HARTFORD, Wis. — Washington County officials are hosting a number of town halls to talk about passing an anti-crime referendum on the ballot ahead of election day.
Dozens of residents gathered at Monday’s town hall in Hartford to hear from Sheriff Martin Schulteis, County Executive Josh Schoemann, and others on the proposal.
More funding for the Sheriff’s department is something officials say is a major need to prevent crime before it happens.
If passed, the new referendum will add 30.5 new positions to departments across the Sheriff’s office and raise the property tax levy by $3.6 million to $40,018,760. That’s a 9.8 percent increase for property owners.
“I wanted to learn more and I do think it's worthy of a yes,” said Joanne Wesp from West Bend.
A 12-page handout was given at the meeting filled with studies and statistics on why the Sheriff's department says they need more staffing.
According to that data, the county population has increased by more than 50,000 people over the past three decades. In 1980, the population was 85,000 and today it sits near 135,000.
In that time, the number of law enforcement officers working per shift has not adjusted.
Since the late 1980s, the minimum amount of officers working per shift has stayed around five. If passed, the anti-crime plan would raise the number of officers per shift to eight to match the population growth in the county.
That’s just in the patrol department. The plan also adds officers designated to the county jail, opiate overdose investigations, and mental health response teams.
There are four other town halls scheduled across Washington County in the coming weeks about the anti-crime plan.
- Oct. 13 at the Tower Heritage Center, 320 S. 5th Ave. in West Bend.
- Oct. 17 at the Germantown Performing Arts Center, W180-N11501 N. River Lane in Germantown.
- Oct. 18 in the theater at Kewaskum High School, 1510 Bilgo Lane in Kewaskum
- Oct. 19 at the Washington County Fair Park and Conference Center, 3000 County Highway PV in Polk.