Arcadia to inquire about payment for tax settlement mistake

The Arcadia city council voted last Wednesday to authorize the sending of a letter to the Trempealeau County treasurer inquiring about the city receiving interest on its late tax settlement and lottery credit payment.

The Independence School District recently had a similar request for interest related to their tax settlement payments approved by the county’s Executive-Finance Committee. The county board learned in September that payments made to municipalities and school districts the prior month had been miscalculated by approximately $3 million.

“There was kind of a snafu with our tax settlement in August. We were shorted,” Arcadia city clerk/treasurer Angela Berg told the council last Wednesday. “The lottery credit that settled in April was $4,718.82 short. That was settled finally on Nov. 10. And then our August tax settlement was shorted $320,291.57. And that was shorted for about a month. Interest rates were well over 4%. Wisconsin statute says that the county ‘shall pay.’ I don’t know if that means that they’re reimbursing every taxing jurisdiction who was late or if you have to request it by letter.”

Trempealeau County Treasurer Michelle Rose took responsibility for the mistake, saying the numbers were added twice, causing the miscalculation. County Corporation Counsel Susan Fisher said the matter is under investigation, though the results of that investigation have not yet been released publicly. 

Funds for new police Tasers authorized

The Arcadia Police Department has been given authorization to purchase new Tasers, the first notable upgrade as the department puts together a capital improvement plan for the years ahead.

The funds for new Tasers were approved by the Arcadia city council after police chief Nicholas Scholl went over a few of the upgrades that the department views as higher priority.

Scholl pointed to new Tasers, squad and body camera upgrades and new patrol rifles as the three items that would be first on deck. As a result of all five Arcadia police officers resigning early in 2025 and those positions taking time to be filled, Scholl noted that the police department had between $130,000 and $140,000 left in the budget as the city nears the end of the year. 

Scholl had a couple of quotes on new Tasers, with a basic package costing $27,998 and a pro package costing $34,499.

“We have five Tasers for all full-time officers right now,” Scholl said. “One throws an error but still works, but it sounds like they don’t really like to work on them because they’re getting old and they’re kind of trying to phase these Tasers that we have out. And every time we’ve had to buy cartridges, they keep trying to get us to upgrade our Tasers because they’re getting pretty old.”

The council voted 5-0 (Donald Kreibich had to leave the meeting early) to authorize Scholl to upgrade the department’s Tasers with the pro package, including additional training, in the amount of $34,499.

Scholl is still working on a detailed capital improvement plan for the police department that will come back before the council in the months ahead. While he is still doing more research into new patrol rifles and a new body camera system, he did give the council ballpark estimates of $65,000 for the base package on a body camera system and $9,500 for patrol rifles.

All-abilities park committee established

An ad hoc committee was formally established at last week’s meeting that will look into introducing an all-abilities park in the city of Arcadia.

Mayor John Kimmel explained that there was growing interest in the community in establishing an all-abilities park and replacing outdated playground equipment in general.

Community member Leanne Haines spoke on the subject, noting that her passion on it stems from her late brother Daniel Sonsalla, who had a child and grandchild with special needs. Haines noted that Greg Slaby had recently started an online fundraiser for an all-abilities park and that they thought it was wise to discuss the topic with city officials before moving any further on any ideas.

The council was unanimous in its praise of the idea, with alderman Duane Matelski noting that his family had been to an all-abilities park in Black River Falls that he thought was excellent.

The committee was established with Haines, Jolyn Wendt, Paul Halverson as members, along with Matelski and Adam Guenther from the city council. More members could be added to the committee later on.

Also on the agenda last Wednesday, the council approved a slate of election inspectors for the 2026-27 term. Matelski abstained from the vote because his was on the list.

The list of unaffiliated election inspectors were Judy Hesch, Sally Sylla, Theresa Matelski, Jane Sendelbach, Eva Anderson, Celeste Grossman, Daniel Perez, Brenda Bautch, Dana Conrad, Mark Lund, Brenda Lund, Lindy Vazquez, Karla Johnson and Lynn Axness. Approved Republican Party nominees were Mary Meistad-Gilbertson and Barbara Kostner. The county Democratic Party did not submit any people to be nominated.