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Milwaukee County projects $46.7 million gap for 2026; administration outlines levy targets and spending pressures
Summary
County staff told the finance committee that Milwaukee County faces a preliminary $46.7 million deficit for 2026 and outlined early steps to narrow the gap, including levy targets, departmental cost containment and monitoring of state budget items.
Milwaukee County—s finance staff on Tuesday outlined a preliminary $46.7 million projected deficit for the 2026 operating budget and detailed the administration—s early strategies to narrow the gap.
Dan Lorula and Joe Lamers of the Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance told supervisors the forecast leans on several major uncertainties: assumed increases in salaries and overtime ($27 million in the fiscal forecast), higher health-care claim and prescription costs (projected near $16 million increase), and rising overtime in public-safety and correctional operations. The administration asked departments to contain inflation-driven cost increases and issued levy-reduction targets totaling roughly $10 million.
On the revenue side, staff reported recent sales-tax disbursements were running about 5% higher year-over-year for the May-to-April window; comptroller staff said the county should expect some relief if the trend continues. Lamers noted that only the county—s 0.5-percentage-point share of the sales tax is available to offset the general fund gap; a separate 0.4 share flows to pension-related obligations.
Other levers discussed included vehicle-registration fee adjustments (a locally authorized fee that brings in roughly $17 million for transportation purposes), and pending items in the state budget that could materially affect the county—s bottom line, such as transit and circuit court funding. The administration said it is monitoring the Joint Finance Committee and legislative developments closely and is coordinating with legislative affairs staff.
Appropriation transfers and capital adjustments: As part of the committee cycle, the administration presented a series of appropriation transfers (May 2025 cycle) to realign unspent capital and grant funds, realign reserves for airport and parks projects, and shift ARPA administrative funds to ensure reporting and claims responsibilities are staffed. The committee approved the May appropriation transfer packet during the meeting.
Next steps: The administration will finalize department budget requests for a July 15 submission and release a recommended budget in October. Supervisors asked departments with large projected deficits (the sheriff and the Community Reintegration Center) to return with additional detail; staff said the sheriff—s office is expected to appear in a future committee cycle to discuss its forecasted deficit.
