Waukesha County Board adopts executive's budget

Nov. 15, 2011
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By Laurel Walker of the Journal Sentinel

Nov. 15, 2011 0

Waukesha - The Waukesha County Board adopted County Executive Dan Vrakas' proposed 2012 budget intact Tuesday, overwhelmingly rejecting a supervisor's last-ditch effort to prevent closing the Juvenile Center girls' secure detention unit.

Supervisor Patricia Haukohl, chairman of the board's Finance Committee, said the budget represents a continuation of quality infrastructure and services that Waukesha County residents have come to expect. With Haukohl and committee chairs participating in development of the budget early on, she said, the process reflected cooperation and "a synergy so rare among other governments."

The budget calls for a general tax levy of $98 million, up 0.6%, the lowest increase in nearly 30 years.

The resulting tax rate is $2.01 per $1,000 fair market value, up 4 cents. A Waukesha County home of median value this year - $255,600 - would pay $514 in county taxes under the budget, about the same as last year when property values were higher, county officials estimate.

The county share of the tax bill is among the smaller portions, with municipal and school taxes making up a bigger share.

As she did twice before - in the Health and Human Services Committee she chairs and in the Finance Committee - Supervisor Janel Brandtjen fought to reverse Vrakas' decision to close the girls' secure detention unit. Her motion failed, 4-19.

The county will contract for that service with Washington County next year and invest the $200,000 saving into the Health and Human Services Department budget to offset large cuts in state aid.

Health and Human Services Director Peter Schuler said in a letter provided to supervisors that he supported Vrakas' decision to close the unit, citing a 76% decrease in the number of girls housed in the unit since 2006.

Brandtjen had hoped the board would agree to use $52,200 in surplus funds, some of the prevention program funds and additional revenue from housing other counties' juveniles, to keep the female secure detention services in Waukesha County.

Citing an increase in the girls' secure population in October, with 32 admissions compared with an annual average of 24 and 26 in the past two years, Brandtjen said, "It seems to me the numbers are changing and, unfortunately, the Juvenile Center is being used more than it was."

She called the $52,000 in additional tax support a wise investment in a high risk population that, when in Waukesha County's care, shows a high success rate.

Supervisor Kathleen Cummings, who along with Supervisors David Swan and William Zaborowski voted with Brandtjen, urged the board to wait a year before closing the girls' unit.

"This is not the only thing on the agenda," she said, asserting that ultimately the administration would try to close the entire Juvenile Center.

Positions eliminated

The budget eliminates nearly four child-care workers at the Juvenile Center, among 18.7 full-time equivalent positions eliminated countywide for a $1 million saving. About half of those will require layoffs.

A $2.75 million loss in state aid was in part offset by $2.45 million in saving from county employees now being required to contribute half their pension costs.

The 2012 budget calls for spending on operations of $244.7 million, down 1.4% from 2011. Capital projects costing $39.9 million are double last year's amount, but the county is using $10.4 million of cash on hand to keep tax support even. The construction of a $37 million Health and Human Services building and continuation of the $21 million multiyear reconstruction of Highway L in Muskego are among the biggest capital projects.

Nontax revenues total $163.2 million, up 6%.

Taxpayers in communities without libraries will pay $2.9 million, or 1% more, toward the federated library system.

The budget passed 20-3 with Cummings, Brandtjen and Supervisor Robert Hutton opposed. Absent for the vote were Supervisors Michael Inda and Peter Gundrum.

About Laurel Walker
Laurel Walker covered local, school and county government for 20 years -- the last half of that at the Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel -- before she was named Waukesha County columnist in 1997. Today she writes about the people, places and events around metropolitan Milwaukee with a broad suburban focus. She was the youngest of nine children raised on a central Wisconsin farm before leaving the nest for journalism studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a masters degree at the University of Oregon. She has spent the last half of her life in Waukesha County, where she and her husband raised two sons. Though she has a fondness for life in Waukesha, she eagerly partakes in the culture of the big city to the east and the recreation of the forests to the west. With sons in the arts, she has a special fondness for symphonic music concerts and art museums. She finds peace in a good book at a Northwoods getaway weekend, adventure in family visits to the east and west coasts, and satisfaction in a column well-written that reaches readers.
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