Audit: Most Milwaukee County parks improved since 2009 but asset tracking and documentation need work

The Milwaukee County Board Committee on Audit on July 7 recommended adoption of an audit finding that nearly all sampled county parks have improved since a 2009 pictorial audit but that Parks needs better asset management and inspection recordkeeping.

The audit, presented by Jennifer Follier, the Comptroller’s director of audits, compared photographs and asset records from February 2009 with images and data gathered by the audit team in 2024 and 2025. The audit team documented park improvements driven largely by capital investments, public‑private partnerships and philanthropic contributions, but it also identified gaps in inventories and in retention of inspection records for pools and playgrounds.

The audit team reported that Parks invested more than $50,000,000 in the sample parks between 2009 and 2024, with county capital funding representing about 71% of the revenues for those projects. Since 2021, Parks reported collecting more than $11,600,000 in beer‑garden revenue, a new revenue stream that did not exist in 2009. Examples the audit cited include a $1,100,000 county investment in the park renamed Lucille Berrien (formerly Lindbergh), multimillion‑dollar upgrades at Deneen Park (noted as more…