Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley approves $1.37 billion budget for 2024
In his first budget since the approval of a 0.4% sales tax increase, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley signed off on his $1.37 billion budget for 2024 Wednesday without issuing any vetoes, marking the end of a quiet budget season.
Crowley's budget — including amendments introduced by the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors — will see investments to reduce property taxes and bolster the county's parks and public transit system, as well as increase support to tackle public safety, affordable housing concerns and the county's capital projects backlog.
“It is a new day in Milwaukee County. By deploying tax revenue-generating tools and maintaining our track record of thoughtful, fiscally responsible budgeting, we have the opportunity to invest in our community that will benefit residents, families, and neighborhoods for many years to come,” Crowley said.
In the lead-up to supervisors passing the 2024 budget, Crowley and County Budget Director Joe Lamers warned that the county was still not out of the woods fiscally and that the county must be responsible with choices that will affect future budgets, including not exceeding the county's self-imposed bonding cap.
The County Board ended up passing a budget that outlined a $291.4 million property tax levy — a $2.51 million jump from Crowley's budget originally proposed, but still an overall decrease of $21 million from the prior year.
The change in the county's financial picture comes after a local government funding deal passed in the state Legislature allowed the county to raise its sales tax to 0.9% from the previous 0.5% and an increase in shared revenue from the state.
The County Executive election is set for the spring, with Crowley announcing his campaign for re-election on the heels of the historic sales tax deal. Crowley is so far running unopposed on the ballot.
Crowley's lack of vetoes marked a shift from the fiscal in-fighting between former Milwaukee County Board Chairman Theodore Lipscomb Sr. and former Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele in years prior.
"The County Executive believes the amendments advanced by the Board represent a compromise," a spokesperson for Crowley's office said. “The bonding cap is self-imposed in an effort to maintain our bonding rating and remain fiscally responsible. Therefore, it continues to be important for us to re-evaluate the County’s bonding levels every year to keep deploying the right investments and not risk valuable services that residents rely on.”
The new budget will see the parks department operating budget increase by $3 million, adding 18 full-time employees to the department and funding for seasonal staff.
Next year will also see a major investment in providing services for Milwaukee County's unsheltered populations, including providing an additional $1.5 million to the county's homeless outreach team and Housing First model, which provides housing without imposing prerequisites such as counseling.
Crowley and supervisors jointly approved the removal of phone charge commission revenue of $1.9 million from the Community Reintegration Center and the Milwaukee County Jail budget after families raised alarm bells about paying $5.1 million per year for calls with loved ones in the Milwaukee County Jail. This budgetary shift will provide 360 free minutes per month for phone calls — an increase from the currently allotted 120 minutes — and 60 free video visitation minutes per month.
The budget will also set aside $250,000 for an external audit of Milwaukee County Jail operations aimed to reduce the number of in-custody deaths, as well as pay raises for Milwaukee County Correctional Officers aimed at tackling staffing shortages across the county's correctional system.
Contact Vanessa Swales at 414-308-5881 or vswales@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @Vanessa_Swales.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County Executive approves $1.37 billion budget for 2024
