MADISON (AP) - Gov. Scott McCallum on Monday ordered the sale ofhalf the state's fleet of 30 planes used to transport officialsaround Wisconsin and track deer herds.
McCallum also ordered administration officials to sell 10 percentof the state's vehicles in a cost cutting move that came less than amonth after local officials heavily criticized McCallum for approvingthe purchase of three Swiss-made airplanes last year at a cost of $9million.
Spokeswoman Debbie Monterrey-Millett said the sale had nothing todo with the criticism and the proposal had been under considerationfor about six weeks. She was unsure how much money the sale wouldbring in because of factors like the use and ages of the planes.
'At first, we were looking at selling a smaller number, but nowthe governor has decided really when we're looking at a $1.1 billiondeficit, let's get rid of half the fleet and start selling off cars,'she said.
McCallum has been feuding with many local leaders since callingthem 'big spenders' after releasing his proposal to fix the state's$1.1 billion budget shortfall.
His plan includes phasing out about $1 billion per year in aid tolocal governments by 2004. Municipalities use the money to pay forservices like police and fire protection.
A group of local officials suggested selling some of the state'splanes Friday as part of their proposal to balance the state's books.
'When they started looking at it, they felt the fleet was too bigand said, 'Can we really afford the amount of air travel for stateemployees when everybody is facing these cuts?'' said SteveFilmanowicz, a spokesman for Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist.
McCallum also ordered the Department of Administration Monday tostudy whether more planes should be sold and if the plane used totransport him should be among the first put up for sale. The order tosell 10 percent of the state's cars would affect 370 vehicles.
Administration Secretary George Lightbourn said the planes rangefrom two-seaters to the governor's 11-passenger turboprop. He hopedthe sale would be completed this spring.
He was unsure when he would make his recommendation to thegovernor on the possible sale of more planes or which ones should besold.
Lightbourn said his study would determine whether it is cheaper tolease a plane for certain state business or to keep some of theplanes it owns.
For example, the Department of Natural Resources owns a planespecially equipped to fight forest fires. But Lightbourn said it isused only a few months a year and it may be cheaper for the state tolease a plane for those few months than own one that sits idle mostof the year.
Sen. Bob Welch, R-Redgranite, proposed selling 18 state planeslast year while the Joint Legislative Committee was refiningMcCallum's budget proposal, but the suggestion was rejected.
'Having 30 planes never made any sense,' Welch said.
The planes the state bought last year for $9 million seat aboutnine. They are used for travel by top state officials and totransport blind and deaf students and sports teams, such as theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison volleyball team.
Monterrey-Millett said it was unlikely those planes would beincluded in the sale.
Copyright 2000 by Telegraph Herald, All rights Reserved.
