Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels
Preparation for Manitowoc’s 2021 budget has begun.
Mayor Justin Nickels tells SeehaferNews.com that plans are to craft and send letters to Departments heads this month. He explained, “I’m trying to also navigate finances moving forward, and what the state is going to do with shared revenue given COVID and their huge loss in revenue because of it.”
Nickels says some action has already been taken, including a hiring and spending freeze city wide, expect for police and fire in anticipation of potential cuts from the state. Nickels said “It is going to be an interesting summer for me.”
What makes the budget process even more challenging is not knowing precisely what those deficits are-yet having to go through the entire process.
That generally includes a final draft and presentation by the Mayor, a thorough review, recommendations and passage by the Finance Committee, Public Hearings, then a final vote by the Common Council generally held before December first in conjunction with the first installment of property tax bills being mailed out.
