Crowley’s 2024 Budget Departs From Decades of Cuts

County Executive David Crowley 2023 State of the County. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley‘s $1.3 billion 2024 recommended budget is loaded with firsts.

It’s the first budget since the passage of Wisconsin Act 12 and first since the authorization of an additional 0.4% sales tax; it’s the first budget since 1992 to lower property taxes for county residents; it’s also the first budget in more than a decade to make investments instead of cuts, and it does so without the help of federal stimulus funding.

“It’s a new day in Milwaukee County,” the county executive said during his annual budget address Thursday morning.

Fiscal Cliff Avoided

In years prior, the county’s annual structure was driving it toward budgetary disaster. By 2027, it was expected to leave the county without local funding for cherished public services like the parks and transit systems.

The looming, unprecedented budget deficit was often referred to as a “cliff” that the county would eventually go over. Following the passage of Act 12 and with new sales tax revenue and an additional $8.1 million million shared revenue in 2024, the county sees a $31 million budget surplus.

“The first surplus projected in the budget in over two decades,” Crowley said.

County budget officials estimate there will be another surplus in 2025 and the deficits will return in 2026, though they will pale in comparison to the deficits projected for the county without the assistance of the additional sales tax revenue.

Taxes

“I am proud to announce that the 2024 budget includes the largest property tax reduction in Milwaukee County history,” Crowley said.

The 2024 recommended budget decreases property taxes by $24 million, translating to an approximately $100 tax reduction for median-value home owners.

Crowley’s administration built the recommended budget with approximately $84 million in new sales tax revenue. The new stream of revenue is being applied to the county’s unfunded pension liability and to paying down pension obligation bonds. Previously, the county relied upon property tax revenue to make the payments.

Using sales tax revenue for the bonds allowed for property tax relief, and the remainder will free up an estimated $49 million in property tax revenue that is being driven into other areas of the budget.

Housing and Human Services

“We are utilizing this new fiscal flexibility to invest in key priorities that will advance the health, safety, and prosperity of Milwaukee residents,” Crowley said.

Once again, Crowley’s recommended budget includes funding for new housing initiatives, including $4 million for suburban affordable housing projects, $1.5 million for the county’s homeless outreach team and $200,000 for housing vouchers for county residents being released from the Community Reintegration Center (CRC), formerly known as the House of Correction.

“It is our job to ensure that people who into our facility leave in a better position from when they entered and helping people find stable housing ensures better outcomes and decreases recidivism rates,” Crowley said.

The budget also includes a major restructuring of the county’s Department of Child Support Services. Crowley is proposing to move the department under the umbrella of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Most of the department’s budget is funded by the state and federal government, so rather than a cost-saving measure, the move is intended to bolster the DHHS policy called “No Wrong Door,” which aims to facilitate access to the breadth of health and human services for residents no matter where they come in contact with the system.

Criminal Justice

Under the proposed budget, people incarcerated by the county at either the jail or the CRC would see their minutes of free calls to family and friends more than triple from 120 minutes a month to 390. The proposal relies on using surplus revenue to replace the commission the jail and CRC would otherwise receive from phone calls. The commission adds up to nearly $2 million annually.

“Research shows individuals who maintain regular communications with their loved ones have more positive outcomes occur upon their reentry back into society,” Crowley said.

The county would also invest $1.6 million in pre-trial mental health screenings. “We know that oftentimes, people are unable to access mental health services before a negative outcome occurs,” Crowley said. “This investment provides our criminal justice system with the tools to treat underlying mental health challenges instead of only utilizing incarceration as a solution.”

The Milwaukee County Sheriff‘s Office (MCSO) would receive a $7.4 million budget increase under Crowley’s budget. The majority of the funding, approximately 70%, is an increase only on paper. Approximately $5.4 million for fleet, radio, laundry and information management services the department already uses is moving from a central county account and into the MCSO budget.

The MCSO would receive $1.3 million for contractual increases in deputy pay, $1.08 million for raises for corrections officers and public safety officers instituted in 2023 budget. There is also $674,000 allocated for additional corrections officer raises.

The county is understaffed for corrections officers in both the jail and the CRC. MCSO leadership has repeatedly insisted that staffing is the primary challenge facing the jail and contributing to the poor conditions there. There were two deaths within the jail so far in 2023 and two in 2022.

Transit

The Milwaukee County Transit System is facing a fiscal cliff of its own. A $20 to $25 million budget deficit was projected for 2025 when the system was to run out of federal stimulus funds released during the COVID-19 pandemic and would need to absorb a 2021 state funding cut fully.

“The Milwaukee County Transit System was one of the program areas most at risk before the actual funding solution,” Crowley said.

Crowley’s budget puts $16 million in property tax funding into the transit system budget in 2024 to support operations. This allows the system to conserve federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), pushing off the fiscal cliff by spreading the funding over three years and giving county officials time to work on a solution.

For transit security, the proposed budget follows the advice of MCTS and county transportation officials and adds $1.9 million to the county’s contract with private security provider Allied Universal Services. The funding would increase the number of security officers and hours worked.

But the board recently endorsed a recommendation to end the county’s contract with AUS and replace it with a new county-controlled and maintained security force called Transit Rangers.

Parks

Milwaukee County Parks sees a boost in Crowley’s proposed budget with both an increase in funding for parks staff and a near doubling of funding for major infrastructure projects.

The department has a fraction of the full-time staff it once had to maintain the system of more than 15,000 areas of parkland. It also has a massive backlog of infrastructure needs and maintenance that estimates put somewhere near half a billion.

The department would receive $3 million for 18 new full-time positions and $23 million in funding infrastructure and other major projects.

Pension and Pay

With the pension reforms authorized by the Milwaukee County Board in July, county employees will see their pension contribution rate go down and, coupled with a 2% raise, county employees are expected to see a take-home pay increase of nearly 5%.

“The success of Milwaukee County would not be possible without our dedicated employees,” Crowley said. “We can all agree that they are truly the lifeblood of the County and they are doing phenomenal work to execute our shared vision and helping to make Milwaukee County the healthiest in Wisconsin.”