Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office goes $7M over budget; county officials demand solutions to overtime

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Tensions were high at the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors meeting Wednesday afternoon as county supervisors discussed the $7 million of overtime the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office accumulated and how to pay for that bill.

It's just one part of a looming deficit in the county's budget. The County Reintegration Center, formerly known as the House of Correction, is $4 million over budget. Sales tax collections are also short $8 million.

“You have no clue how difficult this budget is going to be. No idea. We’ve had four years of cash being thrown at us by the feds. Those days are over," County Supervisor Steven Taylor said to the committee.

The budget has been an ongoing subject of contention since last week's Finance Committee Meeting.

During last week's opening statements, Chief Deputy Daniel Huges told the committee while the sheriff's office has hired additional staff, it continues to lose more officers because of retirement and to other counties. 

A backlog of cases at the courthouse and lack of mental health care facilities and resources were also listed as reasons for overtime. 

At the Finance Committee, Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita Ball was not present during opening statements and part of the questioning. 

“I like to say we can’t tell you, the sheriff, what to do. We can control the purse strings, but you just basically blow by it anyway and we have to pay the bill, so we’re screwed no matter what. We can’t tell the sheriff what to do because she’s her own constitutional officer and we’re stuck paying her bill. That’s why I’m really irritated that she’s not here," Taylor said to Huges at the meeting. 

At Wednesday's meeting, county supervisors stated each time funds are taken out of other departments to bail the sheriff's office, the county is overlooking bigger issues such as mental health and other community resources. County Supervisor Jack Eckblad told the committee by reducing mental health services, the county is contributing to the overtime issue. 

Taylor told the committee this issue happens every year with the Sheriff's office and taxpayers can't foot the bill. 

“I didn’t hear solutions, that’s what pisses me off. I did not hear solutions. I heard the ground. I heard the causes. I didn’t hear any creativity," said Taylor.