Notes on Appleton's 2019 Budget

The Appleton Common Council will meet in special session on Wednesday night to make final amendments and adopt the city's 2019 budget.

This was a very difficult budget year: The state's limits on our revenue meant we had around $600,000 in new revenue available to put into the budget, and wage increases for our contracted employees (The Police and Fire Departments, Valley Transit) and our increased health insurance costs alone rose by about $670,000. So there simply isn't money available this year for new programs or any notable expansions to current programs funded from our operating budget. We're also having to borrow a bit more money to pay for road projects that would previously have been paid for in cash.

Here are quick notes and explanations on a few of the discussions I've been involved in during the budget process:

Police Equipment/Personnel

The lack of extra available funds exacerbated an already difficult situation with the Police Department, where a collection of necessary personal protective equipment had already fallen behind its replacement schedule. The ramifications of this issue became very apparent recently when our SWAT team was unable to use their gas masks during an incident.

On Budget Saturday I worked with Alderperson Kathleen Plank to partially address this issue by removing part of the PD's scheduled contribution to our Central Equipment Agency to help fund the purchase of new gas masks. There are still equipment needs at the department, however, and I anticipate multiple amendments this week in an effort to get that problem addressed.

Additionally, it's my understanding that Alderperson Patti Coenen has made an effort to cut from several budgets in an effort to fund a new police officer starting in March. This amendment came about relatively late in the process and I'll be curious to learn more about it during debate.

Wheel Tax

As I noted above, the city is borrowing significantly more money than usual this year to stay on top of our street reconstruction projects. On Budget Saturday I raised the possibility of increasing the Wheel Tax by $5 to help reduce that borrowing.

I know the Wheel Tax isn't universally popular, but in this case raising it would actually save taxpayers money in the long run: Generating about $340,000 in new revenue would allow us to pay cash for some of our smaller street projects instead of borrowing. Vehicle owners would have to pay an extra $5 in the short term but would avoid having to pay that money back with interest as part of their property taxes over the next decade. To compare this to one's personal finances: Paying cash is almost always cheaper in the long run than putting a purchase on your credit card.

At any rate, the proposal was not well received at committee and failed on a 3-1 vote. I don't intend to bring it up for debate again on Wednesday night.

Polygraph Testing

On Budget Saturday I asked the Finance Committee to consider an amendment that would remove $2500 in funding used for polygraph testing as part of the police hiring process.

Polygraph, or "lie detector" testing, has largely fallen out of favor due to questions about its accuracy. It's been illegal for private companies to use it in their hiring processes for around 30 years now. A recent Wired Magazine article, however, notes that it's still pretty common practice for public safety employees. Popular Science also wrote about this in September.

In a year where we have a litany of unmet budget needs, cutting off our reliance on pseudoscience seems like a good opportunity to find some fiscal flexibility. My amendment failed 2-2 at committee but I intend to ask the full council to overturn their recommendation.

You can see all of this week's meeting agendas and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.

Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.