Door County Holds Budget Line

After last year’s double-digit levy hike, Door County government is pulling its belt tight this year.

Deliberations on the Door County budget won’t be clouded by sticker shock this fall, as the preliminary 2009 budget that county administrator Mike Serpe presented to the Finance Committee Sept. 15 includes only a 0.04 percent levy hike, the lowest percentage increase in 17 years.

Ken Fisher, District 10 county board supervisor, said he was surprised the county’s staff was able to hold the line at a time when costs are rising rapidly.

“It’s basically a tax freeze, that’s unbelievable,” he said.

“Unbelievable,” Fisher said, because the county is contending with a 7.7 percent increase in health insurance costs, a 17 percent increase in utility expenses, and a contracted 3 percent salary increase for union employees as the budget is pieced together this year.

To fit those cost hikes within the 2 percent levy increase insisted upon by the state required a thorough review by county departments. Last December Serpe instructed the county’s department heads to begin the budgeting process earlier than usual in anticipation of the difficult task ahead, and he was happy with the way they responded.

“Given what’s happening on Wall Street right now, it’s even more important that we exercised constraint,” he said.

The product now being reviewed is a 2009 budget of $62,478,000, up from 60,948,000 in 2008. Of that, roughly a third, or $23,003,978 is supplied by the levy, or $3.10 for every $1,000 of equalized property value. The remainder of the budget is paid for with state and federal money and revenues such as user fees, permits and licenses.

The Finance Committee will make a recommendation to the board at its Oct. 10 meeting, with the board considering the budget for approval at a public hearing Nov. 3.

To keep costs in check the county cut 2.5 positions, one each in the County Clerk’s office and the Register of Deeds, and a half-time position in the Sheriff’s Department.

The budget includes the use of $637,390 from the undesignated fund, which currently sits at $7,007,995. A 2003 county resolution mandates that the fund not exceed 15 percent of the total budget but not sink below 12 percent. The undesignated fund will be 14.2 percent of the budget after this year’s portion is removed.

The county was able to manage the budget challenge, Serpe said, because the county purse has been “incredibly well-managed by [Finance Director] Shirley Scalish and the people who came before me.”

Marc Savard, District 20 representative for the Town of Liberty Grove and Sister Bay, has expressed frustration with the budget development process but said he’s happy with the preliminary budget Serpe has presented.

“Mike took the board’s direction and came back with a good product for us to consider,” Savard said. “I’m happy with the outcome, but the process still needs work.”

Savard acknowledges that the county budget is too vast and complex for board members to examine line-by-line as they once did, but he said the development of it should be more open to the public and especially the supervisors

“For us to stay flatline for a while is something we owe to the taxpayer,” he said.

In his statement to the finance committee, Serpe acknowledged that the county is not the only entity under budget constraints. “What it really comes down to is families and their economy and they’re under a lot of pressure…we must never lose sight of the fact that it is all about families and our ability to help them build a better, more secure life.”

Unfunded mandates – services the state requires the county to provide but for which it doesn’t allocate full funding – passed down from Madison continue to be a sore spot for county supervisors and employees, but Serpe said he now considers them a given.

“Unfunded mandates are a sore point in all local government,” he said. “I’m so tired of talking about it because it’s not productive anymore.”

The levy caps also frustrate board members. While representatives in Madison claim the caps keep local spending in check, County Board Chairman Leo Zipperer said local government can man its own shop.

“Maybe it’s time for the state to be a little more realistic,” said Zipperer, who has served on the county board for much of the past 30 years. “I don’t like people who can’t keep their own budget in line telling me how to handle mine.”

Serpe said the county does not spend more money than it needs to.

“Door County is providing the services required by the state and federal law,” he said. “We spend the money on what previous boards and people have asked us to spend on. There’s nothing we do that’s fluff, nothing that could revert easily to private sector.”

Fisher said he feels he gets “a good value for my property tax dollar,” but said there are a few departments where it might be possible to trim staff down the road.

“I’m as conservative as they get,” Fisher continued, “but I’m not for shrinking county services, or growing them, I’m for maintaining.”

“Much of what the county does is in people,” Serpe said, meaning significant budget cutting often comes in the form of jobs. Salaries and wages make up 42 percent of the county’s budget, according to Scalish.

“You cut people and it trickles down to the quality of services,” Scalish said.

Levy caps aren’t likely to be lifted anytime soon, so Fisher said he doesn’t expect the county to endure many consecutive budget cycles without undertaking borrowing or facing significant cuts in services.

“You don’t have to know much to realize that,” he said. “Common sense tells you that you can’t do that forever or you’ll get a situation like we had last year.”

The board used short-term borrowing to meet last year’s budget needs, resulting in a 12.36 percent levy increase.