1. LOCAL
Contact: Peggy Breister, Editor
(920) 907-7912
pbreister@fdlreporter.com
P.O. Box 1955
Fond du Lac, WI 54936-1955
www.fdlreporter.com The Reporter, Sunday, February 8, 2015 PAGE A2
SERVICE DOGS MAY
BE DEDUCTIBLE
Service dogs can be lifesavers
for the disabled. Some are
trained to lead the blind.
Others can turn on lights
and bring things to paralyzed
people or warn of danger.
Now it turns out that these
animals—and the expenses
incurred to care for them—
can be deducted as medical
expenses.
The IRS has ruled that
veterinary costs for a service
dog are a deductible medical
expense, as are the costs to
buy and train the dog, plus
food and grooming. These
costs can be written off on
Schedule A to the extent that
total medical costs exceed 10
percent of the individual’s
adjusted gross income, or 7.5
percent for those 65 or older.
True service dogs should be
differentiated from what are
called “emotional support”
animals, which actually have
no legal standing, though
some landlords will permit
them in “no-pet” buildings
and some airlines allow them
in plane cabins.
What’s deductible? You can
depend on our tax experts
to find the write-offs that will
help you at
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Fond du Lac County
may pursue grant funding
to construct a fish clean-
ing station at Columbia
Park.
The Fond du Lac Coun-
ty Board of Supervisors
will discuss the matter
when it meets at 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 10, in City
County Government Cen-
ter Legislative Chambers,
160 S. Macy St. The public
is welcome. Meetings are
televised live on Charter
cable channel 980 and are
livestreamed on the Coun-
ty website, fdlco.wi.gov
Supervisors will vote
on a resolution that autho-
rizes submission of a
Sport Fishing Restoration
Grant to the Wisconsin
Department of Natural
Resources. A fish clean-
ing station would include
an at-grade concrete slab
and sidewalk, open air
shelter, tables and an in-
dustrial grade fish grind-
ing disposal unit with wa-
ter, sewer and electrical
service.
A fish cleaning station
would avoid having fish
waste placed in garbage
receptaclesinthepark,at-
tracting insects and caus-
ing bad odors, according
to the resolution.
The project would cost
an estimated $90,000 and
would be funded 50 per-
cent through the grant. A
match of $45,000 is includ-
ed in the 2015 Columbia
Park budget for 2015.
District Attorney
The Fond du Lac Coun-
ty District Attorney’s Of-
fice is asking the County
Board for its support in
the form of a resolution
asking the state for addi-
tional prosecutorial staff.
Fond du Lac County is
allotted eight full-time
equivalent prosecutor po-
sitions — three of which
are grant funded or coun-
ty funded and one of
which is the district attor-
ney position of Eric Toney
— to cover all criminal,
traffic and juvenile cases.
Case filings continue to
increase in all areas, ac-
cording to information
from Toney’s office. Fond
du Lac County has one
prosecutor per12,625 peo-
ple, while the national
standard is one prosecu-
tor per 10,000 population.
An analysis by the Legis-
lative Audit Bureau found
that Fond du Lac County
needs at least threee addi-
tional prosecutors.
Toney, in a state budget
request for 2015-2017, has
applied for funding for an
additional four prosecu-
tors and to convert the
county and grant-funded
prosecutor positions to
state-paid, full-time
equivalent positions.
In other action:
» Supervisors will me-
morialize Robert Fox for
his service to Fond du Lac
County. Fox, who had
served on the Fond du Lac
County Board for 28
years, died Feb. 3 at the
age of 84.
Contact Laurie Ritger at
lritger@fdlreporter.com or
(920) 907-7925; Twitter:
@LaurieRitger.
County eyes fish cleaning station at Columbia Park
LAURIE RITGER
Action Reporter Media
scale from
one to five
to measure
15elements
of perfor-
mance and
leadership,
one being
poor and
five being
outstanding.
Council President Sam
Meyer called Moore’s av-
erageratingof4.81superb.
“City Council found the
city manager’s community
relations, communication
skills, cooperation, de-
pendability, professional
attitude and professional
conduct to be outstand-
ing,” Meyer said. “This
city manager has earned
high marks from City
Council and we would like
to congratulate Joe Moore
on a job well done.”
The rating did not di-
rectly result in a raise. But
Moore — along with other
exempt and non-exempt
city employees not bound
by contract — received a
Reducing health insur-
ance costs by 10 percent,
increasing occupancy in
downtown, and working on
a plan to attack the heroin
problem are among the
goals set by Fond du Lac
City Council for City Man-
ager Joseph Moore.
Other goals identified
by Council are strengthen-
ing the organizational
makeup of the city and en-
suring staff supports the
work of Lakeside Park Ex-
ploratory Committee and
Team Vision.
Strong year
Council released re-
sults Thursday of Moore’s
2014 performance review.
City Council used a rating
two-percent raise effec-
tive Jan. 1.
Following is Council’s
list of goals Moore for
2015:
» Reduce the city’s cost
of health insurance by 10
percent (using 2014 as the
baseline and 2016 as the
target).
At the Jan. 28 Council
meeting, Moore outlined
some options to lower in-
surance costs, if deemed
appropriate during 2016
Budget preparations in
fall. He spoke about cost
savings with increased de-
ductibles or co-pays, but
the savings did not come
closetothe10percentgoal.
A discussion then turned
tothewayhighercostscan
deter a person from seek-
ing care or medications.
The average cost to ensure
a city employee in 2014
was $12,307. Offering a
menu of health insurance
options was a suggestion
likely to be discussed in
fall. Estimates for medical
expense in 2015 are $3 mil-
lion for medical care; $1
million for prescriptions;
and $683,000 in fixed costs
for a total of $4.68 million.
