County Board demands review after Crowley administration hid $4.6 million budget error until after election

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors reluctantly adopted a $1.5 billion budget for 2027 at its meeting Thursday.

A $4.6 million budget error hung over the meeting, and County Executive David Crowley's administration did not disclose that mistake until Wednesday -- one day after Crowley was voted in as Wisconsin's next governor.

Board supervisors said they were most troubled by the timing of the disclosure. While they said it will be challenging to plug the $4.6 million hole, that amount is about 0.03% of the total county budget.

"Totally inappropriate," Sup. Steve Taylor, who chairs the board's finance committee, said after the vote. "Broke a level of trust that's gonna be hard to come back from."

Board members, including Taylor, said they were not made aware of the error until the county's budget office sent a memo Wednesday afternoon.

The county budget office answers to Crowley, who has yet to comment directly on either the budget error or the delaying in telling the board.

"We need more transparency here in Milwaukee County," Sup. Patti Logsdon said after the meeting. "We demand it."

Nick Sinram, the county's budget director, told reporters after the vote he became aware of the error on October 20.

Sinram said the error happened during an automated part of compiling the budget. He said the software entered a savings amount related to operations at Mitchell International airport; those savings didn't actually exist.

Sinram maintained the budget office wanted to remedy the software problem and propose ways to plug the $4.6 million gap before notifying the county board.

"We choose to bring solutions to the board, not just problems," Sinram said.

A CBS 58 reporter asked Sinram if his department truly could not come up with solutions until after Tuesday's election.

"It takes time," Sinram replied. "It's a complicated budget issue. We need to make sure we have investigated completely, thoroughly and come with realistic solutions for the county board."

Logsdon shook her head several times when a reporter showed her a video of Sinram's answers to media questions.

She was particularly upset with his suggestion the budget office needed to find solutions before informing the board.

"That is why we have a finance/budget committee, so they can help find those solutions," Logsdon said. "That's our job."

Wednesday's memo to the board suggested possible budget remedies included possible prescription drug rebates, remaining balances from building projects and savings or agency surpluses "through ongoing monitoring of departmental operating budgets."

"Those are really not solutions," Taylor said. "Those are hypotheticals."

Delaying disclosure now a pattern

This week's delayed disclosure marked the third time the Crowley administration waited to fess up to a fiscal mistake in a little more than a year.

In the summer of 2025, Donna Brown-Martin resigned from her position as the county's transportation director. It came after the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) sprung a surprise $11 million budget gap, which prompted a labor dispute with the bus drivers' union.

Then, this past January, the county's Department of Human Resources mistakenly allowed the contract for county workers' health insurance to expire.

"David Crowley did not screw up the MCTS deal, did not screwup the healthcare deal, and he did not screw up this, OK?" Taylor said. "Someone in his administration did. The buck stops with him because he did hire either the people hiring them or the individuals that are the department heads."

The board unanimously adopted another amendment Thursday, one ordering the budget office to perform a review of its budget verification process.

The amendment calls for Sinram and the budget staff to present their findings to the board in January.

Taylor smiled when a reporter asked if he believed politics influenced the timing of this most recent delay.

"Listen, everything in this building is politics, alright?" Taylor said. "It is."