MADISON, Wis. — While trying to address Dane County’s $31 million structural deficit, County Executive Melissa Agard put forth her own budget promising to close violations of state statutes Human Services continues to make by paying providers ahead of time. In follow-up discussions with the county, it became clear human services knew since 2016 it was violating state statutes, yet is still failing to fully comply. Agard says ending the violations will save the county $1 million in next year’s budget.
The violations concern state statutes §46.036 and §49.34. The statutes describe the rules for purchase of care and services. In an interview with Channel 3000, both Agard and Human Services Director John Schlueter were unable to say how long the county had been violating the statutes, despite having been notified days ahead of time that interview would be about those exact violations.
“I am not sure how long we have experienced this, but I will say that I was pleased to know that the county and the Human Services Department has been working on this, and I saw it as my responsibility to make sure that we cross the finish line, that we complete the work,” Agard said…