{"id":72,"date":"2018-10-16T23:15:38","date_gmt":"2018-10-16T23:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/j237ericbauer\/?p=72"},"modified":"2018-10-16T23:15:38","modified_gmt":"2018-10-16T23:15:38","slug":"jefferson-county-proposes-bolstered-budget-for-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/j237ericbauer\/2018\/10\/16\/jefferson-county-proposes-bolstered-budget-for-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Jefferson County proposes bolstered budget for 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Jefferson County Board unveiled its budget proposal for the 2019 year this Tuesday, offering a higher spending quota than in years past.<\/span><\/p>\n

The county\u2019s proposed budget is up roughly $9 million to $81 million in comparison to the $72 million it had to spend in 2018. This number is subject to change however, as the finalized budget is not due to the state until Nov. 15. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a whole we are very proud of where we are with our budget,\u201d said County Administrator, Ben Wehmeier as he rolled out the budget proposal to the board. <\/span><\/p>\n

Wehmeier did stress, however, that this heightened budget was not something for the county to get used to. The greater spending power of the county in 2019 will come from one-time capital. This capital will come to update the county\u2019s communication systems. Addition one-time capital will come in the form of a grant greater than $1 million from the state to build a bike trail. <\/span><\/p>\n

The county is attempting to make some creative changes to their spending in an effort to create a larger budget in the future when these one-time capitals are not available. These efforts are centered around a \u201cpriority-based budgeting\u201d as it was called by Wehmeier.<\/span><\/p>\n

This priority-based budgeting is being done by all 266 departments of the county. It\u2019s intended to worry less about how many spoons the administration buys for their building but rather look into performance based stats to fulfill the county\u2019s budget in far more efficient manner, said Wehmeier. <\/span><\/p>\n

An additional creative change to maximize the county\u2019s budget that is taking effect is a consortium with Dodge County for employee health care which has created a $1.2 million budget increase for Jefferson County. <\/span><\/p>\n

The largest portion of Jefferson\u2019s budget will come from property taxes, which will total just under $30 million for 2019. The 2019 tax rate is expected to make a 1.6 percent increase to capture new growth for the budget.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adversely, the largest portion of the county\u2019s proposed budget will be spent on health and human services. $28 million dollars will be spent which equates to roughly 36 percent of their expenditures.<\/span><\/p>\n

This large percent exists due to the fact that human services are given out by the county rather than the state government. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCounty government is like the administrative arm of the state,\u201d said County Supervisor, Dick Jones, when explaining this process in a meeting with journalism students. Jones is also the chair of the board\u2019s Finance Committee and has been apart of this proposal since its inception.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the county will see a tax rate increase, it will also see a 4.07 percent decrease in mill rate to 3.828. This reduction returns the mill rate to levels seen prior to the 2008 recession.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the county continues to find ways expand the budget, they are faced with numerous challenges. These include navigating the cost of hospitalizations, fighting against alcohol and drug abuse, maintaining their I.T. networks and the ever changing state budget plans.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other side of these challenges are many solid positives for the county. The two Wehmeier applauded the most were their limited debt and their proactive planning\/creative changes to create a more robust and efficient budget in the future. <\/span><\/p>\n

This meeting on Tuesday was just the first proposal of the budget to the board. Moving forward, committee supervisors are able to propose amendments from Oct. 10 through Nov. 6. On Oct. 23 the board will hold its public hearing on the budget and on Nov. the Finance Committee will review the amendments they have been given. Following this review the budget will be finalized at the Nov. 13 board meeting and thus submitted to the state prior to Nov. 15.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other news stemming from the board meeting included:<\/span><\/p>\n