“Opportunity Out of Adversity”

A Message from County Executive Joe Parisi:

Today I am introducing my 2023 Dane County budget, “Opportunity Out of Adversity.” Like its predecessors, this budget continues progressive investments in our quality of life, paired with visionary approaches to confronting our challenges. The model in which our county government sets priorities and budgets is the recipe for our continued vitality and success. In recent years, we have built the template for resiliency and vibrancy. The work we do prioritizes quality of life. We approach our challenges with a focus on solutions. This budget builds upon the years of work we’ve done and advances our approach of putting people and this special place we call home first.

When faced with a once in a generation pandemic, we tested and vaccinated tens of thousands, built a small business support program that infused millions into our local economy and saved jobs, and developed a farm to food bank partnership that raised the bar on addressing hunger and meeting basic needs in our community. When record rains fell and waters flooded our homes and communities a few short years ago, we got to work on a robust, multi-year sludge removal project in our waterways to expand flood storage capacity and reduce the risk of future flooding. As behavioral health challenges mounted in our schools and beyond, we funded teams of mental health professionals to work with young people and teachers and built a new community-wide Behavioral Health Resource Center to walk with people facing some of life’s most vulnerable times. When faced with difficulty, we create opportunity. The result is lasting change, woven into the fabric of who we are as a county government and the community we work for.

My 2023 budget builds upon the work we’ve done over the past decade and offers a roadmap to further improve the care and well-being of our most vulnerable, accelerate efforts to combat climate change, advance new reforms to address disparities, and protect our incredibly valuable land and water resources.