AMENT SIGNS 1999 COUNTY BUDGET WITHOUT VETO, COMMENT ON CHANGES

County Executive F. Thomas Ament signed the county's 1999 budget without
exercising his veto privilege for the second straight year, his spokeswoman
said Monday.

With Ament's approval, county spending in 1999 will increase 8.2% and nudge
past $1 billion for the first time since 1995. The county property tax levy
required to support the budget is $194.2 million, a 2.8% increase from the
1998 tax levy.

The 1999 tax rate for county purposes is $5.98 per $1,000 of assessed
value, an eight-cent decrease from the 1998 rate.

Ament signed the budget Friday without issuing any statements about changes
the County Board made in his 1999 budget proposal.

The most contentious item was Ament's $100,000 allocation to fund a needle
exchange program run by the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin. The board
removed the funding on a 13-11 vote.

The board also added about $6 million in spending, but reduced the tax levy
by about $100,000 during its monthlong budget review.

In a speech before the Public Policy Forum last week, Ament said that the
budget maintained the county's primary services to residents while holding
the tax levy increase near the rate of inflation.