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’Tis the Budgeting Season

By: dmc-admin//November 29, 2006//

’Tis the Budgeting Season

By: dmc-admin//November 29, 2006//

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“The last few years we were forced to maintain the resources with the statewide crunch, but we needed to look to infuse more resources back into the court system.”

A. John Voelker,
Director of State Courts

At this time of year there are two tasks which require stamina, savvy and sanity —holiday shopping and the state budget.

Both are likely to generate headaches and leave someone disappointed, but Director of State Courts A. John Voelker is doing his best to fill county courts’ stockings with the state funds they need.

Voelker recently submitted the biennial request for funding of the circuit courts, court of appeals and Supreme Court to the Legisla-ture and Gov. Jim Doyle.

Forced to be financially conservative in court requests for much of this decade because of limited dollars state-wide, Voelker said, he and Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson opted for a more aggressive outlook to 2007-09.

“The last few years we were forced to maintain the resources with the statewide crunch, but we needed to look to infuse more resources back into the court system,” said Voelker. “I know budget time is always a struggle for clerk of courts, judges and other staff on every level.”

Court Pleas

Annually, circuit court systems plead for more state funding of county operations and Voelker hopes this year’s proposal will strengthen the relationship between state and local court operations.

“The question is always, how much should the state pick up, and the strain is being felt more each year,” said Voelker who pointed to the excessive court cuts proposed in Milwaukee County in the last two budgets.

While six budget requests were submitted for review, the primary proposal involves a revamping of the financial assistance program for county courts.

“We looked at the current system and realized we could clean up the way we provide assistance to other counties,” said Voelker.

Currently, the state relies on two formulas for financial allocation to county court operations and guardian ad litem programs. The former systems would be dissolved under the proposal and replaced by a new circuit court services support payment program.

“There didn’t need to be two methods for determining state assistance to county courts and this makes sense to us and will provide additional resources to counties,” said Voelker.

Fees Not Returned to Courts

Funding is expected to come out of a court support services surcharge collected by clerks of court. Created during the biennial budget proposal for 1993-95, the surcharge originally helped create $15.2 million in state revenue for county court support.

But over the last decade-plus, surcharge fees have increased three times, while money appropriated for the courts has remained roughly the same since its inception. Currently, about $47 million is generated for the general fund annually.

“There is about a $23 million gap between what we get and what we need,” said Voelker. “Even though fees increased over time, the money designated for court aid did not. It seems like more of that money should go to what it was intended for in the first place, helping fund the county courts.”

Voelker’s proposal asks for 75 percent of the surcharge revenues to be designated for county court support, or $12.5 million annually. A revised formula will be applied to determine where and how much should be allocated for each county.

Early support from counties and the Supreme Court has given Voelker reason to be optimistic, but he admits that the proposal faces an uphill battle.

“We’ll wait to see what the Department of Administra-tion and the governor has to say, but I suspect one of the questions will be, how will the $25 million used for the courts be replaced to fund other programs?” said Voelker.

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