Manitowoc County executive outlines conservative 2026 budget, proposes modest levy increase and new sales-tax fund

The County Executive presented Manitowoc County’s draft 2026 budget to the County Board on a motion night, proposing a tax levy for operations of $34,145,237 to support total spending of $98,219,616 and recommending policy changes intended to restrain long-term tax growth.

The County Executive said the county’s long-term financial goals remain “holding the line on property taxes while delivering high quality services,” noting the county’s debt is below 7% of the statutory maximum and that a local-option sales tax of 0.5% will begin to generate revenue in 2025. “Our financial plan is working well,” the County Executive said.

The proposal digs into three stated priorities for 2026: invest in employees, address law enforcement modernization and human services needs (including opioid response), and maintain an aggressive highway and capital improvement program. The County Executive recommended increasing nonbargaining pay scales by 1% and suspending merit bonus payouts for one year while continuing performance reviews. He also proposed raising health insurance premiums 20% on both the employer and employee shares and transferring $683,000 from the general fund to the county’s health insurance reserve to help cover increased costs.

On sales tax, the County Executive said Manitowoc County will collect local-option sales tax revenue (0.5%) starting in 2025 and conservatively estimated receipts of about $7.8 million in 2025 and $8.15 million in 2026. He proposed creating a special revenue fund to receive and account for the sales-tax proceeds beginning in 2026 so unused amounts can accumulate in that fund.

Human services and opioid-settlement funding: the County Executive identified ongoing pressures in human services—child and family services, child protective services, foster care, clinical services and economic supports—and described a multi-year deficit in the human services fund. He said auditors transferred $1,053,048 from the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) fund to partially cover an accrued deficit and reported a remaining human services deficit of $2,815,480. He recommended allocating $950,000 of opioid settlement proceeds to human services to reimburse prior county expenditures on opioid abatement programs and related services, saying the settlement funds are “for abatement, reimbursement for damages borne by Manitowoc County taxpayers.”

Capital and highway spending: the draft budget would appropriate $4,087,157 for the highway department and includes about 16.6 miles of resurfacing. The County Executive recommended borrowing $3,000,000 to support roughly $5,366,000 in highway projects. He also recommended appropriating more than $1,000,000 to public works for a five-year major maintenance program and proposed borrowing $1,965,000 to pay for architectural and engineering services for phase 2 of courthouse dome rehabilitation.

Public safety equipment procurement: the County Executive described a previous RFP that bundled body cameras and tasers, which received only one bid. He said separating body cameras and tasers in the procurement could attract more vendors and potentially save more than half the cost of leasing the integrated system. He asked the public safety and finance committees to reopen the RFP process to solicit separate bids.

Other personnel and position recommendations: the executive said no new county positions are proposed for 2026; he recommended cutting one health department position and four positions in human services for 2026 and declined a coroner’s request for two permanent positions pending a 2027 transition from coroner to medical examiner. He also proposed reducing the County Executive’s pay to the same level as 2025 and 2026 ($108,246).

Process and ordinance clarifications: staff presented an ordinance amendment that codifies the budget review process—assigning portions of the budget to relevant oversight committees, requiring those committees to review departmental budgets and hold public meetings, and routing proposed committee amendments to the finance committee. The County Executive and corporation counsel (identified in discussion) explained that if an oversight committee or the finance committee receives a supervisor’s amendment and does not adopt it, the supervisor may present that amendment to the full County Board during annual budget deliberations. Committee chairs and supervisors debated scheduling; the County Board’s annual meeting and a public hearing are set for Oct. 27, with the final budget deliberation scheduled for Nov. 4 and a tentative Nov. 11 session reserved in case of additional deliberations or potential executive vetoes.

Quotes in context: “Holding the line on property taxes while delivering high quality services” was the County Executive’s characterization of the administration’s long-term goals; he said the county has “held the line on property taxes since 02/2006.” On health insurance, he said, “Inflation has caught up with us in health care costs too,” and described the 20% premium increase as a response to rising costs.

What happens next: home oversight committees will review assigned portions of the budget and may propose amendments to the finance committee, which will consider recommended amendments before the public hearing. The County Executive encouraged supervisors to consult with county administration early if they plan to propose amendments so financial implications can be prepared for committee and board consideration.

Administrative action recorded: at the close of the meeting, a motion to adjourn was made by Supervisor Fulkowski and seconded by Supervisor Hacker.