Fond du Lac Reporter

County Executive Allen Buechel says efforts to balance Fond du Lac County’s proposed 2010 budget require $850,000 worth of personnel cuts.

The cuts could come in the form of union concessions, layoffs, attrition and/or furloughs of up to five days.

Buechel said when decisions from the county’s unions are made on possible concessions and the impact can be calculated, then decisions will be made on how many furlough days and/or how many job losses will need to occur through attrition or layoffs.

He said the 2010 version is the most difficult of his 17 years of developing budgets.

“We have had to deal with the relentless passage of state mandates, lack of increases in state funding for programs that we operate on their behalf, property tax freezes, cost increases related to binding arbitration statute — and for 2010 — state funding cuts of over $1 million, mostly for programs that we must continue to operate on behalf of the State of Wisconsin,” said Buechel in his budget message.

The proposed equalized tax rate for 2010 is $5.226, compared with last year’s rate of $5.026. The 2010 rate reflects a 20-cent increase (3.98 percent) or $20 more on a $100,000 home. The proposed property tax levy is $36,634,178 compared to $34,410,290 for 2009.

The county’s Finance, Personnel and Economic Development Committee will review details of the budget from 1 to 4 p.m. today and Thursday and, if needed, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday in Room H of the City County Government Center, 160 S. Macy St.

Following are several key cost increases included in the budget:

# The largest increase will be the 11 percent increase in medical insurance premiums for 2010.

# The decline in the stock market a year ago will cost the county an additional $350,000 for the State Employee Retirement Fund next year.

# All eight union contracts had been settled for 2010, which added more than $600,000 in payroll costs to the budget. There is no cost-of-living salary increase included for non-represented employees. # The Highway Department is experiencing significant increases in the prices of asphalt and road salt.

# The county will lose rental income of $142,000 when Care Management Organization staff move out of the county’s building on Portland Street on April 1. Other revenue loss of $110,000 will occur with the loss of other services related to the consolidation of Lakeland Care District — encompassing the counties of Fond du Lac, Winnebago and Manitowoc.

Several cost savings are included in the budget:

# Bidding the contract jointly for pharmaceuticals for the Department of Community Programs, Rolling Meadows Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Health Care Center and County Jail. Savings is estimated at more than $200,000.

# Re-bidding the property, casualty, liability and worker’s compensation insurance for a savings of more than $150,000 for 2010.

# About $275,000 will be saved through innovative changes with licensing at the Rolling Meadows Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and Health Care Center facilities.