Mark Harris for State Senate - Budget and Spending

I believe that budgets and borrowing need to be controlled in a responsible manner that respects both the needs of the community and the burden on taxpayers. My record as Winnebago County Executive shows that I have proven success managing spending and debt. Total County spending has decreased since I took office in April of 2005 through the 2015 budget by more than 2.5 million dollars.

County debt has decreased by more than 23 million dollars or 42%. None of this was at the expense of the services the County provides. Despite reducing spending I was able to build a new,168 bed nursing home when so many other counties were closing their facilities.

We built new engineering classrooms at UW Fox Valley, so the local economy would have more access to highly skilled workers. Also, we invested over 42 million dollars in new transportation infrastructure projects. My record demonstrates that I am able to manage the budget in a way that is good for our long term fiscal health, and that meets the needs of the community.