County Executive Tyler Martell Signing the 2027 Budget Photo Credit - Martell for Manitowoc
Manitowoc County has a budget for next year, but board supervisors wanted to make changes.
The board voted 21-3 to approve the 2027 budget, which includes a property tax levy increase and eliminates vacant positions in the Human Services Department.
12th District Supervisor Kevin Behnke tried to change the budget by adding a roofing project for the Hillside Building on the UW-Green Bay Manitowoc campus.
He said that, with the campus being used for Manitowoc Public Schools’ Rising Phoenix program, the roof should be cut out.
“We have a good maintenance program,” he stated. “The county executive, already in his budget, has cut a lot in public works. I don’t say that as a negative. He had a very difficult budget to put together.”
County Board Chairman Matthew Phipps said he supports the project but wants to postpone it to save taxpayer dollars as the roof is not actively leaking.
“I continue to be told, ‘please don’t raise my taxes,’”, he explained. “Especially after we just passed the half a percent sale tax that has been absorbed into our budget. So, I’m just answering my constituents’ requests to try and save money where we can.”
The board voted down the amendment 8-16.
Behnke then tried to allocate funding for a road project on County Highway T, which runs through the Villages of Kellnersville and Maribel.
He says a state statute takes away funding for road projects if it isn’t used.
19th District Supervisor Shae Sortwell disagreed with what the state does, but that doesn’t mean the county should spend money it has right away.
Sortwell recalled, “I’m a layman, I’m a normal guy driving down the road, I don’t see that it needs some emergency repairs this year. And I’ve never bought the argument that, hey, we’re going to fall into that trap that we better spend it so we can get it next year. It’s a nasty trap that we like to fall into whether it’s the government or the corporate world or wherever else.”
That amendment was also voted down. 15th District Supervisor Dylan Hammel then moved to implement a 2% pay raise for county employees, instead of increasing it over a few months as the 2026 county budget called for.
Hammel says the county needs to support its employees.
“It’s going to be at 2% next year anyway regardless of how you look at it,” he said. “It’s just going to average out better for the employees this year. And they get their raise right away.”
After that amendment passed 18-6, Hammel also moved to amend the budget to fund a wage study, which would cost around $60,000.
11th District Supervisor Christopher Dallas said the wage study is needed because of several resignations, specifically in the Highway Department.
“Apparently, it was all due to pay,” he remarked. “So, we need to know where we are at in comparison. And the county code or book says it may be conducted. And we’re going on 13 years now where it has not been conducted, so I support this.”
The county hasn’t done a wage study since 2014.
Chairman Phipps says the board would hire a group to do a study, and the findings would determine what the county does next.
Other county board members felt the amount was too high and did not want it passed.
That motion did not pass. County Executive Tyler Martell signed the budget and added that the budget “will stabilize County government and puts us on a path to sustainability in the future. In the coming days, weeks, months, and years, there is still more work to be done.”
A full list of what’s in the 2027 Manitowoc County budget can be found on the county executive’s Martell For Manitowoc Facebook page.
