City's Budget Plans Hinge on Further Word From Madison

Many believe that Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi’s will only delay the inevitable and that Act 10 and the collective bargaining changes will still be a part of Governor Scott Walker’s biennial budget.

But, what if?

What if Sumi’s ruling is just the first step in handing collective bargaining rights back to public workers, who had most of those rights stripped by the controversial budget-repair bill?

And assuming municipalities will still see a cut in shared revenue, what if the so-called “tools,” which in most cases were already not sufficient enough to close the gap left by those impending cuts, are taken away?

Greenfield Mayor Michael Neitzke said would no doubt be substantial.

“We are trying to piece together a budget with revenue streams that will be cut significantly,” Neitzke said. “For the last month, we've identified expenses to be cut and the majority of those expenses relate to personnel costs and obligations within collective bargaining agreements. The bleak budget outlook for next year will be bleaker, if our hands are tied.”

Neitzke said local governments and school districts across the state are caught in a tough spot as they await final word from Madison.

“Every politician at the level of government above us talks about the virtues of local government,” he said. “Yet, those same folks seemingly do everything they can to mandate additional expenditures, to remove 'tools' that provide the ability to provide local services, to punish fiscally conservative budgeting, and to remove local control at the local level. Then they blame us for high property taxes, even though Greenfield's portion of the property tax bill is only about 28 percent of the total bill.”