Manitowoc County Board overrides five executive vetoes, restores sheriff funding and borrowing

Manitowoc County Board of Supervisors members voted on Veterans Day to override five partial vetoes the county executive had issued to the proposed 2026 county budget, restoring funding for employee pay increases, sheriff equipment and a highway borrowing line.

County Executive Schigabauer opened the meeting and defended his actions, saying, "I believe the 5 partial vetoes improved the 2026 Manitowoc County budget for the good of Manitowoc County and not with limited special interest," and invited supervisors to work with him going forward.

The board then considered five separate vetoes. On item 1a — the executive's veto of borrowing $370,000 intended to fund a 1% salary increase — Supervisor Banky framed the question as "whether you want to give our employees a 1% increase or not," citing wage compression and recent departures from the highway department. Supervisor Klein said he opposed both proposed tax increases and argued the supervisors had already considered amendments, saying, "Neither tax increase is acceptable to me." After a roll-call, the board corrected the initial tally and recorded an override vote of 18 yes, 4 no for item 1a.

The board also restored $32,000 from the information-technology fund to pay for one year of an Axon artificial-intelligence reporting add-on (item 1b). Supporters pointed to an Appleton example where AI-accelerated reporting cut a write-up from 13 minutes to seven and said the software would improve officer safety and reporting efficiency. Supervisor Zimmer urged "unstinting support" for law enforcement funding; Supervisor Ryan Phipps said the tools could improve transparency and officer safety. The motion to override passed (clerk's tally reported as approximately 21 yes, 1 no).

On item 1c the board moved to restore $243,000 in the sheriff administration budget to fund the Axon body-camera procurement. Supervisor Behnke cautioned that $135,000 for the existing system obligations would still be owed if the board removed funding; Supervisor Matthew Phipps said the sheriff's office had applied for a federal grant of about $183,000 that could be affected by rebidding. The board voted to override that veto and then voted to restore the companion $243,000 to the tax levy (item 1d) to fund the project (both overrides recorded with the clerk's tally shown as 21 yes, 2 no, 1 abstain in the meeting record).

The final veto (item 1e) would have removed $200,000 from planned borrowing in the Highway, Roads and Bridges Special Revenue Fund (reducing borrowing from $3,000,000 to $2,800,000). Supervisor Hummel called the veto a "political power move" and argued that retaining the full borrowing authorization provided a cushion for projects that overrun budget; Supervisor Benke/Behnke warned about snowstorm costs and potential bond-rating impacts. The board overrode that veto; the clerk recorded the result as 19 yes, 3 no.

The meeting concluded after the votes. Several supervisors framed their overrides as support for public-safety operations and for county employees; critics said some of the restored increases represented tax increases and questioned the executive's decision-making and tone. No ordinance or statute was cited as a legal bar to the votes; the actions taken were formal budget overrides recorded in the meeting minutes.

Votes at a glance: item 1a override — 18 yes, 4 no; item 1b override — about 21 yes, 1 no (as announced); item 1c override (body cams) — announced as 21 yes, 2 no, 1 abstain; item 1d override (tax levy) — announced as 21 yes, 2 no, 1 abstain; item 1e override (highway borrowing) — 19 yes, 3 no.

What happens next: The board's overrides restore the funding lines in the board'approved 2026 budget; supervisors and the county executive were urged to "work together" going forward, according to Schigabauer, as departments proceed with procurement and grant actions.