Locals urge legislators to avoid budget cuts

Two state legislators heard from local residents on myriad issues during a listening session Friday at Shawano City Hall, and there was a common message.

Leave local programs — and the funding for those programs — alone.

A crowd of more than 100 attended the forum, with 30 speaking to Rep. Gary Tauchen, R-Bonduel, and Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay, on a variety of issues, including education funding, property tax assessments and Family Care funding.

Georgia Stapleton, a retired nurse, expressed concern about the proposed cuts to Family Care on the eve of its introduction into Shawano County. Stapleton expressed dismay that the proposed budget does not provide adequate funding for the services and that it recommends bringing in for-profit companies to provide the services.

“There are 55,000 people in the state that are receiving long-term care services,” Stapleton said. “Some of these folks in Oconto, Menominee and Shawano counties have received services since the ’80s. They are trusting they will continue to have those services.”

Brent Miller, Shawano County administrative coordinator, was concerned about the proposal to have counties conduct property tax assessments, calling it a “bad idea” that puts an unnecessary burden on the county and limits public review.

Miller also had an issue with the budget recommendation to require welfare recipients to undergo drug testing, saying it was a shell game shifting funding from the state to the county.

Rebecca Fields urged the legislators not to eliminate funding that helps property owners to replace their aging septic systems. She noted that 21 local applicants will not be able to receive assistance to replace their systems if the proposal is passed.

“It’s a small drop in the bucket compared to the budget overall, but it affects so many low-income people in the state,” Fields said.

Tauchen said he is already working on a budget motion to keep the septic replacement funding in the budget.

Grant Bystol, Shawano County highway commissioner, expressed his opposition to the proposal to bond $1.5 billion in order to fund the state’s highway system. Bystol said it was more financially sound to increase the state’s general transportation aid instead of bonding, which only shifts the financial burden to a later date.

“I support a long-term, sustainable increase to the transportation budget,” Bystol said.

Greg Sturm, president for Shawano Pathways, urged legislators to advocate keeping alternative transportation funds in the budget. It would impact the ability of organizations such as Shawano Pathways to create bike trails and to educate others on healthy methods of getting from one place to another.

“We’ve been doing a lot of good,” Sturm said. “I would hope those funds could be restored.”

Shawano School Board member Michael Sleeper pointed out that the proposed budget leaves school districts in a deep financial hole. The Shawano School District expects to lose $950,000 in state aid in the next fiscal year unless the budget changes.

“The reduction of the per-student categorical aid, along with the limitations on revenue limits, really tie our hands,” Sleeper said.

District Superintendent Gary Cumberland echoed Sleeper’s sentiments, noting that the district has managed for more than 20 years to adhere to levy limits established by the state, but the proposal to freeze levy limits while cutting categorical aid for next year makes that extremely difficult.

Eddie Sheppard, Shawano’s public works coordinator, urged the legislators to not allow cuts in recycling grant funds, noting that recycling programs are successful right now.

“Recycling is not a money-making program anymore, so if we want to continue to have these programs in our state, I don’t think we should make these cuts and in fact should invest in our recycling markets,” Sheppard said.

County Supervisor Robert Krause, who sits on the agriculture and Extension committee, said he was opposed to the $300 million proposed cut to the University of Wisconsin System. It would include the elimination of 80 Extension positions, the equivalent of at least one per county.

“Our four educators we have here in Shawano County touch all areas of economics and livelihood throughout the county,” Krause said, noting that besides the 4-H program, UW-Extension educators have helped create programs such as Leadership Shawano County, Rural Health Initiative and Strong Bones. “This budget would be devastating to our local Extension office.”

Tauchen said there have been four statewide hearings on the budget, but he and Cowles felt it was necessary to get local input as they prepare to vote on it.

“We’re getting as much input as we can,” Tauchen said. “If there are issues that come up during the budget process, we’ll have the opportunity to be able to provide input to the people who are on the Joint Finance Committee.”

The Joint Finance Committee is expected to hold, starting Wednesday, about a dozen hearings on specific issues within the budget, but when the Assembly and Senate get to look at the budget, Tauchen said, it will be an up or down vote.

Cowles, who indicated he was against shifting the assessment process to counties and wanted K-12 education funding to remain where it has been the last two years, said he planned to make sure the budget Gov. Scott Walker proposed is not the one that is passed.

“It’s going to look a lot different. There’s going to be some changes,” Cowles said. “How many, we don’t know.”