County Officials Close 2024 Budget Gap

Milwaukee County Courthouse. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

With a vote Thursday, the Milwaukee County Board closed a multi-million budget gap that has troubled policymakers for months.

It was the budget deficit that never should have been. When the 2024 budget was put together the county was projecting an unprecedented $31 million budget surplus thanks to the passage of Wisconsin Act 12 and a new 0.4% county sales tax. It was heralded as a “New Day” for the county, which has faced annual budget deficits for decades.

But by March 2024, the county was on track to burn through its 2024 budget and then some. Overtime in the Milwaukee County Sheriff‘s Office (MCSO) and at the Community Reintegration Center (CRC) was dragging down the county budget. At the time, the Office of the Milwaukee County Comptroller was also hinting at concerning returns from the county’s combined sales tax.

By July, the sales tax returns were alarming, coming in well under what officials had projected the previous fall, and health care costs were rising. Macroeconomic consumer trends were betraying the county’s finances, pushing the budget deficit up to an estimated $19 million.

County officials combed through projects and department budgets, coming up with enough funding to close the projected deficit. The package of fund transfers was presented to supervisors this month. Sup. Shawn Rolland said the package closed the gap “relatively painlessly.” There’s still a chance that not all of the funding will be needed, as the comptroller’s office recently updated their budget projection, forecasting a smaller, but still substantial $12.2 million deficit.

It did require officials to cut $1 million from an affordable housing fund. Affordable housing has been a top policy priority for the county under County Executive David Crowley, whose administration has used federal funding and money freed up by the new sales tax to invest in affordable housing projects across the county. It also reduced an infusion of property tax funding into the transit system by more than $2 million and deferred expenses for new infrastructure in the parks system.

What it didn’t do is inflict major cuts on any county programs or services, according to Joe Lamers, director of the Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance.

The package also included $300,000 to conduct a staffing study of the sheriff’s office. The goal is to provide policymakers with an independent analysis of the agency staffing needs, which have been the source of great policy debates as the office struggles to stay within its overtime budget each year.

Staffing pressures recently caused the sheriff to end mandatory overtime in the courts. Drawing a rebuke from Circuit Court Chief Judge Carl Ashley, who ordered the sheriff to maintain staffing levels to ensure efficiency and safety for the people working in and accessing the justice system.

The resolution passed unanimously by the board Thursday was a warm-up for the county policymakers. The county executive and the board now head into budget season, where it is expected they will have to close an $11.5 million budget deficit for 2025.

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