Chairwoman Nicholson Issues Guiding Principles for Setting County Budget

MILWAUKEE – As the Board of Supervisors begins deliberations on the 2021 Milwaukee County budget, Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson launched a new approach to the budget process with a letter to County Supervisors that lays out a set of “guiding principles.”

“Let’s engage now in a collaborative spirit to adopt a budget for the County that has been evaluated with a racial equity lens and deliberated with the high standards of conduct that are appropriate to our roles as public servants,” said Nicholson.

Nicholson’s guiding principles include “racial equity,” “preparation,” “collaboration,” “sustainability,” and “decorum.”

County Executive Crowley presented his budget proposal to Supervisors on October 1. The process of setting the budget now shifts to Supervisors’ consideration of Crowley’s proposal with several weeks of open hearings and deliberations over amendments.

In her letter, Nicholson encouraged Supervisors to “use a racial equity lens to request amendments to or evaluate proposals in the Recommended Budget”.

Nicholson also asked Supervisors to prepare questions for department heads in advance and save comments and questions that are not about the budget for future meetings.

The Chairwoman invited Supervisors to work together and “Seek common ground, if possible, to develop one amendment that satisfies rather than multiple amendments.”

With the lack of revenue and structural deficit a major challenge, Nicholson reminded Supervisors that “the use of one-time revenues to fund a program or service will lead to greater cuts in the future unless a new funding source is obtained.”

Nicholson also reminded Supervisors to mind the Board’s rules of decorum, authored by Bernice K. Rose, a political and civil rights activist, who was also the first black woman elected to the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.