Bydget may help courts, hurt human services

The Journal staff

Waukesha Waukesha County Executive Daniel M. Finley says he doesn't have enough details yet to determine all the places that county government will be "nicked" by Gov. Tommy G. Thompson's budget proposal.

But in general, Finley says the county should fare well in the courts area and not so well in human services.

County executives met with the governor recently for an advance briefing on the budget, which Thompson unveiled this week.

"Unless there are some surprises, I'm guessing in totality, the budget isn't going to be bad for the county," Finley said after hearing Thompson's speech.

The state-imposed court filing fee would double, from $20 to $40, under Thompson's budget, with the revenue helping to cover the local share of court costs. That should help county property-tax payers significantly, Finley said.

But in human services, indications are that the major source of state aid, community aids, will be frozen or cut. One of the biggest tax levy increases adopted for 1995 was a 10% boost in human services, and another big increase may be necessary just to maintain services. General Relief Decision

One of Thompson's initiatives, eliminating the state-mandated general relief program, will also shift a big decision to the county's shoulders.

Thompson's budget eliminates funding and the mandate for counties to provide for basic needs of adults who do not have minor children to care for. Medical coverage for those eligible would continue under the plan.

This year, the county's general relief program is projected to cost $1.5 million, of which county taxpayers pay $905,600 and the state pays $639,000.

Money paid in basic grants for shelter, clothing and other necessities is estimated at $415,000 for the year.

Whether the county should continue to pay for basic general relief grants will be one of the biggest policy questions of the coming year, Finley said.

"I can tell you it's certainly going to be one of the more difficult challenges," he said.

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