Supervisors Clancy and Rolland Applaud Unanimous Recommendation of Overtime Accountability Ordinance
MILWAUKEE – Today the County Board’s Finance Committee unanimously recommended passage of an ordinance change greatly improving the County Board’s fiscal oversight of county departments. The ordinance change is based on a 2020 budget amendment authored by Supervisors Ryan Clancy and Shawn Rolland.
“This ordinance is about accountability,” said Supervisor Clancy. “For most departments within Milwaukee County, fiscal oversight is just one of the many tools we have. For some departments it seems to be the only one. I’m glad that this gives us an additional means to keep excesses in check. During this pandemic, our role as stewards of public funds became even more important. It’s vital that we ensure that the departments which provide basic human needs have the resources to do so, and that others do not use overtime to exhaust their budgets without cause. Overtime is an inefficient way to deliver services and is fair neither to county employees compelled to work those hours nor to the residents denied other vital services to pay for them. This is a small but important step towards accountability. I look forward to seeing it come before the full County Board.”
The ordinance mandates that any department which projects a deficit of at least $100,000 or more than $1 million in overtime present a report and plan of action to the Finance Committee and other entities. The department would have to present a follow-up report on that plan three months later.
“People want Milwaukee County to be more strategic, transparent and fiscally responsible – and that’s what this ordinance change delivers,” said Supervisor Rolland. “For the first time in our history, the County Board will find out early on if any Milwaukee County department expects to overspend significantly on overtime, understand why that’s happening, and be in the position to do something about it. I believe this ordinance change will help us spend less on overtime – and more on parks, parkways, and our vision to make Milwaukee County the healthiest county in Wisconsin.”
The full County Board will consider the item at its Thursday, April 22 meeting.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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