Despite a historic new county sales tax passed within the last year, Milwaukee County officials are projecting a multi-million dollar deficit by the end of 2024.
Officials estimate the county will be short $12.2 million by the end of this year.
On Thursday, the board of County Supervisors put on the record a preliminary plan to fill the gap that they say won't cost taxpayers extra or have a major impact on county-run services.
But where is this deficit coming from?
Watch: County leaders explain budget deficit.
Projections show a nearly $8 million dollar overage from overtime at the sheriff's office and a six and a half million dollar loss from the county sales tax.
"The sales tax seems to be doing a little bit better than what we originally expected in July although we are still estimating a deficit of $6.5 million," said CJ Pahl with the county Comptroller's office.
So now, what's the plan to fix it?
The county asked departments to adjust their budgets based on their surpluses to reallocate funding to where it's needed.
They will also use federal pandemic-era dollars and, if necessary, pull from the county's debt reserves.
"What a turnaround," said county supervisor, Shawn Rolland, of the county's plan. "A $20 million dollar turnaround. We were facing a huge deficit and, if passed, we'd be having a 7 or 8 million dollar surplus projection."
TMJ4 asked Milwaukee County Executive, David Crowley, for a response on the mutli-million dollar downfall just months after he said the county was expected to see a surplus.
He responded in a statement saying in part:
"... We have more work to do to prevent future fiscal cliffs, increase recruitment and retention to avoid overtime costs."
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