Crowley Backs Biggest Project in County History

Milwaukee County Safety Building. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

County Executive David Crowley included in his 2024 budget proposal the biggest project in the history of Milwaukee County.

The budget included approximately $9.45 million for planning and design of a new Criminal Courthouse building to replace the Safety Building, 821 W. State St. It’s estimated the project will cost approximately $488.4 million.

This funding would kickstart the development process, which will involve demolishing the Safety Building, relocating staff and court functions during construction, construction of the new facility, as well as improvements to the historic county courthouse, 901 N. 9th St.

For nearly a decade policymakers have known that the county needed new criminal court facilities. Not only is the Safety Building deteriorating, but it was built to be a jail and never designed for criminal court proceedings. County consultants and court officials have noted that it does not meet modern safety and security standards for a courthouse.

The county has been unable to advance development of the project. The budget deficits and mounting infrastructure needs of the county have always squeezed out the massive project. But the new 0.4% sales tax authorized by the county this summer has opened doors that were previously shut.

The new sales tax revenue will be used to pay down the county’s unfunded pension liability and pension obligation bonds. This allows the county to reserve some of the property tax funds normally used on pension costs and move the funding into other areas of the government. Notably, under Crowley’s proposed budget, the amount of cash funding for infrastructure projects sorely needed by the county would nearly double.

And some of that new cash financing would be applied toward the courthouse project. Prior to the release of Crowley’s 2024 budget, the county’s ad-hoc Capital Improvements Committee (CIC) only recommended approximately $3.8 million; just enough to cover the first phase of design. Even budgeting for that was difficult, as officials weighed it against all the other infrastructure projects the county needs to address for which it doesn’t have enough funding.

“We need to continue showing momentum on this project,” said Joe Lamers, director of the county’s Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance at an August meeting of the committee.

Lamers pushed hard to have the courthouse project included in the CIC’s recommended projects. The county will not be able to finance the entire $488 million project itself. The state typically provides funding for courthouse projects, but local matching funds are needed. Lamers told the committee that if there is no progress on at least planning and design, it’s unlikely the state will carve out funding for the project.

Crowley’s budget would keep the county on schedule for the most recent timeline developed by the county’s Facilities Management Division. The longer the county waits, the more expensive the project becomes thanks in part to inflation and rising interest rates. Between 2018 and now the estimated cost of the project has risen by approximately $120 million.