The budget continues our excellent tradition of fiscal health and financial sustainability for the posterity of Washington County. As taxpayers and voters continue to demand lower property taxes, we continue to live in an ongoing era of property tax levy freezes. This policy, as mandated by the State, is a reflection of the finite resources of our citizens, and thus our County. Given this fiscal reality, to provide excellent citizen service, we have focused on the elimination of deficit spending and directing our limited resources appropriately to the highest priorities. We aim to concern ourselves more with the quality of the services we provide than the quantity.
In the past several years, we have worked through many inherited past practices. More recently, the focus of Washington County employees has shifted to a driven team of innovators looking to provide excellent government services to our constituents while achieving smaller, more sustainable and affordable county government for our citizens. This internal shift has allowed us to pivot toward the people who have entrusted us as stewards of county government, and toward those who will come after us. We must continue to focus on the people, with a vision for those to come in 2050 and 2150.
I remain vigilant to keep the promise made during my campaign for County Executive, which is to focus on the people by:
- Living within our means
- Encouraging economic growth
- Making sure rural communities thrive
- Maintaining the best quality of life in Wisconsin
County Departments continue to drive innovation, use technology to improve efficiency, and seek collaborative efforts to control spending. From the high-level budget goals noted above to the initiatives and programs noted in individual department budgets, all our efforts continue to focus on the priorities established in accordance with the County’s mission, vision, and values.