Priorities set for the recommended 2025 Milwaukee County budget

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley laid out the plans for the recommended 2025 Milwaukee County budget, with a focus on “financial sustainability” to the tune of almost $1.4 billion dollars.

In the address on Tuesday, October 1, Crowley explained that residents would see a 2.8% property tax levy increase for a total of $8.2 million, and that this increase would be lower than the 2020 levels while maintaining key services to residents and without a hiring freeze to county employees. It would also include a 2% raise for county employees and direct $1.5 million toward compensation study adjustments for staff.

The recommended budget also includes $13 million in tax levy support for the Office of the Sheriff, the Community Reintegration Center, and Court Operations, representing an 11% tax levy funding boost. “These are investments across the entire public safety continuum to help us address rising overtime costs, enhance recruitment and retention, and maintain staffing in the courts and judicial facilities through the addition of 11 new full-time positions”, said Crowley.

He clarified that state law requires that the county carry out these mandated services, with the goal to continue working with law enforcement, the state, and federal partners to identify other revenue sources to keep up with the mandates.

Federal American Rescue Plan Act funding would be directed to the Milwaukee County Transit System, resulting in over $10 million to “maintain current route service levels, it will help us replace our aging bus fleet, and ensure that transit security remains throughout the MCTS,” said Crowley. He noted that the current ARPA funding will be spent down by 2027, and will result in MCTS facing a “fiscal cliff” that will need to be addressed sooner rather than later.

The Milwaukee County Parks would also receive $2.3 million in the recommended budget for park operations, including 10 new full-time positions to “support the increased recreational activity and business services that are taking place at these community assets, which help to generate revenue for our park programming,” said Crowley. The proposal would include $11 million for five capital projects across the park system that would include trail and amenity improvements for a better experience for residents.

The 2025 recommended Capital Budget includes $110 million for 54 projects in the county, with the biggest focus being a $6 million investment for the continued planning a new courthouse complex facility for the courts and other state-mandated services. This would be part of a multi-year project to create a functional and safe building to address the everyone who uses the facility.

“By 2028, Milwaukee County’s structural deficit was estimated to reach a total of $109 million,” said Crowley. “And at the same time, state-mandated services were and are still projected to continue growing and consuming more of Milwaukee County’s local tax levy. If nothing had changed, I would be standing here presenting a budget that includes massive cuts to programs and services that so many people rely on every single day.”

Crowley credits partnering with Governor Evers and the Wisconsin State Legislature on passing the bipartisan Wisconsin Act 12 “to reform the state’s local revenue sharing structure for the first time in over two decades… that allowed Milwaukee County to address a looming pension crisis with historic reforms, generate millions annually in new sales tax revenue, and secure additional shared revenue payments that will grow with economic activity.”

The full 2025 recommended budget is on the Milwaukee County Budget website. The Milwaukee County Board will review all of the recommendations in the budget proposal, with the goal to finalize the budget on November 7.