FALKS ONLY VETO ZAPS PLANNING TO EXPAND JAIL

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk drew the line on expanding jail
space at the Public Safety Building by vetoing language in the
county's 2002 capital spending budget that earmarked funds for jail
expansion planning.

The $1 million that had been designated for a study of space needs
for the jail and for alcohol and drug treatment facilities for
inmates will now be spent entirely on the treatment plan.

The jail expansion veto was the only veto announced by Falk at a
press conference Wednesday. She left the $381 million operating
budget intact, prompting County Board Chairman Kevin Kesterson to
cancel Monday's "veto override" session. The board will consider any
override of the jail expansion veto at its regular meeting Dec. 6.

The county executive made it clear that a priority for 2002 and
beyond is to help, and not just house, county jail inmates.

"My reasons for this partial veto are to improve public safety,
reclaim lives and save money," Falk said.

She said the resolution adopted by the board, which includes the
alcohol and drug abuse treatment facilities language, is significant
in that it shows the board is willing to cooperate on providing more
services for inmates.

"The drunk driver, the spousal abuser, the petty thief, the street
corner drug dealer, who all leave our jail without learning to
control their alcohol or drug addiction, are dangerous to all of us
and a detriment to our community," Falk said. "If we increase the
number of inmates with AODA problems who learn to stop their drinking
and drug abuse, we all will be safer."

County Sheriff Gary Hamblin had proposed a $42 million jail expansion
in the five-year capital improvements plan, an expansion that would
add three floors and up to 600 beds to the Public Safety Building.
Falk's veto puts any expansion planning in 2002 on hold, but the
project could be revived next year when the capital improvements plan
is revised.

(Capital improvements are based on five-year plans, reviewed and
updated every year. Funding, however, is done on a year-to-year
basis. Capital projects planned for 2004, for example, are not funded
until 2004.)

Jail expansion is too expensive, Falk said.

"At $42 million, this project would more than double the debt load we
are committed to for the new courthouse," she said. "This is simply
too much money to spend for jail expansion."

Falk said it would be cheaper to ship inmates out of Dane County and
house them in other county jails than to add three floors to the
Public Safety Building. She is concerned about overcrowding in the
jail, but feels the state of Wisconsin needs to get its act together
so the county doesn't have to load its jail with prisoners on
probation and parole holds.

"There's an increasing need for the state to take care of its own,
and we are working to make our case to the state," Falk said.

The county executive has directed the county's Department of
Administration to put an alcohol and drug treatment facilities and
programs plan together by July 1, 2002, with input from all areas of
the legal system, including the sheriff, district attorney, judges,
public defenders, criminal lawyers and treatment professionals.

The $381 million operating budget holds the property tax levy
increase to Falk's self-imposed limit of 4.55 percent. The property
tax rate for 2002 is $3.16 per $1,000 of assessed value, down from
$3.35. Based on a Madison home valued at $160,000, the county portion
of the property tax bill will increase by about $8.

The "veto override" meeting would have been necessary, Kesterson
said, if the operating budget had been changed through a Falk veto.

"I had originally scheduled the meeting to consider veto overrides in
order to facilitate processing property tax bills as quickly as
possible," Kesterson said. "Since the county executive signed the tax
levy resolution and the veto only affects language in the capital
budget, overriding the veto would have no effect on property taxes."