Manitowoc County’s Board of Supervisors Chairman is looking for answers regarding the deficit in the County’s Human Services Department budget.
A letter sent by Chairman Tyler Martell to County Executive Bob Ziegelbauer says while he appreciates the County Executive’s honesty, he wants some more information before deciding how to fix the issue.
Not only does he want a copy of the entire Human Services Department budget, he wants to know how a deficit of about $403,600 ballooned into a $2.5 million deficit for 2023 after looking at the minutes from a February 2024 Human Service meeting.
Martell is also asking Ziegelbauer for a written explanation of each budget line item that experienced a discrepancy of more than $100,000.
That’s after the County Executive explained that there were overages because of an increase in need in the department.
Finally, he wants an explanation about a $1.5 million “error” in the budget that happened because of a “misunderstanding” of a program.
This all comes after Ziegelbauer explained that either the county needs to implement a 0.5% sales tax or a 30% property tax increase to help offset the deficit.
The department could be facing a total $6 million shortfall between 2023 and this year if something isn’t done.
