Neighbors –

Fall is definitely in the air! While you may be getting out the sweaters and boots, preparing rakes for the leaves to start swirling, I’m digging into… the county budget.

You may be thinking, “Who cares?”… Well, this is our main opportunity to make strategic investments in high-priority areas and better address your needs as a resident of the county. There are a lot of programs we’re required to do through federal or state partnerships (Child Support, for example, or basic services like operating the landfill, county parks, or law enforcement in rural areas). The county relies on a mix of public tax levy and pass-throughs from other government bodies, like the State Department of Health Services that pays the county to administer programs. We are limited in how much we can spend in our operating budget based on a complex state formula mostly dependent on new private development in the last year. For capital projects/borrowing funds, we have more freedom and are not constrained by the same levy limits.

Each year, our budget process roughly goes like this:

1. The County Executive’s team looks at estimated revenue and expenditures, fiscal environment and other factors to provide budget guidance to department directors. In times of fiscal hardship, there may be a request to cut budgets. Other times, maybe a 5% increase may be permitted. This year, the Executive asked departments to submit budget request without adding new staffing.
2. Next, departments submit their budget requests to the Executive (those requests are available at the link below).
3. The County Board holds hearings to listen to department staff and understand their needs. This step just concluded on 9/13; we heard hours (and hours) of testimony and input from department leaders on their priorities.
4. Then, the Executive will release his proposed Capital and Operating budgets on 10/1.
5. Committees will hold hearings to understand what was and was not included in the proposed budget, and how this will impact services.
6. Throughout October, Committees will entertain budget amendments, adding, removing, or changing components of the Executive’s proposal. These will get voted on in Committee and eventually the Personnel and Finance Committee will consider all budget amendments and make a recommendation to the full County Board.
7. The County Board debates the proposal from Personnel and Finance, staying within our allowable spending authority per state law. We aim to conclude action on the budget by November 10.
8. The County Executive can sign or veto components of the budget, and then it’s effective January 1, 2024.   

As a Committee Chair, it’s my responsibility to make sure that the budgets for the departments under the Public Protection & Judiciary Committee (Sheriff’s Office, Clerk of Courts, Juvenile Court, Corporation Counsel, Family Court, Medical Examiner, 911, DA’s Office, Pre-trial services, Emergency Management, and Office of Justice Reform… it’s a lot!), are aligned with our priorities and budget requirements. I’ll call special attention to a few proposals from those departments, including a body worn camera pilot proposal from DCSO and the need for significant new staff at the 911 call center. These 911 communication staff have a very hard job, often dealing with trauma and navigating very complex, time-sensitive safety concerns. Today, many staff are facing mandatory overtime and this will only cause burnout and retention challenges. We need these staff, who pick up the phone when we’re at our worst, to be at their best.  

We also heard loud and clear from non-profit agencies like Journey Mental Health and others who we partner with to provide services that they need more competitive contracts to improve wages for behavioral health and human services. We need to take these requests seriously and work toward a future where staff are adequately compensated for sustainable programming. Our Human Services Department Interim Director shared the need for more services for aging adults; we expect significant growth in the local “over 65” population and need to deliver services accordingly.

In 2023, we spent about 40% of the county budget on human services, followed by public safety at 22%. $224 million of the total $677 million operating budget is tax levy; $245 million is intergovernmental (state/fed).

We will allocate over $800 million in funds within the next 3 months; please make your voice heard on priorities and issues we need to address this year. If you’re uncertain if/how/when is going on in the process or where to advocate on issues you care about, please let me know and let’s talk! Budget resources:

• https://board.countyofdane.com/budget - overview of the process and timeline
• https://admin.countyofdane.com/budget - detailed budget documents including current budget, summary, and proposals from department heads for 2024 budgets

In other news…

A few new resources and updates I want to share today:

• Our Register of Deeds has a service to sign up for alerts on your property related to potential fraud. It’s free and a great service: https://www.propertyfraudalert.com/widane; more info here: https://rod.countyofdane.com/. Apparently a few cases have been referred to the DA recently, so there is property fraud indeed happening here in Dane County.
• We have 3 county board vacancies; the Board Chair will propose appointments and the Board will act on those in late September. All Supervisors (including the 3 new folks) will need to run for election in April 2024.
• Land & Water Resources runs Water Steward courses https://lwrd.countyofdane.com/Event/Detail/1659 and Tree Identification https://lwrd.countyofdane.com/Event/Detail/1632, pretty cool.
• On September 12, the consolidated Dane County Jail project went out to bid, allowing potential contracting firms to apply for the job. This process will remain open for the next two months. Ground breaking for the first phase of the downtown project is expected to take place in early 2024. This is a massive effort and once completed, will improve conditions and access to appropriate services for justice-involved individuals.

As always, please reach out if you would to learn more about the County’s work, provide input on the budget, or flag questions.

Richelle Andrae

Dane County Board Supervisor District 11

Andrae.richelle@countyofdane.com