8 Takeaways From Crowley’s State of the County Speech

County Executive David Crowley delivers 2024 State of the County address. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley took a victory lap today in his first State of the County speech since last year’s sales tax deal with the state.

Revenue from the new 0.4% sales tax allowed county policymakers to lower property taxes and increase spending in the 2024 budget, increasing revenue for county departments and infrastructure after more than a decade of austerity. This funding built on the millions in federal funding supplied by pandemic-era stimulus bills.

The address given at Discovery World was Crowley’s fourth State of the County speech, and the last of his term as county executive. Though, he is expected to easily win a second term in April.

Crowley rattled off string of accomplishments and projects set in motion during his tenure so far. But within the speech he hinted at significant challenges that still need confronting if the forward momentum of his first term is to continue.

The new sales tax and pension reform enabled by Wisconsin Act 12 was a coup for the county executive, as well as Mayor Cavalier Johnson, but the county’s longstanding budget problems will persist.

Crowley developed a new theme in his speech, similar to the messaging employed in the run-up to Act 12, saying that anything positive for Milwaukee is also good for the entire state. In that context, he talked up the need to continue developing partnerships with state and federal government, and the neccesity of “collaboration” and “compromise.” Here are eight key takeaways from the speech:

1. Sales Tax and Brewers Stadium Deal

The county executive was a key member of the coalition of local politicians and business leaders that lobbied the state for the additional sales tax and pension reform framework in 2023 Wisconsin Act 12. When the deal was secured, Crowley and Mayor Johnson had managed, in their first terms, something that was considered impossible before, and that resulted in additional funding for all local governments in Wisconsin.

“And to those communities that are benefitting from Wisconsin Act 12, I have a very simple message for you: Thank you for joining our coalition, and you’re welcome,” Crowley said.

A key piece of Crowley’s victory lap Tuesday was to name the fruits of the sales tax deal.

For the first time in decades, Act 12 increased the amount of annual shared revenue received by Milwaukee County, as well as created a long-sought-after fix to the County’s 25-year-old pension challenges… With this current year’s budget surplus – the first in over two decades – we reduced the property tax levy by over $21 million.

Negotiations between the Milwaukee Brewers and the state over the future of American Family Field also turned into an opportunity for the county to extract additional uses for the county’s new sales tax revenue in exchange for local payments towards maintenance at the baseball stadium.

Through negotiations with our partners at the State of Wisconsin, I am pleased we reached a bipartisan agreement to keep the Brewers in Milwaukee through 2050…But you know what, this law will do more than just that. We negotiated an estimated amount of up to $239 million in additional revenue flexibility that will keep more money right here at home. This means that Milwaukee County will have more local dollars to address local priorities, while keeping the Brewers in Wisconsin for many years without any additional impact on local taxpayers.

2. King Park Revitalization

A significant achievement of Crowley’s first term will be three major county projects finished and underway in the city of Milwaukee’s King Park neighborhood: the new Department of Health and Human Services building, a new Mental Health Emergency Center and the development of 100 homes that will be sold to first-time homebuyers.

This will help advance DHHS’ ‘No Wrong Door’ model of customer service that is aimed at providing person-centered, holistic care to adults, children, and families through the health and human services continuum of care… During its first year of operations, the Mental Health Emergency Center served more than 7,000 individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use disorder related crisis… In partnership with Habitat for Humanity and the Emem Group, we are putting the final touches on over 100 new homes in the King Park neighborhood, near the future Coggs Center and a soon-to-be revitalized community center at King Park.

3. County Using Human Services To Take on Gun Violence

Crowley also highlighted that DHHS will take on gun violence in Milwaukee with a new approach that the department reports has been successful in other parts of the country.

This year as part of the Advance Peace Model, DHHS will be collaborating with community justice partners and deploying grassroots solutions to stop gun violence and support positive outcomes for our youth. In fact, just last week, DHHS identified the community organization who will carry out the work of the Advance Peace Fellowship Program. Milwaukee Christian Center will work with our County’s Credible Messenger Program to provide mentorship, life-coaching, family resources, and more to our youth who’ve been involved in group-based conflict and gun violence throughout Milwaukee County.

