NEW at 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 29: Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley joined Steve Scaffidi and Sandy Maxx on WTMJ N.O.W. to discuss the 2024 budget, which is expected to finish in a surplus for the first time in more than 20 years.
You can listen to the interview in its entirety here in your browser or in your podcast platform of choice. Additionally, you can watch the interview on our YouTube channel or below in your browser. Their conversation begins at 2:05:42.
MILWAUKEE — Mirroring Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson earlier this month, County Executive David Crowley is touting a much-improved budget scenario heading into 2024 compared to years past.
Sharing his budget address to the Milwaukee County Board Thursday, Crowley said for the first time in over 20 years, the county will enter the new fiscal year with a surplus.
“Milwaukee County finds itself in a vastly improved budgetary environment than in years past.” Crowley said. “Driven by the passage of Wisconsin Act 12, Milwaukee County is projecting a surplus in this budget – the first surplus projected in the budget in over two decades.”
Areas that are could receive a bump in county funding include mental health services, affordable housing projects, the Milwaukee County Transit System, and the county parks system.
The proposed budget would increase pre-trial mental health services by 1.6 million dollars, utilize 4 million dollars combined with other funding sources to expand affordable housing in county suburbs, and invest 1.5 million dollars into the homeless outreach team and Housing First model.
As for MCTS, Crowley proposed a 16 million dollar budget increase for the system to help fund a “transit ranger” program and fend off a looming fiscal cliff for the transit network. Before the passage of the .04% county sales tax this summer, MCTS had forecasted a $26.5 million budget shortfall in 2025, due to long-standing structural budget problems and the impending expiration of temporary federal COVID-19 relief funding. The ranger program would be granted 1.3 million dollars to get it off the ground.
Under Crowley’s proposal, the county parks system would receive both an additional 3 million dollars and 18 new full-time positions within the department.
Much like Johnson’s proposal gave city workers a raise, Crowley’s would afford county workers a 2% raise. Additionally, general county employees would see their pension contribution rate drop from 6.1% to 4.3%.
The budget will now be debated and voted on by the Board of Supervisors.
