Municipal Budgets and Vulnerable Communities
Earlier this year, Linda Ketchum, Executive Director of Just Dane, joined us for a Taking a Faithful Stand webinar about how local municipality budget shortfalls impact vulnerable communities. The recording has become our most watched video of the year on YouTube.
Just Dane is a non-profit agency and WCC ecumenical partner that offers an array of direct service programs for individuals and families impacted by the criminal justice system. These services include prison reentry programs and services for children who have an incarcerated parent, community events designed to help people understand what it’s like to walk in the shoes of someone newly released from prison, and jail and prison in-reach programs. As Linda noted during her introduction, “I like to say that our work at Just Dane is reflected in the words of Reverend William Sloane Coffin, who said, ‘Charity, yes always; but never as a substitute for justice.’ [Credo, 2004] And so the work that we do encompasses both.”
Linda shared the changes (and struggles) that have resulted from budget cuts made by DOGE and approved in HR1, the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” These cuts, she explained, are “targeting essentially everything that helps the people we care about. That helps… all of our vulnerable neighbors. The stranger, the poor, the hungry, the imprisoned.”
“It really was a change in the partnership between municipalities and the federal government and states. You know, we've had this partnership, there's a thing called the Social Compact, right? And that we care for one another and about one another, and HR1 just, starts to shred that. And part of how it does it is, as Bill [Hogseth] talked about at the last webinar, these massive shifts of costs to the states, and to municipal governments. And that's gonna ripple out through the communities, and it's gonna strain already struggling budgets.”
“The National Association of Counties has estimated that HR1 may result in over a trillion dollars of increased costs to counties over the next 10 years.” Counties and local governments will receive less federal help, but still be required to provide mandated public services like veterans’ programs, local jails, health services, roads, bridges, transit, public safety call centers, and more. The costs of these will now fall more heavily on local municipalities, with the likely result of cuts to non-mandated services. But “non-mandated” doesn’t mean those services are crucial to the community. “You can't just clip parts of the safety net away and hope that it holds, and hope that things and people don't fall through.”
Linda also explained the confusing system through which municipalities receive funds through shared revenue, a process deeply impacted by state politics. Due to this system failing to keep up with inflation, many Wisconsin communities have put referenda on their ballots in order to increase property taxes, so they can pay for necessary services and infrastructure. Municipalities continue to explore fines, fees, and other types of taxes (like wheel or room taxes) they might need to increase. The alternative is to delay infrastructure projects and cut non-mandated programs. As the burden of funding programs like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) moves from an equal partnership to one where the federal government funds 25 % and local municipalities must fund 75%, the struggle will become even more intense.
What can we do about this? Educate and advocate. Learn about how shared revenue works in Wisconsin. Learn about the budget process in your county or local municipality. Show up to local, country, and state hearings.
You can watch Linda’s full presentation here.
