Plenty of room for improvement in the Waukesha County Budget;

Janel Brandtjen will be introducing 4 resolutions Tuesday:

 Last month I announced that I have serious concerns with the proposed county owned healthcare facility; however there are plenty of other missed opportunities in this budget to cut spending and decrease the tax burden on the County’s working families as well.

The museum would be a great place to start. Since 2002, taxpayers have spent over $6 million in building upgrades, debt service and operating expenses, yet the leaders of the museum have not taken care of the Waukesha County Museum. Twelve years later, the Museum needs a new roof, HVAC and plumbing to keep their collection safe. Their plan is to recommit to a building with $2.5 million in additional costs. The museum recently announced that they have laid off an archivist for a savings of 50k. Good for them! They should have fixed the roof instead of hiring an archivist in the first place. It is the very nature of government financed entities; to spend every penny and then demand more dollars. Need a new roof?  No need to save.  We can hit the taxpayers up. We have seen it in school districts across the state as well. They spend every dime they have and then go to referendum. It is how government operates. 

 The aforementioned spending/funding tendencies of government run programs are not confined to museums.  It will be the same story for the proposed healthcare facility. We will get a few million into the project and then we will HAVE to fund it further. The claim will be that the medical clinic could be profitable if we add a new billing system, computer program, medical equipment…. you name the item. I can hear them saying it now. “We already invested millions into it.”  Furthermore, the people supporting the Medical Clinic say that if it costs too much, we can cut the program. I’d like someone to point out just one government program that went away when it didn’t work out the way it was planned. Those programs just get more and more tax dollars. These programs never go away. In addition I have noticed that the advocates of this project compare this government clinic with free market business models.  There is a difference between a medical clinic run by government and the free market. This project is a full fledged healthcare facility and it will need the latest in medical equipment and technology to compete. Who will ultimately make these management decisions? If it’s not run well, the County taxpayers will be on the hook.  Don’t let yourself be tricked with projected savings; this is a plan to expand county government.

 In addition to these spending cuts I have recently become aware that the county has numerous “reserve funds” that have grown over the years.  Many have substantial amounts of money. Although I realize that having additional cash reserves to draw upon in an emergency is desirable and helps to keep our credit in good standing, the amounts in these funds have exceeded those thresholds. The extra money belongs to the taxpayers and should be refunded to them.  The multiple enterprise funds have grown to millions.  I am proposing that we take 1 million from the fund and reduce the general tax burden on the county tax payers.  It is money we have overcharged them.  Let’s give it back, instead of finding new expenses.  At what point will the taxpayers get tax relief from all of the public private businesses that Waukesha County has started. Or do our funds just continue to fund more projects and more government expansion? How can fund balance be available for additional park land purchases, loan programs and a new 70 million dollar courthouse, but not for taxpayers? All of us are getting by with less.  We should start refunding extra money to the families that have been paying into the system.

 Finally, should this board vote to proceed with the healthcare facility, there are steps we must then take to assure the integrity of the allotted dollars.  I am suggesting that we do not spend a penny of the money until there is a signed agreement with the City of Waukesha and the School District. If the agreements cannot be authorized, the start up money will revert back to the 2015 budget. Furthermore we should require that the City and School District share in the expenses in the first year rather than allowing our partners to pay us back over 5 years. Collaborating in a joint venture with these entities that are already financially strained may prove to be a serious mistake.  We should not be playing the role of the bank. 

 County Supervisor Janel Brandtjen (District – 5)

 Summary of the Resolutions.

1. (SPVR- 7) Move to amend the 2014 County Budget to budget the use of Materials Recycling Fund (MRF).  Balance – Cash Reserves of $1,000,000 in the Parks and Land Use General Fund and

decrease General Fund Parks and Land Use Tax Levy by $1,000,000 for tax relief.

2. (SPVR- 8) Move to amend the 2014 Non-Departmental Health & Dental Insurance Fund Budget to eliminate the new shared on-site medical initiative program. This reduces expenditure appropriations by $1,109,000 and corresponding revenues of $476,500 for first-year revenues from the School District and City of Waukesha, and $632,500 of Health Insurance Fund Balance, which includes first-year county costs and one-time costs that will be charged to the City and School District in 2015-2018.  In addition, I move to amend the 2014 County Budget to budget the use of Health and Dental Self Insurance Fund Balance - Cash Reserves of $632,500 in the Parks and Land Use General Fund and decrease General Fund Parks and Land Use Tax Levy by $632,500. The $632,500 of Health and Dental Self Insurance Fund Balance is used to reflect an offset and tax relief from reducing on-site medical initiative funding

3. (SPVR- 9) Move to amend the 2014 Non-Departmental Health & Dental Insurance Fund Budget to add the following: The center will be operated only with an intergovernmental agreement with the School District of Waukesha and the City of Waukesha. No money shall be spent prior to the signing of the intergovernmental agreements with the School District of Waukesha and the City of Waukesha for the amount $476,500 for the first year operating expenses. And if the intergovernmental agreements are not made by the end of the first Quarter, the amount of $632,500 will be set aside for a direct reduction of 2015 tax levy. In addition one-time start-up costs that will be charged to the City and School District shall be repaid in 2014-2015. (This amendment is dependent upon action on another individual supervisor amendment in which funding would be removed for the On-Site Medical/Wellness Center. If the amendment passes and funding is removed, this amendment is withdrawn)

 4. (SPVR- 10) Move to amend the 2014 County Budget to eliminate the operations grant to the Waukesha County Historical Society Museum in the Non-Departmental General Fund. This eliminates

$150,000 of expenditure appropriations and General Fund Balance.  In addition, amend the 2014 County Budget to budget the use of Materials Recycling Fund (MRF) Balance – Cash Reserves of $150,000 in the Parks and Land Use General Fund and decrease General Fund Parks and Land Use Tax Levy by $150,000. The $150,000 of MRF Fund Balance is used to reflect an offset and tax relief from reducing Museum funding.