With budget season upon us, Dane County will face a number of budgeting challenges that are directly related to the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chief among these are:
1. An end to COVID-related federal funds that the County had been using to fund a number of key programs.
2. A decrease in sales tax revenue. A byproduct of pandemic-era spending habits was that Dane County residents spent nearly all of their money within the county. All that money spent on takeout and local activities (as opposed to vacationing and other activities that spend money elsewhere) provided a significant boost to County tax revenue during the peak of the pandemic.
3. A dramatic spike in the cost of providing County employees with healthcare. The increase in this expense alone, for the first time in County history, has outpaced new revenue from sales tax growth and assessed property tax growth combined. Much of the recent spike in the cost of healthcare has been attributed to folks deferring care during the pandemic and then subsequently increasing utilization of those services in the years following, though there are always unique factors at play when letting private business set prices for a basic and inelastic human need such as healthcare.
These factors, combined with the Republican-controlled state legislature giving disproportionately low amounts of state tax dollars to cities and placing levy limits on local governments, are going to place unique restraints on this year’s budget process.
Public hearings are scheduled for the County’s budget on Oct. 9 and 28. If you have any questions or concerns about the County’s funding priorities, please attend one or both of those hearings or reach out to me directly at ry
lander.tommy@danecounty.gov.
