This fall, city leaders in Monroe and most other state municipalities were looking for ways to trim their budgets. Fortunately, Monroe wasn't one of those forced to consider personnel cuts. That might come next year for the city, if current trends continue.
But if Monroe reaches that point, the city won't be able to consider cuts in its police and fire department budgets even if it wanted to - at least not without the risk of losing some state funding in the process.
That's because a new state law, called "maintenance of effort for emergency services," threatens reductions in shared state revenue to municipalities and counties that cut spending for emergency services below this year's levels. To make cuts in police and fire personnel without losing state funds, local governments must prove to the state Department of Revenue that public safety wouldn't be affected by the reductions.
How the loss of a police officer or firefighter affects public safety isn't always going to be clear. It would be very hard to show that the loss of a police officer or of a firefighter wouldn't impact public safety to some degree, making it very difficult for local governments to meet the burden of proof. Which essentially discourages municipalities from considering such cuts.
This new law was buried in the state budget the Legislature approved and Gov. Jim Doyle signed this summer, of course. We told you little buried treasures in the budget will be discovered for many months to come.
The stated intention of the law to protect local emergency services has merit. But Dan Thompson, executive director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, sees political gamesmanship.
"The politics of the new law ... are perfectly clear," Thompson wrote in an opinion piece posted on the League's Web site. "The police officers union and the firefighters union lobbied hard to persuade Governor Doyle and legislative leaders" to pass the law. "The union goal is to prevent city councils and village boards from reducing the number of police officers and firefighters on the municipal payroll."
Whatever the actual reason for the law, it takes budgetary decisions out of the hands of local governments. It's another bad law tucked away in a budget full of them. It's yet another unnecessary threat to local control.
But if Monroe reaches that point, the city won't be able to consider cuts in its police and fire department budgets even if it wanted to - at least not without the risk of losing some state funding in the process.
That's because a new state law, called "maintenance of effort for emergency services," threatens reductions in shared state revenue to municipalities and counties that cut spending for emergency services below this year's levels. To make cuts in police and fire personnel without losing state funds, local governments must prove to the state Department of Revenue that public safety wouldn't be affected by the reductions.
How the loss of a police officer or firefighter affects public safety isn't always going to be clear. It would be very hard to show that the loss of a police officer or of a firefighter wouldn't impact public safety to some degree, making it very difficult for local governments to meet the burden of proof. Which essentially discourages municipalities from considering such cuts.
This new law was buried in the state budget the Legislature approved and Gov. Jim Doyle signed this summer, of course. We told you little buried treasures in the budget will be discovered for many months to come.
The stated intention of the law to protect local emergency services has merit. But Dan Thompson, executive director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, sees political gamesmanship.
"The politics of the new law ... are perfectly clear," Thompson wrote in an opinion piece posted on the League's Web site. "The police officers union and the firefighters union lobbied hard to persuade Governor Doyle and legislative leaders" to pass the law. "The union goal is to prevent city councils and village boards from reducing the number of police officers and firefighters on the municipal payroll."
Whatever the actual reason for the law, it takes budgetary decisions out of the hands of local governments. It's another bad law tucked away in a budget full of them. It's yet another unnecessary threat to local control.
