In response to Gov. Scott Walker releasing his delayed budget announcement Tuesday evening, a number of local officials raised concerns with the implications the proposed cuts could have on education, public programming and basic human services.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said the budget’s cuts were worse than he had anticipated adding he disapproved of the Walker administration’s intentions with the biennial plan.

“It seeks to divide teachers, it seeks to divide taxpayers and that’s not the Wisconsin way,” Cieslewicz said. “[The cuts] were more draconian than I anticipated.”

Cieslewicz said his office would be analyzing the budget throughout the coming days in order to get a complete understanding of how it would impact Madisonians if it passes in its current form through the Joint Finance Committee and both legislative houses.

Before releasing an official response to the budget, Cieslewicz said he will meet with alders, labor leaders and non-represented employees to get their input and reactions. He said he could not comment about cuts to city employee positions until the legislation is fully examined and its impact is fully understood.

Walker’s budget also called for the elimination of the city’s recycling requirement, which Cieslewicz said would be a “huge mistake and a front assault on our environmental conservancy.”

He added there were also re-highlighted concerns with provisions surrounding collective bargaining and their potential implications on education.

“This is a direct attack on our quality education system, and we are going to work to keep Madison the special city that it is,” he said.

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk said the proposed cuts would also affect a number of local programming the county’s government has prided itself on producing throughout the last several years. She said the budget calls for a reduction in funding for state mandated programs and services the county is required to provide such as running jails and plowing highways.

Falk said reducing the funding for certain programs would adversely affect the programs and their recipients.

“Over 70 percent of the dollars in our county budget pay for public safety and human services that protect our most vulnerable – our kids, families, seniors and the disabled,” Falk said in a statement. “Less state support for these services will no doubt harm the quality of life of all of our citizens.”