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County board revises budget process code to require committee review, preserves supervisors' ability to amend
Summary
The board approved an ordinance (No. 71) updating county code section 4.05 to formalize committee review of departmental budgets and to preserve supervisors' right to present amendments during the county board budget deliberation. The measure passed after an amendment was approved.
The Manitowoc County Board approved an ordinance (No. 71) repealing and recreating county code section 4.05 on budget development, adoption and amendment. The ordinance, as amended, received a recorded vote the clerk announced as 20–1 with four absent.
Supervisor Behnke moved an amendment to delete subsection g — which would have required supervisors to present proposed amendments first to the appropriate oversight committee and required prior notice to the finance director and corporation counsel — and replace it with language preserving a supervisor’s ability to present an amendment to the full county board if the oversight or finance committee did not adopt it. The amendment passed (the clerk announced the amendment approved 20–1 with four absent) and then became part of the ordinance; the full ordinance was approved by the same margin.
Nut graf: The ordinance establishes an explicit committee-based review and expectation that committees meet with department heads to vet proposed budgets, while the approved amendment keeps in place a supervisor’s right to offer amendments at the county board’s budget deliberation if committees decline them.
Supporters said the ordinance clarifies process and adds oversight through the committee structure to avoid last-minute, under-vetted amendments at the budget hearing. Supervisor Behnke explained he introduced the amendment so supervisors retained the ability to bring amendments directly to the board during budget deliberations: supervisors “are elected for” that role, he said during debate.
The board also discussed onboarding and training for newly elected supervisors; the chair and corporation counsel said they will work on a training plan and may use resources from the Wisconsin Counties Association to reduce the learning curve for budget procedure.
Ending: With the ordinance now part of county code, committees are expected to meet with department heads during the budget process to review requests versus the county executive’s proposal; supervisors retain the procedural right to present amendments during the county board budget meeting under the new language.
