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Falk Budget Keeps Vital Services

Extra Cost To Typical Taxpayer Under $30

The Capital Times :: METRO :: 1B

Thursday, October 2, 2003
By Bill Novak The Capital Times

"We weathered the storm by tightening our belts, hunkering down and preserving what the citizens of Dane County wanted the most," Falk said as she introduced the 684-page budget to the public at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Under Falk's proposed budget, the average Madison homeowner would pay less than $30 in additional county taxes for 2004 compared with the current year.

The 2004 county tax on an average $189,484 Madison home would be $547.61 under Falk's proposal, which calls for a tax rate of $2.89 per $1,000 of assessed value. (To figure the tax in this example, multiply 189.5 by $2.89.)

In 2003, the average home was assessed at $174,557 and the county portion of the property tax was $521.93, according to figures from Falk's office.

Falk's $399.9 million budget includes a $97.5 million county property tax levy, the largest in county history and 4.85 percent higher than the 2003 levy.

It could have been much worse, Falk noted, considering the $8 million in state funding cuts the county has to deal with next year, slower growth in sales tax revenues and higher demand for services from a growing population.

The 4.85 percent levy increase goes beyond the "formula" increase Falk has used in past budgets, combining population and inflation increases to come up with the tax levy increase. If Falk had stuck to the old formula for 2004, the levy increase would have been limited to 3.7 percent.

She conceded she had to go above her tax increase formula to keep core services intact, because making more cuts just to stick to the formula would have hurt too many people.

"Further cuts would hurt our delivery of human services and public safety to an unacceptable degree," Falk said.

The 4.85 percent levy increase is less than the 5.01 percent increase that would have been allowed under the state Legislature's failed property tax freeze, which County Board Supervisor Brett Hulsey said shows the commitment Falk has made to keep taxes low in Dane County.

"With the state and federal governments ignoring their responsibilities to us, the local governments, we need to pick up the ball," Hulsey said. "The county executive's budget maintains vital services and only increases taxes (above what would have been allowed under the old formula) by about 50 cents a month. That's a testament to her hard work on this budget."

County Board Chair Kevin Kesterson said he was happy Falk went above her formula tax levy increase this year because Dane County would have been in "dire straits" otherwise.

"I'm not upset with the tax increase at all," Kesterson said. "It's well within reasonable limits."

Kesterson said the County Board will be more comfortable working on the budget Falk rolled out Wednesday, now that the two key areas of public safety and human services have been funded well enough to keep the public satisfied.

"You have to see how the public reacts," he said. "You don't really know the impacts on the individual, especially in human services, until you hear from the public. I'm very thankful a lot of the cuts have been restored."

The two resolutions for the 2004 budget, $381.2 million for operations and $18.7 million for capital projects, will be introduced to the board at its regular meeting tonight.

Standing board committees, with the Personnel and Finance Committee taking the lead, will start working on the budget next week.

Falk's proposed budget is not all sweetness and light.

About 40 full-time equivalent positions are being cut throughout county government, most through elimination of positions still vacant under hiring freezes of the past few years, but a few would be through layoffs.

Some fees would increase, including the marriage license fee, which would rise from $70 to $95.

County park operations would be cut back in spring and fall but should be at full strength by the summer.

The county executive will continue her own salary freeze, keeping her annual compensation at $83,615. She imposed the freeze in January 2002.

Falk said keeping services intact was critical even under the most difficult budget circumstances.

She noted that the different county services are important to various segments of the community. "People love it here. Budgets are about priorities and listening to what the people want the most."

Some long-term savings will come through merging several county departments, with the engineering and solid waste divisions of the Public Works Department going to the Highway Department, the lakes management division of Public Works going to the Parks Department, and Parks merging with the Planning and Development Department. Internal consolidations are expected to save $265,000 in 2004.

"Over time, the combination of these departments will enable us to realize savings in clerical and technical support," Falk said.

The county also plans to save about $50,000 next year as it begins to merge the county and city public health departments.

Kesterson said the work Falk and her staff did in restoring some of the drastic cuts to human services and public safety will go a long way in how much or little the County Board has to do in fine-tuning the budget for 2004.

"I was hoping we'd be done with the budget by Christmas but now I think it'll be a lot sooner than that, so this budget is a good Thanksgiving present," the board chair said.

"We've got a lot more to work with this year than last year, so it probably won't be as quick as last year (the board passed the budget in 15 minutes in 2002), but it shouldn't be too bad."

After the budget goes to committees, a public hearing will be held Monday, Oct. 20. After that, the full board will begin budget talks Nov. 12 and continue with two meetings a week until the budget is approved.

Once approved, the board sends two resolutions -- one for appropriations and another setting the tax levy -- to Falk for her signature.

Falk can veto all or part of the appropriations set by the board, with the board then getting the chance to override any vetoes.

YOUR BOTTOM LINE

Tax increase: Under Falk's proposal, the Dane County portion of the property taxes on the average Madison home valued at $189,484 would be $547.61. That's $25.68 higher than the taxes on the average Madison home last year.

E-mail: bnovak@madison.com