October 8, 2002

It is an honor to present the 2003 Racine County Budget to the new 23-member County Board.  The reduction in the size of the County Board is a prime example of Racine County Government’s willingness to look at ways to reduce costs and operate more efficiently.

The Budget that I present to you tonight has certainly been a challenge.  However, despite all that the economy, Madison and Washington have thrown at us, the tax rate has been lowered to $4.036. In fact, the tax rate is more than 21 cents lower now than it was in 1995, when I took office. 

While the Countywide Levy will increase by 5.66%, that is a percent less than our increase in Equalized Assessed Value this year.  I think that you will be pleased that this budget meets one of the important goals that we set.  It was our goal to keep the increase to the cost of living plus 1-2%, excluding debt service and including adjustments for decreases in State and Federal revenues, new programs or material program expansions.  I will explain this in more detail later.

All areas of county government will be operating very lean in 2003.  However, the budget maintains public safety, delivers acceptable human services, and keeps the flow of cases moving through our court system. 

Efficiency is a continual process.  Over the years, you have supported changes that I have proposed in many areas.  The Child Support Department is now a Division of the Human Services Department.  The Purchasing Department is now in the Finance Department and the Print Shop is part of Information Systems.  This eliminated two Department Head positions and increased synergies and efficiencies.

Tonight, you will be approving changes in personnel between Finance and Information Systems, and the combining of the technical staff from Human Services and Information Systems.  These changes are part of a process that, in the business world, is called re-engineering.  This process will continue throughout 2003, with the help of the business community. 

As Will Rogers said: ”Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”   We’re on the right track, but we can see a locomotive racing toward us, pulling a train full of problems.  Wisconsin’s deficit is the greatest threat.  Unlike Racine County, the State has no reserves to fall back on.  Other problems include a falling stock market, a sluggish economy and high unemployment.

The 2003 Budget is faced with declining revenues, increasing costs, and higher demands for services. 

Most of our revenue sources are going down.

• State Shared Revenue will be 4.4% less in 2003, a loss of $188,825.
   
• Stagnant Medicaid reimbursement rates, declining private pay population and the state’s redefinition of labor regions all played a part in the 15% increase in the net County contribution to Ridgewood Care Center’s budget. 
   
• Our basic county allotment for Human Services also remains stagnant, which forces us to reduce services in many areas
   
• Categorical aids to educate our children with special needs have been reduced, contributing to a 17% increase in the Handicapped School District tax levy, and a tax rate increase of 10.8%.  The State’s promise to fund two-thirds of school costs for this population has not been kept.  At the same time, the growing population in the western part of the County has driven large increases in the number of children receiving services from the District.
   
• Lower interest rates are expected to reduce our return on our investments by an amount estimated at $600,000.
   

If the revenue side looks grim, the expense side is just as bad.

• Health Insurance rates will rise 16%.  We are one of only a few local governments whose employees contribute ten percent of the cost of their health insurance premiums.  As you are all aware, State employees contribute nothing.
   
• Labor contracts call for 3.5% increases.
   
• Debt service has increased by 16.6% or $327,816, due to bonding for capital and the new communication microwave system that the board supported last year.
   

Personnel costs are a major share of our budget.  In many cases, the only way to reduce spending is by reducing personnel, and in this budget we have moved personnel around and eliminated positions. While most of these positions are currently vacant, we will do our best to relocate affected employees. In other cases, we are doing without additional employees even when increases in workload would justify them.  A perfect example is in the Register of Deeds Office.  In 1991, each employee in that office handled just over 10,000 documents per year.  This year, by taking advantage of new technology and by increasing efficiency, each employee handled over 33,000 documents.

There will be reductions of personnel in Child Support, Human Services, several in Highway and Parks, and at the Handicapped School. 

This budget freezes the County Executive’s salary for 2003. That salary will still be in line with other county executives in the State.  It seems a small sacrifice when we are looking at eliminating personnel.  These are times when we, as leaders in county government, need to set an example. 

The need for services is increasing due to the economy.  In addition, each year more people seek services from programs for the elderly, handicapped, abused and neglected children, the chronically mentally ill and others.  The need for Planning and Development services has increased due to development in western Racine County.  With Comm 83 regulations going into effect January 1st, we expect a dramatic increase in permit requests in the Planning & Development Department. 

This budget includes no new Human Services programs or services, and we have even had to cut some non-mandated programs and services.  We are not doing this because the programs are not effective or because the services are not needed.  This is being done simply because we must put the fewer dollars we have into our core programs – those we are mandated to provide.

A position was added in the Human Services Department to oversee the foster care program in Racine County.  By creating this position, we are eliminating the need to contract out for this service and saving $144,000.

A position at Ridgewood was expanded due to federal regulations and the stringent reporting requirements related to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).  To meet these requirements and avoid citations for non-compliance, we are forced to expand the responsibilities of a medical records clerk at Ridgewood.

