Budget Brief
Milwaukee County 2010 Executive Budget
October 2009

The 2010 recommended budget contains familiar proposals to privatize county services, maximize state and federal revenue sources, and eliminate small programs deemed outside of the county's "core mission". Those strategies are utilized less than in previous years, however, in recognition that a piecemeal approach no longer is tenable.

By taking on the county's wage and benefit structure, the recommended budget instead attempts a more long-term approach. This paper will point out the potential shortcomings associated with the county executive's strategy, but there can be little argument with the general need to do something about wages and benefits in light of the magnitude of the county's structural deficit. It is critical, in fact, that the debate at the county board not be about whether significant alterations in employee and retiree compensation are necessary, but about whether the specific package of wage and benefit concessions proposed by the county executive is fair, realistic and achievable, and what happens if it is not.