SAVE Commission's findings - La Follette School of Public Affairs ...

GOAL #6: GENERATIONS THAT CONNECT
6.1
6.2
Consolidate youth functions. To reduce duplication
and provide a focal point for future
youth initiatives, consolidate and coordinate
services including employment, recreation,
corrections, pregnancy prevention, mental
health, youth alcohol and drug abuse, and education.
Plan for aging of society. To cope with the
anticipated “crisis” of great numbers of the very
elderly, static resources and desire for independence,
all parties involved with older adults
should work more closely to unify policies and
purpose. This will require closer coordination
of: financial resources, quality assurance and
independent lifestyle. As part of the strategy,
reduce duplication and provide a focal point
for initiatives and responsibilities associated
with older adults.
GOAL #7: LAND USE
7.1
Examine tax policy impacts on land use. To
assess the link between taxes and land use,
examine state policies which affect the value
of land, including urban in-fill areas and open
space, and recommend findings to existing
committees studying land use.
7.2
Reduce the illogical impact of boundaries on
service. To protect open space from poorly
planned development, communities should
think about the good of the entire area when
deciding the most cost effective and environmentally
responsible service delivery system.
7.3
Evaluate the impact of infrastructure changes.
To provide decision makers with better information,
greater attention should be paid to the
total community impact of infrastructure
changes.
7.4
Play an active role in federal decisions affecting
land. To better protect the state’s economic
and environmental interests, the state should
better coordinate its position on federal programs
as they affect land use, especially as federal
direction undergoes major change.
7.5
Reward good behavior. To promote stewardship
partnerships, agencies concerned with
land use should promote voluntary programs
such as the Conservation Credit initiative as
7.6
7.7
7.8
applied in Pepin County and partnerships with
groups that provide credits to landowners with
environmentally sensitive land.
Require results for conservation programs. To
comply with Legislative Audit Bureau recommendations,
the state’s investments in watershed
and erosion control should produce measurable
outcomes or be discontinued.
Local government should be better neighbors
on annexation. To reduce distrust and contentiousness,
local governments should be
more creative and collaborative toward resolution
of annexation issues.
Broaden membership on state government’s
land use committee. To ensure that non-state
government interests can participate in discussions
about land use policies, the state should
involve business, agricultural, development,
environmental, local government and citizen
interests on its committee.
GOAL #8: THE NEW INFRASTRUCTURE
8.1
Coordinate planning for energy-utility-transportation
rights of way. To reduce duplicative
planning costs and concentrate intensified land
use, develop an integrated approach to corridor
planning for compatible energy, communications,
utility and transportation functions
with safeguards. Establish a high level publicprivate
commission to recommend 21st Century
approaches to better corridor planning.
8.2
Go slow on state building and rethink infrastructure
needs. To take a cautious approach
to new state buildings in a time of government
and higher educational “rightsizing”, consider
public infrastructure, state and university
buildings as possible liabilities, not assets.
Owning “single use” facilities in a high-tech,
distance-learning age may be very costly. Review
the process of planning, approving, building
and using structures and go slow on new
construction in the meantime.
8.3
Consider market mechanisms and other new
tools to achieve infrastructure development
and operation goals. To open the door to new
ways of thinking about planning, financing and
managing public infrastructure, we should
study, experiment with and apply new tools
such as congestion pricing or regional “certifi-
62 CITIZEN • COMMUNITY • GOVERNMENT — WISCONSIN: THE 21 ST CENTURY