Cuts restored, added state funding denied for Milwaukee County courts

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As is almost an annual tradition for Kitty K. Brennan, the chief judge of District 1 outlined the planned cuts to the county budget and how she lobbied to have positions and funding restored during the Milwaukee Bar Association’s 3rd Annual State of the Courts luncheon on Oct. 23.

Brennan persuaded members of the Milwaukee County Finance and Audit Committee to restore nine law clerk positions, two deputy court clerk judicial assistants and two clerical assistants in the Register in Probate Division. Three positions — Intake Court Coordinator, Network Technology Specialist and a part-time Assistant Family Court Commissioner — remain unfunded at a savings of approximately $160,000 according to Walker’s budget.

The jobs had been eliminated in Milwaukee County Executive Scott Wal-ker’s 2008 budget proposal which sought a levy support decrease of $634,000.

“That was my absolute rock bottom and we got a little bit more than that,” said Brennan, who anticipated a reinstatement of about $900,000 to the circuit court’s budget by the Finance Committee.

Brennan said that the restoration of the law clerk positions was simplified by the fact that she would have appointed statutorily-mandated bailiffs to maintain the positions, at almost twice the cost. Law clerks earn approximately $48,000 per position, compared to $90,000 per bailiff.

According to Walker’s budget, elimination of the law clerks would have resulted in a savings of $406,000. The county executive contended that it was not his intention to cripple the court staff, but that financial cuts need to be made somehow.

“For us, it was not something we targeted in the beginning because we had a problem with the positions,” said Walker. “Our sense all along was, if the board was to put things in, and they can find other ways to account for that, we’ll give it a look.”

Walker said he did not know if he would veto the restorations if they are upheld when the full County Board votes on the budget plan on Nov. 5.

No Additional State Aid

Both Brennan and Walker were disappointed that the approved state budget did not include an increase in state funding for county court services. Milwaukee County was to receive an additional $2 million in court support services in addition to the approximately $3.5 million annually it received from the state in the last biennium budget.

“In the deal struck, all of that money is gone, so there is not a dime extra for court support services,” said Brennan, who took the news in stride at the luncheon.

The proposed $19.1 million in support was included in the Joint Finance Committee and state Senate’s version of the budget, but omitted from the state Assembly version. The additional funding was eliminated from consideration when revenue generated by a real estate transfer fee was withdrawn as a source of funding.

Walker expressed some concerns about the omission since he had included the $2 million in his budget proposal.

“It certainly poses another problem for us, although other areas of the county were not hit as hard so it’s not as bad as originally anticipated,” said Walker. “If anything, for once, a couple of versions of the state budget kept the funding, so I think we’re coming close to heading in the right direction.”

Despite the budgetary challenges, Brennan expected the County Board would support the recommended restorations.

“The board is helpful and has been helpful in the past so I have every reason to think that we’ll make it through okay,” said Brennan. “It’s just going to be one of those years.”