This fall I introduced my 2017 budget — An Investment for Our Future. It makes unprecedented investments in compassionate services for our most vulnerable residents, infrastructure critical to continued economic vitality and safety, along with a quality of life that creates an environment where families and businesses can flourish.

This budget is a clear statement of the priority Dane County places on green energy — harnessing the power of the sun to run our facilities and capturing naturally occurring bio-gas, converting it into millions of dollars of revenue to sustain services — and mitigating and adapting to the challenges of a changing climate.

My budget funds a new North Madison Early Childhood Zone that will help young moms and dads provide stable learning environments for the next generation of young minds. From the time newborns are brought home, through their growth and development, and to the point of walking through the doors on their first day of 4K, the new North Madison Early Childhood Zone is the highest concentrated, most collaborative effort to date to improve achievement at home, school and within our community. Increased stability at home will result in improved academic achievement and life success.

The efforts this budget undertakes reflect the values we hold so dear. Good wages, educational achievement, reducing economic and racial disparities, improved mental health, cleaner waters and conservation, safer roads for both cars and bikes, and housing for those who have fallen on hard times.

For more information on Dane County’s 2017 Budget, go to countyofdane.com/exec/budget.aspx