David Michael Miller
If Dane County’s annual budget process kicked off with a jingle, “Happy Days Are Here Again” would have been a fitting backdrop to County Executive Joe Parisi’s introduction of his 2016 budget proposal earlier this month.
“We’re on the most solid fiscal footing in a long time,” says Parisi, striking a far more optimistic tone than at this time last year, as county officials struggled to maintain existing levels of service.
But the happiest days may very well be reserved for those who need them most — the county’s mentally ill population, a focal point of the proposal.
“It’s the year for mental health,” says Bonnie Loughran, executive director of the Dane County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, “which is great, because it has been so neglected because the funding isn’t always available. So what is being proposed is really remarkable.”
Arriving months after the county regained its coveted AAA bond rating, the proposed $572 million operating budget, titled “A Blueprint for Opportunity,” contains millions in new spending, including a progressive pay raise for county employees. Parisi also boasts that the county’s reserve fund will grow to $25 million, up from zero when he took office.
The budget would raise the county’s annual property tax for the average Madison homeowner by nearly $32, but this could climb if additional spending is approved as the budget passes through various committees, with a final county board vote scheduled for Nov. 16.
The county board could pad the budget with another $500,000 before hitting the state-imposed levy cap.
The spending increases, says Parisi, were made possible by building on existing partnerships, making government operations more efficient, and realigning resources “to accomplish the greatest amount of good.”
The budget includes a number of new programs, and funding increases for existing ones, aimed at softening the hardships faced by those grappling with mental illness.
Any given year, Loughran says, one in four Dane County residents will suffer from a mental illness, with one in seven experiencing a persistent illness like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.
“People are becoming more aware of how mental illness not only affects individuals and their families, but how these illnesses affect the community,” she says.
Parisi has, in a partnership with the Madison Metropolitan School District, earmarked $250,000 in matching funds to create two new school-based mental health teams, which will work with the district’s K-8 students to curb behavioral issues by identifying students’ mental health needs.
“In the past, when a child would act up, it was assumed they were being disruptive on purpose,” says Loughran. “Now they will have access to a master’s level therapist who can speak to them in a way maybe teachers, or even police officers, can’t.”
Launched last year, the Building Bridges program has received rave reviews from parents and teachers. According to a survey conducted by Catholic Charities, which administers the program on behalf of the county, 94% of school staff said they have seen noticeable improvements in student behavior since the program rolled out.
Three two-person mental health teams currently work in the Verona and Sun Prairie School districts and the East High School attendance area within Madison’s school district.
Under the proposal, two new teams would give all K-8 students in Madison access to a licensed therapist, with two other teams slated to work in two yet undetermined districts outside of Madison.
Parisi’s budget also gives local law enforcement an assist when encountering residents in crisis. An additional $82,000 would create an around-the-clock mobile crisis response team to help officers de-escalate situations involving people suffering from mental illness.
“Even though officers are receiving more training, it’s always helpful to have someone who really understands what an individual might be going through to back you up and help de-escalate a situation,” says Loughran.
The team would operate within Journey Mental Health’s Emergency Services Unit. A mental health broker position, who would serve as a bridge between the crisis team and available services, is also proposed for $72,500.
“A lot of the time it’s a matter of making people aware of what is available,” says Josh Wescott, Parisi’s chief of staff.
The county executive also included funds to build on a grant received earlier this year by the Dane County Sheriff’s Office to create a re-entry team to help inmates released from jail address any mental health, substance abuse or other quality-of-life issues. Parisi has proposed $44,600 for a new re-entry team coordinator position, in addition to $25,000 to assist the mentally ill with finding housing.
If all goes well, the county’s homeless population will finally have a warm place to gather next winter during the day.
This year, the county signed an agreement to purchase the old Messner Inc. building at 1326 E. Washington Ave. for a day shelter. Parisi set aside $750,000 in next year’s budget to pay for renovations, along with $100,000 to operate it.
Pending approval of a conditional-use permit, Wescott says the long-awaited center could be fully operational in 2016.
Parisi has also proposed doubling the county’s eviction prevention fund, established two years ago, to $50,000, with some of the funds eyed specifically for families living within the county’s early childhood zones.
The fund, which is administered by Joining Forces with Families, helped prevent 214 families from being evicted last year, Wescott says.
Parisi has also proposed $260,000 to create an Office for Equity and Inclusion to help facilitate county employment and contracting opportunities among minorities, women and people with disabilities.
County employees would also receive their first pay increase since 2011 with an hourly pay raise — 87 cents an hour — instead of a set across-the-board percentage increase.
“It’ll mean less of a raise for those who make more and more money for those who earn less,” explains Wescott.
The budget also proposes adding 14 new employees throughout county government next year.
The county’s nonprofit partners will also receive an inflationary increase, to be determined on a case-by-case basis, with $700,000 proposed.
At $35.9 million, proposed capital expenditures in 2016 would decrease $6.5 million from this year.
The Solid Waste Department has requested $200,000 for equipment to increase its ability to clean and store compressed natural gas, created as waste decomposes, which is currently used to fuel 55 vehicles in the county’s fleet of roughly 400 non-law enforcement vehicles.
The Highway Department has requested $1.6 million for seven snowplows that run on compressed natural gas.
The Sheriff’s Office has requested $97,000 for a use-of-force simulator “to provide realistic law enforcement scenarios...that will increase deputy and citizen safety and survival rates,” according to the budget request.
Additionally, the request states that the simulator “will build trust between Dane County communities and law enforcement,” but doesn’t specify how.
Plans to make the Veterans Memorial Coliseum a more profitable place for concert promoters could become a reality if $650,000 for a new light grid and rigging system is approved. Parisi says a downward trend in concerts at the 59-year-old venue is partly to blame on the high costs associated with having to set up and tear down rigging for each performance.
A half-million dollars has been earmarked for new bathrooms and other improvements at the Henry Vilas Zoo, and a new zookeeper position could be funded with profits from the Glacier Grille and Arctic Passage exhibit, both of which opened last spring.