Thecityisself-insuredand
has about 300 employees.
» Continue to seek and
exploit opportunities to in-
crease occupancy in Fond
du Lac’s downtown.
» Continue to imple-
ment and maintain consis-
tent methods designed to
strengthen the organiza-
tional makeup of the city.
» Ensure city staff sup-
ports the work of the Lake-
side Park Exploratory
Committee and the work
of Team Vision so as to cre-
ate a long-term strategy
for the park and the city.
» Address the rising
use of heroin and its ef-
fects and form community
partnerships to help com-
bat the problem.
Contact Laurie Ritger at
lritger@fdlreporter.com or (920
907-7925; Twitter:
@LaurieRitger.
FDL city manager receives high marks
Joseph Moore
Reducing health
insurance costs
is goal for year
LAURIE RITGER
Action Reporter Media
The Fond du Lac
Board of Education will
meet at 5 p.m. Monday,
Feb. 9, at the District
Administration Center,
72 W. Ninth St.
The following topics
will be discussed:
» Following adjourn-
ment of the regular
meeting the Board will
convene in a workshop
for presentation of the
elementary charter
school data updates.
» The Board is ex-
pected to approve the
retirement of Alice Jo-
hannes, a first-grade
teacher at Rosenow El-
ementary School. She
has been with the
school district since
1985.
» Sandra Linde, a
business education
teacher at Fond du Lac
High School, has re-
quested an unpaid
leave of absence for the
first semester of 2015-
16 to complete require-
ments for a counseling
degree.
» The Board will rec-
ognize Stephan Warner
from Sabish Middle
School as the winner of
the Fond du Lac City
Spelling Bee and Fond
du Lac High School stu-
dent Robert Windsor on
receiving a scholarship
to play football at Penn
State University.
Regular meetings
are open to the public
and televised on Char-
ter cable channel 898.
School Board meets Monday
Action Reporter Media staff
An Eden woman ac-
cused of stabbing her boy-
friend during an alterca-
tion has
pleaded
not guilty
to charges
including
first-de-
gree reck-
less injury.
Tina R.
Morrow,
27, also
pleaded not guilty to ag-
gravated battery causing
great bodily harm with a
dangerous weapon during
an appearance in Fond du
Lac County Circuit Court
on Thursday, Feb. 5.
Morrow, who appeared
with her attorney, public
defender Catherine
Block, is being held in jail
on a $100,000 cash bond.
Fond du La County
Sheriff’s officers respon-
dedaround10:30p.m.Dec.
15 to a reported domestic
disturbance. Morrow and
a man later identified as
her boyfriend were fight-
ing outside, according to
the criminal complaint.
Morrow told officers
they had been drinking
malt liquor and taking
cough medication and the
man left to purchase more
alcohol. Morrow stated
she became suspicious
and went to look for him
with a steak knife in her
pocket, the complaint
said.
Morrow found the man
at a nearby park and be-
lieved he was talking on a
phone with another girl.
She ran up and stabbed
him in the back and the
knife handle broke off
with the blade in his body,
the complaint said. The
man needed surgery to re-
move the knife, which
penetrated four inches
and pressed against his
lungs.
The defendant said she
was angry at the time and
“and sort of blacked out.”
During the investigation
officers learned of prior
domestic incidents when
Morrow allegedly bit her
boyfriend, according to
the complaint.
Eden woman pleads not
guilty in stabbing incident
SHARON ROZNIK
Action Reporter Media
Tina Morrow
TOWN OF EMMET —
Blowing and drifting
snow contributed to a
vehicle-versus-pedes-
trian crash in Dodge
County Thursday eve-
ning.
Dodge County Sher-
iff’s Office Capt. Trace
Frost said several vehi-
cles were involved in
an incident leading up
to the crash that hospi-
talized a Watertown
woman.
A passerby called
the Dodge County Sher-
iff’s Office around 6
p.m. Feb. 5 to report an
injured woman craw-
ling out from a ditch
along Highway M just
south of Highway JM in
the town of Emmet.
“We had a lot of
blowing and drifting
snow in the county and
reports of several run-
offs in that area,” Frost
said.
According to the
crash report, Joseph J.
Jannaro, 37, of Janes-
ville was traveling
south on Highway M
when a pickup truck he
was following suddenly
slowed down.
“(Jannaro) tried to
avoid crashing into the
truck and took evasive
action. While trying to
maneuver his car he
lost control of the vehi-
cle and struck a woman
on the side of the road,”
Frost said.
The woman, Connie
M. Salas, 30, of Water-
town, was transported
to a hospital in a private
vehicle and later flown
to University Hospital
and Clinics in Madison.
Salas was reported to
be in good condition
Friday morning, ac-
cording to a hospital
spokesperson. Jannaro
was not injured.
Assisting at the
scene was Dodge Coun-
ty Emergency Re-
sponse Team.
Contact Colleen Kottke at
(920) 907-7968 or
ckottke@fdlreporter.com;
Twitter: @ColleenKottke.
Woman struck by car
COLLEEN KOTTKE
Action Reporter Media
The annual Fond du Lac
Day at the Beach will be
held March 6.
The gathering will take
place at Siesta Key Public
Beach, 948 Beach Road,
Sarasota, Fla. Fond du Lac
residentsintheareaatthat
time are invited to attend.
The event opens at 10 a.m.
and lunch begins at noon.
Participants should bring
their own food and bever-
ages.
Grills,shadedareasand
restroom facilities will be
available, according to an
event press release. The
beach will be open for sun-
ning and swimming.
To avoid parking diffi-
culties, it is best to arrive
by 10:30 a.m.
Those who are interest-
ed should contact Jerry at
(941) 358-7411.
FDL schedules Day at Beach
For Action Reporter Media