Dane County Executive Joe Parisi’s proposed 2015 budget does not include plans for a new jail because the project simply ended up costing too much and saving too little. According to a review by Mead & Hunt, the project would have cost $150 million. Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney would still like to see a study done to determine the feasibility of a smaller facility that could accommodate 500 sick, mentally ill, or maximum-security inmates outside of the downtown area.
More than half of Parisi’s operating budget would go to the Human Services Department, including $196,400 to allow agencies to pay workers a county-mandated “living wage” of $11.47 an hour.
Another $4 million would be spent on four new radio towers to fix problems with longstanding emergency radio transmissions in certain buildings.
