In November, the 2024 Dane County Budget was approved by the County Board and committees considered a Joint Use Agreement impacting the Airport.

Thank you for reading,

Sarah

2024 Dane County Budget

After input from County departments, community stakeholders, and others, the County Executive introduced his proposed 2024 Dane County Budget on October 1. Throughout the month of October, our Dane County Board committees considered amendments to the budget and ultimately passed the 2024 Dane County budget on November 6.  

The operating budget totals $789,298,454. The capital budget is $179,216,700. The budget includes a levy increase of 13.6% driven primarily by increased debt service costs. Property taxes on the average Madison home will increase by $147.22.

This budget makes important investments in health care, conservation, county services, and more. All of the amendments passed by the board can be found here.

PFAS and the Dane County Airport

In early November, the Environment, Agriculture, and Natural Resources (EANR) Committee held a hearing on RES-168 to execute a Joint Use Agreement which governs the Air National Guard’s use of the Dane County Airport. The Air National Guard and the Airport’s previous Joint Use Agreement has expired so this new agreement would formalize our relationship for the next 10 years.

Under the Joint Use Agreement as proposed, the Air National Guard would have to pay a one-time $100 fee to the County over the 10-year deal. The Air National Guard would also provide fire-fighting services for civilian aircraft as needed, for which they would be able to bill the County to reimburse for their expenses after those services are rendered. Further, the Joint Use Agreement would release the Air National Guard from “any liability that may arise from the use of fire-fighting foams, chemicals, or other materials…” which includes situations that “may result in hazardous substance exposure or pollution of or contamination to air, land, water, person or property…” As Dane County already faces serious environmental degradation due to PFAS contamination from the airport, the environmental, public health, and financial burden that this agreement places on the county must be considered very carefully.

Many members of the public have testified at committee hearings and contacted the County Board via email to express their serious concerns with this agreement. In response to these concerns, the EANR Committee voted to deny the agreement and the Personnel & Finance Committee voted to postpone it so Corporation Counsel and others could answer questions raised.

Supervisors Yogesh Chawla, Heidi Wegleitner, Jacob Wright, Michele Ritt, and I have now submitted a memo to the Airport requesting the following:

• The Joint Use Agreement be modified to explicitly state that only Fluorine Free Foam be used in all firefighting activity and training to prevent further PFAS contamination
• Corporation Counsel answer questions previously submitted by Supervisor Wegleitner related to the indemnification clause and other components
• The Joint Use Agreement be modified to exclude the release of the military and indemnification by the county for any claims related to existing and future PFAS contamination caused by military use and firefighting service
• The Joint Use Agreement be modified to exclude the release of any claims and indemnification by the county for claims related to any military negligence in its operations out of the Dane County Regional Airport.
• The Joint Use Agreement be modified to ensure Fair Compensation to the county for the substantial use of the airport and the associated costs to human, environmental, and community health
• The Joint Use Agreement be renegotiated Termination to remove any damages to the County in the event of contract termination or provide equal protection to the County in the event of the Air Force terminating the agreement

The Personnel and Finance Committee will reconvene on December 18 so we have requested to have these additional details no later than December 15. If you would like to contact members of the Personnel and Finance Committee to share your thoughts on this item, you may find those members here.

Dane County Jail Status

In September, a Request for Proposal (RFP) went out for bid to construction firms that would like to be considered for a county contract to construct the new Dane County Jail. On November 14, all bids were due, and it was disappointing to discover that only one bid was received which came in $27 million over budget.

The County Board, County Executive, and Sheriff’s Office are now faced with a difficult choice as we consider how to move this project forward. Options may include simply re-opening the bidding period and perhaps extending it to allow for a more competitive process that could result in bids within our budget. Some supervisors may also propose reallocating funding from other projects to address the $27 million gap or increase the total borrowing for this project yet again which would raise the total cost of the jail project over $207 million.

If we choose to move forward with the only bid we’ve received, we would need to start the process at our December 21 meeting.  

Progressive Governance Academy

I was honored to be invited to participate in a two-day workshop for Midwest local and state elected officials focused on abortion access and reproductive justice. Progressive Governance Academy is organized by Local Progress, State Innovation Exchange, and re:power.

State Senators Kelda Roys and Lena Taylor were also invited to represent Wisconsin at this workshop. It provided us an opportunity to share our perspectives on abortion access and the role of both state and county government in improving access.