Dane County Executive Joe Parisi signed the 2012 county budget Thursday, OKing more than $4.4 million in increased funds for programs administered by Dane County Human Services.

Parisi said one of the main goals for the budget was ensuring absolute minimum cuts to basic services deemed necessary to maintain the quality of life in the county.

“This budget maintains Dane County’s commitment to providing critical human services and preserves the high quality of life our residents enjoy, in the face of historic challenges brought on by deep cuts from state government,” Parisi said in a statement.

According to the statement, the 2012 budget invests approximately $237 million, about 50 percent of the budget, in the county’s human services safety net for older adults, children and citizens with disabilities.

The budget also provides funds for Operation Fresh Start, a youth development program, to help fund a new 15-person work crew, the statement said.

Casey Slaughter Becker, spokesperson for Parisi’s office, said signing the budget was an easy decision for Parisi because of the emphasis he places on maintaining county residents’ quality of life.

“The county executive wants to maintain services that county residents deserve,” she said.

She said there have been innovative partnerships between departments to save costs, including how county employees have volunteered to do snow plow work, saving more than $400,000.

Becker added there have also been partnerships between the county and the Clean Lakes Alliance to help keep lakes clean.

“All of that work led to a budget in which Dane County residents will not likely to see a reduction on services that they depend on,” she said.

Dane County Supervisor Barbara Vedder, District 2, said despite the efforts the county board put into the budget, more could be done for human services.

“I think people got together and tried to do the best we could do, given our financial restraints and the money taken out by the state,” she said. “But I am disappointed with how human services were dealt with because we still ended up with over a million dollars in decrease from our budget from last year.”

Vedder pointed to the vehicle registration fee, which is a $20 fee per vehicle within the county. She said the revenue raised through the fee mainly went into funding for infrastructure such as roads and highways.

“The money could have been raised for the Human Services Department,” she said. “I think we have done a lot with very little, but we could have done more.”

The budget signed also realizes savings in the criminal justice system, after a recently completed review of the county’s system, the statement said.

Supervisor Sharon Corrigan, District 26, said she believed the county board was able to come up with a budget that it could be proud of under such tough economic conditions.

“I feel good about the prospects of working with the sheriffs and the court on a structure where we will seek further efficiency and look at areas where we can save a little bit of money, without jeopardizing public safety,” she said.”I know this is very tough on human services, but we we’re over $4 million than the budget from last year.”