Getting to the applause line
This month, the Marathon County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a nearly $200 million budget with not only a unanimous vote, but without a single amendment, bone of contention, nasty debate or long winded speech. The board was so pleased with itself that, in passing the budget, it erupted in self-satisfied applause.
We’ll give the board its kumbaya moment given that it is otherwise generally occupied with quarreling about Community For All resolutions, Critical Race Theory, four-wheelers and COVID-19 masking policies.
What was missing from the budget debate, however, was a big thank you to the Marathon County public for making a politically easy budget possible in the first place.
We have been on our best behavior for the last several years, obeyed the law and have stayed out of jail, saving tons of money. We deserve some applause, too.
The big dogs in the county budget are the sheriff’s department and the jail. The two connected departments will get 42 percent of the county’s $53.4 million property tax levy this coming year. No other department comes close.
What made possible a 2022 county budget unthreatened by politically divisive layoffs or service cuts was putting something of a ceiling on sheriff’s department and corrections spending. The budget establishes a cap of 50 out of county jail placements.
This is a cap that realistically can be enforced this coming year. While there were over one hundred out of county jail placements several years ago, there were just 30 on Nov. 10. These included three in the Columbia County Jail, seven in the Lincoln County Jail and 20 in the Taylor County Jail.
What makes a 50 out of county inmate cap possible is a well behaved citizenry. With fewer people breaking laws, the county can better manage its jail population and, in turn, overall county spending.
We aren’t arguing that county citizens are all angels, but, as a group, we have toed the line. The Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) reports that the Marathon County Sheriff’s Department arrested 1,432 people in 2016. Four years later, in 2020, the department arrested roughly half this number, 723. This dramatic drop, doubtlessly, reflects the impact of COVID-19 which slowed everything, including crime, but also a larger, general trend where arrests have dropped every year since 2016.
These lower arrest numbers and, in turn, fewer out of county jail placements don’t necessarily mean the county is spending less money. Between 2018 and 2022, the sheriff’s department budget has steadily increased from $13 million to $15.7 million. The corrections budget jumped from $8.4 million to $9.2 million over the same time frame. And the wheels of the justice system move faster than ever. Despite lower arrests, the Marathon County District Attorney’s office is handling more criminal cases. In 2016, that office had 1,995 total cases, including 994 felonies. Four years later, there were 2,414 cases and 1,325 felonies. But, doubtlessly, the cost of the justice system would have been greater if arrests had been trending up, not down.
We are happy the county was able to pass this year’s budget with a minimum of haggling and grief, but would only point out that a long-term county financial plan based upon human goodness may not end well.
The county needs to think what will be its budget priorities when the public, perhaps in post-COVID-19 exuberance, is not so well behaved and starts seriously overfilling the jail again.
The board, at that point, will need to turn to some serious debate at budget time and make some hard choices between the needs of law enforcement and other priorities. Supervisors will have a tougher time in that year before they get to the applause line.