Projects in various departments have been put on hold.  At the same time, we are trying to anticipate the ways that the proposed merger of the Town and Village of Rochester and the anticipated incorporations of the Towns of Mt. Pleasant and Caledonia will impact on County operations in the future.

Capital spending for 2003 will cover a number of areas:

• You have already approved the remaining funds needed to complete the Dispatch Center at Ives Grove.  Replacement of our obsolete dispatch center equipment is essential.  We look forward to the day when our new center is opened, with its state-of-the-art equipment and using the new microwave tower.  We have been assured that the center lends itself to growth if, and when, other municipalities chose to join together in a central dispatch operation. 
   
• Projects at the golf courses will, once again, be paid for using golf course revenues.
   
• As the County Board directed, $100,000 of funding for parks will come from Golf Course revenues.
   
• Road Projects on County Trunk Highways Y, G, A and K will be paid for by leveraging county dollars to obtain state and federal funding. 
   

Without a decision at this time as to the scope of a new jail project and without accurate cost projections for architectural fees, etc., funds for construction are not included in this budget document.  However, this can be handled separately and bonding can be voted on outside of the budget process. 

At your last meeting, you adopted the Racine County Strategic Economic Development Plan.  This Plan sets out seven challenges for all of Racine County – not just Racine County government.  Each challenge has a number of strategies and suggested action steps and Racine County government is named as lead or partner agency in a number of these.  We will be actively moving ahead with many of these steps.

One of the Challenges in the plan calls for us “To Transform the Image of Racine County.”  To achieve this, we have worked with partners to solicit bids from local and national marketing and public relations firms for a promotional campaign aimed at improving the image of Racine County both internally and externally.  To help fund this effort, this budget includes $100,000 from the Land Sales Account.  This will be matched by an equal amount from private sources in the community.  I also anticipate using funds from the Land Sales account to support the work of the 2020 Harbor Task Force.  That group has accepted their charge with great excitement and enthusiasm.  Among the projects they are examining is the possibility of bringing ferry service to Racine, something that would be a boon to both commerce and tourism.

As the culmination of a lengthy Visioning process, this Board recently adopted 5 goals.  How does this budget meet those goals?

The first goal is: “Make Racine County the most accessible county in Wisconsin for business to grow, develop and create family supporting jobs.”  We are moving toward this goal by working on the Economic Development Plan.  If that plan is successful, and it will be if all the participants do their best, then Racine County’s economic future will be a bright one.

Goal Two is: “To develop a system that encourages employees, elected officials and citizens to suggest ideas for service enhancement and productivity improvements, including a measurement of customer satisfaction.”  I would like to start the measurement of customer satisfaction with a survey targeting one department, as a way of refining the methodology, and I will be looking to the Board to identify a department to begin the process.  All the work on the survey will be conducted in-house, at no additional cost. 

The Third Goal is “Foster an environment where intergovernmental cooperation is encouraged to produce better services and efficiencies.”   I established an intergovernmental task force that will enable networking regarding innovative ways of doing business and providing services to taxpayers.  At a meeting held some months ago, intergovernmental leaders identified a number of common concerns.  The concern with the highest priority was health insurance, and a working group is meeting on that issue.  Soon, the group will be called together to discuss priority issue number two - purchasing. 

Goal Five – I’m skipping ahead – is: “To make Racine County a healthy, safe, clean, crime-free community and environment.”  There is money in this budget for the Health Care Network, which provides medical services to the working uninsured, and to maintain staffing that supports Badgercare.  There is also funding for the Sheriff’s Department that does not cut deputy or support positions or jail programs.  In addition, this budget provides funding for enhancements to the Alternatives to Incarceration program.

Goal Four is: “Reduce or limit the growth of the tax levy as set forth in Resolution No. 2002-59S.”  That Resolution states “that the total dollar amount to be levied against taxable property in Racine County for the 2003 budget shall not exceed the amount levied for the 2002 budget, plus the average increase of the Consumer Price Index averaged over the last three years as of June 2002 and an additional 1 or 2 percent plus adjustments for decreases in State of Federal revenues, new programs or material program expansions.”

The levy called for by this budget is, in fact, $413,632 LESS than would be acceptable according to this Goal.  In other words, this budget not only meets, it exceeds the goal you set in your Resolution.  And, if we were to take into account such extraordinary costs as the rise in our health insurance and the decrease in our interest income, the difference would be even greater.

There seems little doubt that local governments will experience further and more severe cuts in the next State budget.  Nevertheless, I am optimistic for Racine County.  Our chief concern is providing our citizens with the best services at the best price.  We have an excellent workforce—I am proud of our employees and how well they do their work.  Client services and customers being served have grown dramatically over the past years and that increased workload has been absorbed.  The demand for services has been high, yet the overall employee count has increased only slightly.   We have a history of innovation and new ideas--as a County and as a government.  I know we will succeed.  Join me as, together, we “move Racine County forward.”