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Current Column
August 8, 2001
Contact: Sharyn Wisniewski, 267-8823
County Executive Falk Outlines Upcoming County Budget
Process
By Kathleen M. Falk, Dane County Executive
As the summer closes, I start the hard work on the
County budget for 2002. So many real needs in Dane County compete for the amount of money available, so I truly welcome and
need your input on what is most important to you!
Revenue from both the state and federal governments has either
stagnated or dropped, leaving us with very difficult choices. Do we cut funding or do we increase property taxes to pay for
these needed programs? As County Executive, it is my job to try to balance the need to control property taxes which hit people
hard, with the very real needs of public safety, roads, courts, land use, human services, and parks that benefit all of us
children, families, the elderly, and people with disabilities.
Last year we improved those vital services county
residents said were most important. We expanded elderly nutrition sites, added more sheriffs deputies, provided additional
services for the disabled, increased funding for youth programs, and began a program to visit parents with newborns to help
get them off to a healthy start. I did this by cutting other parts of the budget citizens tell me are a lower priority.
I invite, and need, you to comment on your priorities during public hearings in September.
There will be two
public hearings solely on the Human Services part of the budget, which accounts for half of total spending. The first, September
4 at the Alliant Energy Center (5:00 PM in Mendota Room 4 of the Exhibition Hall), will focus on programs relating to substance
abuse, mental health for children, child welfare and delinquency, economic support, work services, and public health. The
second Human Services hearing, held at the same location at 5:00 PM on September 5, will address programs for the elderly,
persons with developmental, physical, or sensory disabilities, and mental health for adults. In addition, I will host another
hearing on the whole budget in Sun Prairie from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 12th.
By October 1,
I will present to the County Board my proposal for the overall 2002 budget. Throughout the month of October, the County Board
standing committees will review the Executive Budget and propose any amendments to the Boards Personnel and Finance Committee.
The County Board will also hold a public hearing in late October to provide another opportunity for you to voice your opinions
on spending priorities. The County Board will act on the Executive Budget during November, make amendments, and take it to
a final vote. Then I review the County Boards changes to the budget and can veto any provisions that I believe should be
taken out. A two-thirds vote of the Board is needed to override any veto. After that, the budget will be finished!
I have confidence that, as in past years, the County Board and I will work together to develop a budget for 2002 that
represents the best compromise we can craft between reasonable property taxes and funding for necessary programs. Your input
on the budget is vital. Please contact me or my Executive Assistant Billy Feitlinger, at 266-4114, by e-mail at falk@co.dane.wi.us,
or by mail at 210 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, Room 421, Madison, WI 53703.
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