[Winona Online Democracy] Hello Winona Online Democracy,
Two weeks ago, Steve Kranz passed along a report and summary about how the Governor's proposed cuts would impact the School District. Taking his lead, I asked the County staff for the same kinds of rough numbers. It will be interesting when we add up all the ways the Govenor's budget is going to impact little ol' Winona. Dwayne Voegeli ================= Summary of Gov. Pawlenty's Proposed Budget Cuts on Winona Cut March 4, 2003 ================= Governor Pawlenty's proposed 2004-2005 biennial budget may well affect the services that Winona County performs if passed in its present form. The obvious impact is to reduce state aid sent to the County in the form of Homestead and Agricultural Credit Aid (HACA). The Governor proposes to reduce HACA to Winona County by $478,698 in year 2003 and $873,554 in year 2004. Since our total general aid from the State is $2,257,747 per year and we will lose $649,155 in HACA when the State takes over Court Administration, the proposed additional biennial loss of $1,352,252 represents a 30% cut in 2003 and a 54% cut in 2004 for aid designed to offset local property taxes. These numbers will be in constant flux until the State Legislature and Governor arrive at their final agreements. Please view these numbers as the best estimates that are possible at this time. This is an attempt to better inform the public of what is happening at the local County level but please be patient as these numbers change over time. Obviously, the County Board and staff will continue to evaluate proposed cuts as well as methods of mitigating the loss of State aid. The less obvious impact of the Governor's proposed budget is the potential reductions in County funding that will occur as a result of the decreased funding to state agencies. The County will feel the impact of these potential cuts in the categorical aid or grant funding it receives. There are no current estimates on actual dollar amounts for categorical aid reduction. However, the cuts will most likely be as much or greater than the reductions to HACA, but will affect specific programs. In addition, the Governor's proposed budget assumes that the levy limits currently in place will continue to be in effect. It is difficult for the county to experience state cuts of this magnitude and not have the ability to make up for some of the difference by increasing the local levy based on how the County collects its revenue. Of the total revenue the county collects, approximately 35% comes from the levy on our taxpayers. The county uses the 35% it receives from the taxpayers to leverage the other 65% of revenue. That makes Winona County Government a good value for county taxpayers. In addition to being a good value, the County is a safety net for residents that cannot help themselves because they are very poor or have some form of mental or physical challenge. The County believes that it has a morale obligation to provide this safety net and it takes resources to fulfill our obligation. This obligation does not disappear when State funding evaporates. ------------ Dwayne Voegeli Winona County Commissioner, District #2 (507) 453-9012 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 870 44th Ave. Winona, MN 55987 ------------ _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
