The County Board approved
and I signed our $397 million 2003 county budget in record time, in a spirit of
cooperation.
Citizens told me that human
services and public safety are again their top priorities. Reflecting this, over half of the
dollars, $204.3 million, go to pay for human services. In order to fund human service and
public safety priorities, we made over $7 million in cuts in county government,
including $1.8 million in permanent base cuts. Twenty vacant positions were eliminated, and across the
board cuts in agency budgets saved another $2 million.
I continued the
5% cut in my own salary and the 3% cut in my staff’s salaries that I
instituted in February, saving about $28,000.
The tax rate for Dane County
taxpayers falls 17 cents, from $3.16 to $2.99 per thousand of assessed
valuation. The spending increase
on the tax levy was held to a low 3.11%, meeting my self-imposed limit of the
combination of inflation (1.67%) plus population growth (1.44%) of the
county.
By working together we
improved human services, especially to elderly citizens and our neighbors
battling mental illnesses. We also
increased public safety, funding a pilot treatment program for inmates with alcohol
and other drug abuse problems, and taking the next steps in Priority Dispatch
to streamline response to emergency 911 calls throughout the county.
With the budget done, I am
turning my attention more fully to two important issues—affordable housing and good land use. This past summer we issued a set of
proposals called, “Affordable Housing and Land Use: A Report and
Recommendations for Action.”
Thanks to an informal
partnership that includes environmental advocates, builders, real estate
professionals, business persons and non-profit housing developers, the report
describes the recommendations of people and organizations deeply interested in
the future quality of life in Dane County.
The goals of the partnership
are to identify and promote policies and programs that:
· Enable people in Dane County to find a wider range of
economical housing choices located near employment and shopping areas,
community facilities and transit services,
·
· and
·
· Preserve the rural character and scenic beauty,
farmland and other important natural resources in Dane County through more
efficient land use.
This
group of hard-working advisors developed a set of recommendations, that I
support, that is making its way on the public agenda. The recommendations include:
·
Create
a new housing development organization.
A Housing Land Trust is being organized, with business, nonprofit and
local government involvement, that will lead to the creation of more affordable
workforce housing in Dane County.
This group has secured the support and involvement of area lending
institutions.
·
·
Reduce
regulatory barriers to more efficient development.
·
Reduce
development costs.
·
·
Identify
and preserve resources, such as agricultural areas, wetlands and groundwater
recharge areas.
·
·
Regionalize
services where appropriate for improved efficiency and better planning.
·
·
Locate
new development and redevelopment in corridors served by efficient
transportation modes.
·
·
Link
housing location to where job growth is likely to occur.
I would very much like to
hear your opinions on these issues that are so important to the future of our
community. To request a copy of
the Affordable Housing and Land Use report, or to give me your thoughts, please
contact me by e-mail at falk@co.dane.wi.us,
or by mail at 210 Martin Luther King Jr., Blvd., Room 421, Madison WI 53703.
-Kathleen
Falk, County Executive
Return to Winter 2003 Table of Contents