Milw. County Board approves 2014 County Budget
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele had his say on the 2014 Milwaukee County Budget, and on Tuesday, November 12th, it was the Milwaukee County Board's turn.
It is no secret that the County Board and County Exec. Abele don't see eye-to-eye on some issues -- and neither do Abele and Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke.
On Tuesday, the Board voted unanimously to reject some of Abele's cuts to the Sheriff's budget -- including giving the city nearly $1 million to patrol the Lakefront and some County parks.
The Board left the responsibility with the Sheriff's Office.
"Trying to starve the Sheriff's Department should not be a goal and we did a lot of putting things back. We also kept some cuts as well," Milwaukee County Supervisor David Bowen said.
Abele also wanted $400,000 for his personal security.
The Board decreased that to $100,000, and authorized the Sheriff's Office to provide that security.
A contentious item concerns Abele's top staff salaries. There are conflicting opinions on whether recently passed Act 14 allows the Board to cut the salaries of Abele's staff.
Instead, the Board adjusted an executive pay grade range from $98,720 to $120,613.
Then, the Board moved some of the highest paid staff jobs to that pay grade, which essentially means people in those jobs would take a pay cut.
"What about all the people who lost jobs in our branch? They don't count? I finally got to the point here in this budget also that I said 'yeah, we've done our fair share,'" County Supervisor James Schmitt said.
Abele had also proposed closing indoor swimming pools at Noyes Park and Pulaski Park.
The Board voted unanimously to repair and keep the pools open with the help of the generous $100,000 donation from private citizen Stanley Kass.
The Board approved the 2014 budget on Tuesday evening.
In a statement, Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic said: "Without raising the tax levy, the Milwaukee County Board passed a budget for 2014 that keeps open Noyes and Pulaski pools, funds important deferred maintenance, and invests in public safety and mental health services. The vote on the $1.3 billion budget was 14-4."
The Board-approved budget, like Abele's proposed budget means a property tax freeze at this year's level -- although the specifics will look slightly different.
Abele will have the opportunity to take a stab at those differences if he chooses to veto any items in the County Board's budget.
If he does, the Board will then have a chance to override those vetoes, and will meet on November 21st to consider them.
Abele released the following statement to FOX6 News on the budget: "I've proposed a budget that didn't raise your taxes every year I've been in office and I want to genuinely thank the Supervisors for not raising them this year and giving Milwaukee County something it hasn't had in years - a budget that doesn't raise their taxes. That said, there are still changes Supervisors made that are not based on data, best practices, or even legal. Taxpayers should be assured I will use my veto pen to make this budget better for all of Milwaukee County."