Wednesday, September 25, 2002
Ninety-Fifth Regular Session
The Chief Clerk makes the following entries under the above date.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
September 17, 2002
The Honorable, The Senate:
Pursuant to s.
15.215(1), and Senate Rule
20 (a) and (b), I have appointed Senator Ted Kanavas to the Information Technology Management Board.
With regard to members of the minority party, this appointment reflects the nomination of that caucus.
Sincerely,
Chuck Chvala, Chair
Committee on Senate Organization
State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
August 29, 2002
The Honorable, The Legislature:
This report is transmitted as required by sec. 20.002(11)(f) of the Wisconsin Statutes, (for distribution to the appropriate standing committees under sec. 13.172(3) Stats.), and confirms that the Department of Administration has found it necessary to exercise the "temporary reallocation of balances" authority provided by this section in order to meet payment responsibilities and cover resulting negative balances during the month of July 2002.
On July 1, 2002, the General Fund cash balance closed at negative $381.8 million. This negative balance continued through July 31, 2002, when the balance closed at negative $616.7 million. The General Fund cash balance reached a low of negative $835.8 million on July 25, 2002. The negative balance was due to the overall budget shortfall, in combination with the difference in the timing of revenues and expenditures.
On July 22, 2002, the Common School Income Fund cash balance closed at negative $0.4 million. This negative balance continued until July 31, 2002, when the balance reached a positive $0.2 million. The negative balance was due to the difference in the timing of revenues and expenditures.
The General Fund and the Common School Income Fund negative cash balances were not in excess of the statutory interfund borrowing limitation and did not exceed the balances of the funds available for interfund borrowing.
The distribution of interest earnings to investment pool participants is based on the average daily balance in the pool and each fund's share. Therefore, the monthly calculation by the State Controller's Office will automatically reflect the use of these temporary reallocations of balance authority.
Sincerely,
George Lightbourn
Secretary
Referred to the joint committee on Finance.
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
September 19, 2002
The Honorable, The Legislature:
At the request of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, we have completed a review of Milwaukee County government. Milwaukee County includes 19 cities and villages and is Wisconsin's largest county, with a population of 940,164. In 2002, it budgeted for 7,082.7 full-time equivalent positions to provide government services through 26 departments. Expenditures for 2002 are estimated to be $1.1 billion.
Changes to retirement benefits for county employees that were enacted in November 2000 have raised questions about the adequacy of oversight for the Milwaukee County Employees' Retirement System. Enhanced retirement benefits are currently estimated to increase retirement benefit cost by $53.5 million for the four-year period covered by the current wage and benefit package. We analyzed several options for improving control and accountability over decisions pertaining to pension benefits, including participation in the Wisconsin Retirement System, other restructuring options, increased state control, improvements to county activities such as the preparation of fiscal notes, and separating pension changes from other wage and benefit negotiations.
We also identified areas for improvement and efficiencies in county board procedures, the county's budgeting and hiring process, and information technology. For example, Milwaukee County does not budget for its employees' accumulated sick leave payments, and from January 1 through August 9, 2002, it spent $5.6 million for these payments because of a large number of retirements. We have included a recommendation for Milwaukee County to more accurately budget for the cost of accumulated employee sick leave at the time of retirement.
Finally, we have identified areas for potential consolidation of services within the Department of Parks, and we have suggested that the Sheriff's Department recover more of its costs for providing security and traffic control services at special events and that the county seek additional private support for the zoo and its arts and cultural facilities.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by Milwaukee County staff and the assistance provided by the Milwaukee County Department of Audit. The response of the Milwaukee County Executive is in the appendix.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
Department of Administration
September 13, 2002
The Honorable, The Senate:
The Wisconsin Land Council (WLC) and the Wisconsin Land Information Board (WLIB) are submitting the attached
Report to the Governor and Legislature in compliance with the provisions of s.
16.023 (2), Wis. Stats., and
1997 Act 27, Section
9101 (11m).
This Report details WLIB and WLC statutory charges and accomplishments, documents benefits, recommends future directions and functions to continue progress on the statutory charges, and, notes areas of common interests between the WLIB and WLC. It also details impacts of the WLIB sunset and WLC sunset, provides alternatives to the sunsets and concludes with the WLC and WLIB recommendations for continuing the functions past the September 1, 2003, sunset. A brief Summary is included at the beginning of the Report.
From their examinations, the WLIB and WLC determined that important work remains to be done and agreed that their functions need to continue beyond the September 1, 2003, sunset. The WLIB and WLC strongly support maintaining the current distribution of funding for operations and local aids.
The WLC and the WLIB studied and vigorously discussed the feasibility of combining their functions but did not reach consensus on a recommendation. The WLIB vote to combine their functions failed on a 6-6 vote. The WLIB subsequently voted 7-5 to recommend lifting the sunsets of the WLIB and WLC and preserve the continuity of both bodies. The Wisconsin Land Council voted 15-1 to sunset the WLIB and WLC and combine current WLIB and WLC statutory responsibilities and functions under one new entity with three statutorily defined working groups.
The WLC and WLIB would like to express their appreciation for the opportunity to examine their charges and accomplishments, reevaluate activities and future directions, and, provide the Legislature and the Governor with their recommendations. We are pleased to forward this Report for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Mayor Timothy M. Hanna, Chair
Wisconsin Land Council
Ted W. Koch, Chair
Wisconsin Land Information Board
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Family Services
September 20, 2002
The Honorable, The Senate:
Pursuant to Section
46.014(4) of the Wis. Stats., the Department of Health and Family Services is required to submit an annual report to the Legislature concerning the activities of the community action agencies under s.
46.30, and their effectiveness in promoting social and economic opportunities for low-income persons.
