David Crowley wants to be governor on a diet of affordability talk and fiscal responsibility. It is the number issue facing voters for November and any smart candidate would hit that message hard. Regardless, Milwaukee County’s calendar moves on despite the political implications. The county executive’s recommended 2027 budget is due October 1, require by statute.
The departmental requests are not subtle asks. County offices are asking for roughly $2.41 billion in spending. To fund that wish list they would need a property tax levy of about $389 million. That is $80 million more than the 2026 adopted levy or a 26% increase.
Those figures are departmental asks, not Crowley’s final recommendation. He still gets to write his own executive budget. However, this proposes a new political problem for him. Milwaukee County is already staring at a $50.8 million structural deficit in 2027, according to the comptroller’s own forecast. The hole grows to nearly $76 million the year after and $169 million by 2031 if nothing changes. The county transit system is heading off a cliff while a new courthouse waits in the wings with even more borrowing attached.
Crowley has one clean year of levy reduction on his record, 2024, and only after he signed the near-doubling of the county sales tax under Act 12. Every other budget year under his watch, the levy climbed. The 2026 adopted budget added about $12 million more, sold as keeping taxes “low” because they remained under the 2023 peak.
His ads are boasting balanced books and the largest property tax cut in county history. If he recommends another levy hike now, the affordability campaign becomes a joke. Voters already list property taxes as a top complaint. Raising them in the county he actually runs, weeks before they vote for governor, is a death spiral with a press release attached.
If he holds the line or cuts the levy, the books scream political timing. You do not close a $51 million gap with vibes. He will have to close it with service cuts, more debt, or more taxes. Pretend otherwise and the “bigger than politics” county executive story collapses into an October stunt. Crowley has to also contend with his own base if the cuts on “essential services” are too drastic.
Asked whether the coming proposal includes a tax increase, Crowley said the process is still underway and the public will see it when it drops. If I were him, I would be stalling as long as possible. What do you do in this situation? Everywhere he turns is a tough decision. I guess we will find out what political spin he decides to go with.
