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Rock County Board approves pay bonus

JANESVILLE — The discussion was much shorter.

But this time, the Rock County Board voted overwhelmingly to give members an extra $20 for meetings that last more than four hours.

The resolution passed 18-6 after a short but heated discussion.

A similar resolution failed two weeks ago on a 13-13 vote.

Supervisor Mary Mawhinney said the board should be “embarrassed” for considering a raise again.

“We turned this down two weeks ago,” Mawhinney said. “Are we that greedy?”

Supervisor Larry Wiedenfeld said some committee meetings, such as agriculture and extension/conservation or public works, can last all day.

The extra $20 is a “nominal amount” that helps supervisors with day jobs adjust if they lose a day of work.

At its last meeting, the board voted down a payment of $25 for meetings longer than four hours after a similarly heated discussion.

Supervisors get $50 for each meeting they attend.

Knutson’s predictions prove to be on target

Rock County Administrator Craig Knutson had to make several assumptions when he put together next year’s budget.

You know what normally happens when you assume? That didn’t happen to Knutson.

Like all municipal and school district administrators, Knutson had to guess at how much money local budgets would get from the state.

The Legislature approved the state budget Tuesday, and Gov. Jim Doyle is expected to sign it with few changes.

What did Knutson assume?

-- That shared revenue from the state would be about the same as last year. That was correct.

-- That the state would provide $300,000 to cover cost increases to send juvenile offenders to correction facilities. That was correct.

-- That the state would not increase money to cover circuit court costs. That was correct.

-- That the state would pitch in extra cash to cover federal cuts to fund child support programs. That was correct.