After receiving feedback over two evenings of public hearings, the Dane County Board now awaits release of the 2019 executive budget.
County Executive Joe Parisi is scheduled to release his executive budget to the board by Oct. 1. The public will then have additional opportunities to comment during committee hearings before a final vote of the full board on Nov. 12.
During Wednesday’s hearing, which focused on the Human Services Department, speakers urged the county to be a community partner to keep the Kajsaib House open, which serves the Hmong, Cambodian, and Laotian community. The facility is slated for closure at the end of September.
“Much of the testimony we heard elevated the importance of mental health services and community programming because it impacts so many individuals and families.” said Supervisor Jamie Kuhn (District 16, far east Madison).
On Thursday, the board heard from environmental leaders who urged the county to continue working on improving water quality. That includes implementing proposals from the Healthy Farms, Healthy Lakes Task Force (https://board.countyofdane.com/Healthy-Farms-Healthy-Lakes-Task-Force) designed to reduce the amount of nutrients washing into the lakes.
“The recommendations from the task force came from a broad coalition who all share a concern for protecting our waterways while ensuring the agricultural economy remains strong,” said Corrigan.
In total, the county departments requested $545 million for 2019, with about $300 million expected to come from departmental revenue.
Last year’s operating budget totaled $538 million. 2019 capital budget requests total about $32 million. The capital budget last year totaled $115 million.