4. New Fundraising Campaign for County Parks?

Most of what the county actually does is provide human services, but the most visible piece of county government has always been the parks system. Crowley touted new spending on parks during his tenure and announced a new fundraising campaign for parks.

And through a renewed partnership with the Milwaukee Parks Foundation, we will be embarking on a new fundraising campaign to continue investing in our parks and our outdoor assets. We know our County Parks system requires significant investments and major repairs, as recently reported by the Wisconsin Policy Forum. That’s why since I took office, I’ve increased the Parks budget by almost $10 million.

5. Affordable Housing

During Crowley’s first year in office his administration developed a strategic plan that has a stated goal of making Milwaukee County the healthiest in the state by achieving racial equity. The fundamental strategy described in the plan is to address critical problems “upstream” or to treat the cause of systemic problems as opposed to their symptoms. One of these root problems is a lack of affordable, stable housing for many county residents. The county executive touted the investments his administration has made in affordable housing projects.

Envisioning Milwaukee County’s future includes expanding equitable access to safe, quality, and affordable housing in every corner of our community. That’s why we deployed $15 million in ARPA funds for affordable housing developments across five different Milwaukee County suburbs… And look, it’s not always easy to make these projects happen. Here’s an example: Milwaukee County pledged funding for an affordable housing development in Whitefish Bay. The project was initially rejected by a local review board. So, we took our case to the community. We made our voices heard and advocated for this project during public meetings.

6. Opioid Crisis

Milwaukee County has the highest rate of opioid-related deaths in the state, the county executive said, and laid out some of the county’s policy initiatives for combatting the crisis.

That’s why in just two years, Milwaukee County opened three behavioral health access clinics to continue expanding mental health and substance use disorder services…The $102 million in opioid settlement funds received by Milwaukee County are helping to fight this crisis…And we are not taking one second for granted, as 15 opioid settlement-funded projects are currently underway…Here’s an example: Last year, our Behavioral Health Services team placed 11 Harm Reduction Vending Machines throughout Milwaukee County

7. Transit Enhancements

Last year the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) launched the first bus rapid transit (BRT) service in the state. Already underway is a project to develop a second service.

CONNECT 1 is already in the top 10 most popular routes within the MCTS system, attracting nearly double the number of riders per day. We are excited to begin envisioning the next step of public transit right here in Milwaukee County through the second BRT line that will operate along 27th Street from Oak Creek to Glendale. And while we are working with our federal partners to fund this project, we are not wasting any time reinvesting in our public transit system.

8. What’s Good For the County Is Good For the State

The county executive celebrated a flock of new projects and programs and millions in spending made possible by the millions in COVID-19 stimulus funding and the new sales tax. But the baseline problem that has afflicted county government for more than a decade remains: the government costs more to maintain than it collects in revenue. This reality will return for policymakers sooner than expected, with a budget deficit currently projected for 2025, as Urban Milwaukee has reported.

With this fundamental flaw in county finances unfixed, Crowley and the county will need new revenues going forward to continue the run of successes he highlighted in his speech. In this regard, the county executive’s appeals to state and federal leaders will continue. Crowley seemed to try out a new message in his address, one that could form the basis of a new lobbying campaign: “what’s good for Milwaukee County is good for the entire State of Wisconsin.”

The county executive drove this theme home at various points in the speech: “From Rhinelander and Green Bay to Watertown and Waukesha, our work to pass Wisconsin Act 12 delivered increased shared revenue to every single community in Wisconsin.”

But when I envision Milwaukee County’s future – like our parks – we know we need partnerships… Our success is dependent on partnerships, as they’ve produced amazing things for Milwaukee County, but our work is not done. From building a new criminal justice facility downtown, to constructing the future international travel concourse at Mitchell International Airport, partnerships remain the way forward… And I call on every partner we’ve highlighted today. Our partners in Madison, our regional business community, our philanthropic leaders, our unions, our grassroots organizations, our non-profits, our residents, to join us in building a future in Milwaukee County that we can all be proud of.