What Happened?
Three Wisconsin communities have decided to merge their health department in an effort to save more than $350,000 per year.
The Plan
A consolidated Winnebego County Health Department would serve Neenah (population 25,060), and Oshkosh, WI (population 66,083). A third community, Menasha, was approached in 2011 about participating, but outed out. Officials of Winnebego County (population 163,370) are working together with a consultant to learn of possible alternatives to operating their own individual departments.
Under the consolidation plan, health services in Oshkosh would relocate to the county health office, which is only a block away. The health office in Neenah would remain in its current location; employees at both locations would become county employees. The county paid $57,000 for the consolidation study; Oshkosh and Neenah kicked in $7,000 each.
The Savings
Savings are projected at $350,000 annually, or 20 percent of operating costs. Approximately $100,000 of that would be for Neenah’s taxpayers; $250,000 would be for rural taxpayers. Residents of Oshkosh wouldn’t recognize significant changes, but service fees could decrease.
Pre-merger, the county and towns had 45 full-time positions. Several vacancies would be eliminated under the merger.
This is not the first effort between the towns involved: Neenah and Menasha merged their fire departments in 2003.
Next Steps
Original coverage of the consolidation plan can be found here, as can a more recent update.
Additional resources are also available: