Local Government Center Workshops

Local officials attending an LGC workshop.

2012 County Officials Workshops - Biennial, Spring

Following the spring elections in even numbered years, UW-Extension's Local Government Center and the Wisconsin Counties Association co-sponsor day-long workshops to orient both new and continuing county officials, at several locations around the state. With turnover on county boards averaging about 25% each election cycle, board members need opportunities to learn more about their roles and responsibilities. Past participant comments included the following:

This May, topics will include the structure and processes of county government, county budgeting and efficiency initiavies, a discussion of ethics and conflicts of interest, updates on state and county issues from the Wisconsin Counties Association, and several topics related to meetings, including efficient meetings, open meetings, and parliamentary procedure.

County officials who attended these workshops in years past have commented:

"I definitely feel better informed."
"Excellent! I will recommend this to other future new county board members."
"As a result of attending, I will run a better committee meeting … pay attention to potential conflicts of interest … and better understand my duties, responsibilities, and opportunities to be involved."

2012 Brochure
PDF icon (PDF file, 614 kb)

Archived County Seminar Information

2010 County Officials Workshop Brochure (PDF File, 700 kb)	214 county officials participated in 2010.
2008 County Officials Workshop Brochure (PDF File, 98 kb)	216 county officials participated in 2008.
2006 County Officials Workshop Brochure (PDF File, 97 kb)	163 county officials participated in 2006.
2004 County Officials Workshop Brochure (PDF File, 104 kb)	210 county officials participated in 2004.
2002 County Officials Workshop Brochure (PDF File, 84 kb)	187 county officials participated in 2002.

Town Officials Workshops - Biennial, Spring

Following the spring elections in odd numbered years, UW-Extension's Local Government Center working in conjunction with the Wisconsin Towns Association coordinates and delivers a series of day-long programs designed to help orient both new and continuing town officials.

This May, topics will include powers and duties of town officials, Open Meetings Law, effective meetings, land use law, road maintenance and construction and road safety, ethics and conflicts of interest, performance measurement, and a state legislative and budget update.

Town officials who attended these workshops in years past have commented:

"I intend to use this starting tonight - my first meeting as chair."
"It will help tremendously in everyday affairs."
"The excellent reference materials will be easy to use in future."
"The workshop will help me better serve the people - and stay out of trouble."

2011 Brochure
PDF icon (PDF file, 780 kb)

Archived Town Officials Workshops Information

2009 Program (PDF file, 1.3 Mb)	1,206 participants attended in 2009.
2007 Program (PDF file, 139 kb)	1,520 participants attended in 2007.
2005 Program (PDF file, 52 kb)	1,121 participants attended in 2005.
2003 Program (PDF file, 30 kb)	1,170 participants attended in 2003.

Comprehensive Planning Update; Town-County Zoning Relations(PowerPoint file, 74 kb)
PowerPoint presentation used in the Spring 2005 Town Officials Workshops. (This includes slides 40-45 which were missing from some workshop packets.)

Fall Finance Workshops

Annually, UW-Extension's Local Government Center puts on nine local finance workshops in September for town and village officials. The series is a cooperative effort with Wisconsin Towns Association, the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, the Internal Revenue Service and County UW-Extension offices.

These workshops cover a basic curriculum on budgeting, payroll and financial administration. Another curriculum covers more specific topics such as ordinance development and enforcement; licensing and permits; state aid programs; the levy limit and the Department of Revenue's worksheet; how to seek state grants; charting and mapping your local governments financial trends; and making your community more sustainable.

2011 Fall Budget and Finance Workshops Brochure
PDF icon

(PDF file, 340 kb)

Archived Fall Finance Workshops Information

Since this program series began in 1998, 6,255 town and village officials have participated in these workshops.

2010 Program (PDF file, 1.2 mb)	569 town and village officials attended in 2010.
2009 Program (PDF file, 4.1 mb)	561 town and village officials attended in 2009.
2008 Program (PDF file, 726 kb)	561 town and village officials attended in 2008.
2007 Program (PDF file, 561 kb)	491 town and village officials attended in 2007.
2006 Program (PDF file, 87 kb)	578 town and village officials attended in 2006.
2005 Program (PDF File, 157 kb)	586 town and village officials attended in 2005.
2004 Program (PDF File, 31 kb)	485 town and village officials attended in 2004.
2003 Program (PDF File, 179 kb)	607 town and village officials attended in 2003.
2002 Program (PDF File, 38 kb)	482 town and village officials attended in 2002.
2001 Program (PDF File, 41 kb)	633 town and village officials attended in 2001.

Annual Business Improvement District (BID) Seminars

Since 2003, UW-Extension's Local Government Center has helped coordinate and offer a series of annual programs aimed at educating Business Improvement District managers, their Board members and interested parties about BID operations and programming.

For more information, please email: kharkness@new.rr.com

Archived BID Seminar Information

Seminar Agenda for 2008 "Foundations for Successful BIDs" PDF, 56 kb
Seminar Agenda for 2007 "Beyond the Basic BID" PDF document, 11 kb
Seminar Agenda for 2006 Models of Economic Renewal PDF File, 23 kb
Seminar Agenda for 2005 PDF File, 7 kb

This page last modified: March 22, 2012 .

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