County Board creating a structural deficit by pulling from reserves; budget not truly balanced
Well, the Winnebago County Board has approved a 2007 budget, but they sure didn’t do it through any creative means or by giving truly heartfelt thought and effort to making cuts in the budget. Instead, they “balanced” the budget by pulling money from the general reserve – money used for emergencies and money on which our credit rating is determined and interest rates on future borrowing are established. And it’s not the first time the board has done this.
Last year it pulled $840,000 to “balance” the budget and made no meaningful cuts. This year, board members pulled approximately $250,000 on Wednesday and about another $600,000 on Thursday to fund its 2007 operations.
County Executive Mark Harris said when he taped an episode of "Eye on Oshkosh" last night that the board has not truly balanced the budget. Instead, supervisors’ actions helped create a further structural deficit – a very dangerous situation and one that many cities, including Milwaukee, are currently experiencing.
Harris had proposed a half-percent sales tax, which he said would have both balanced the budget and provided property tax relief to county residents – which, under Wisconsin law it would have to do. It also would have returned leftover revenue to the various cities, townships and villages in Winnebago County. For the City of Oshkosh, Harris estimated that could have been as much as $800,000, which we sure could use. But the board shot down the sales tax proposal as one of its first actions when it began budget deliberations on Monday.
Among its other actions this week, the board actually reinstated three positions in the county sheriff’s department – two patrol officers and another dispatcher. That was probably a smart move because, after all, that is public safety and the sheriff’s department has taken some hits in recent years. Most of the cuts the board made were those already recommended by Harris.
One small cut Harris recommended that the board say “no way” to was the $1,200 budgeted for its coffee and doughnut fund. Though it would have been more symbolic than fiscally beneficial, that cut would have, at a minimum, shown the county board took the budget process seriously and understood the budget crisis we’re in. After all, at $100 a month, I think the county board members each could kick in a few bucks to preserve their precious coffee and doughnuts. But apparently that’s asking too much of them – at least for those 19 board members who voted to preserve the expense in the budget.
And yet, supervisor Stan Kline said "There's always give and take. We were going through literally with a scalpel." Sorry Stan, some of us just don’t see it that way. The scalpel apparently got set down so as not to get it sticky from that jelly-filled doughnut.
Last year it pulled $840,000 to “balance” the budget and made no meaningful cuts. This year, board members pulled approximately $250,000 on Wednesday and about another $600,000 on Thursday to fund its 2007 operations.
County Executive Mark Harris said when he taped an episode of "Eye on Oshkosh" last night that the board has not truly balanced the budget. Instead, supervisors’ actions helped create a further structural deficit – a very dangerous situation and one that many cities, including Milwaukee, are currently experiencing.
Harris had proposed a half-percent sales tax, which he said would have both balanced the budget and provided property tax relief to county residents – which, under Wisconsin law it would have to do. It also would have returned leftover revenue to the various cities, townships and villages in Winnebago County. For the City of Oshkosh, Harris estimated that could have been as much as $800,000, which we sure could use. But the board shot down the sales tax proposal as one of its first actions when it began budget deliberations on Monday.
Among its other actions this week, the board actually reinstated three positions in the county sheriff’s department – two patrol officers and another dispatcher. That was probably a smart move because, after all, that is public safety and the sheriff’s department has taken some hits in recent years. Most of the cuts the board made were those already recommended by Harris.
One small cut Harris recommended that the board say “no way” to was the $1,200 budgeted for its coffee and doughnut fund. Though it would have been more symbolic than fiscally beneficial, that cut would have, at a minimum, shown the county board took the budget process seriously and understood the budget crisis we’re in. After all, at $100 a month, I think the county board members each could kick in a few bucks to preserve their precious coffee and doughnuts. But apparently that’s asking too much of them – at least for those 19 board members who voted to preserve the expense in the budget.
And yet, supervisor Stan Kline said "There's always give and take. We were going through literally with a scalpel." Sorry Stan, some of us just don’t see it that way. The scalpel apparently got set down so as not to get it sticky from that jelly-filled doughnut.
posted by Cheryl Hentz at 8:32 AM
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