Performance, Strategy and Budget

Who We Are

The Milwaukee County Office of Performance, Strategy and Budget (PSB) is the budget office for Milwaukee County.

We are located within the Department of Administrative Services and are responsible for managing and overseeing all countywide budgeting, capital planning and accounting activities and oversees the preparation of the County Executive's Annual Budget.

PSB provides staff resources to the County Executive and the County Board on budget, fiscal and management matters as well as assisting and overseeing departments, boards and commissions in managing and controlling budget and fiscal plans, as required by Wisconsin State Statute 59.60.

We strive to provide quality, accurate assistance to departments and constitutional offices in a courteous and professional manner.

How the Budget Works

Milwaukee County’s Budget represents the county’s business plan for the coming year. The current budget narrative links county services to important strategic outcomes, which were developed through a comprehensive strategic planning process, and shows taxpayers and stakeholders how county services link to these broad building blocks of our community.

The Budget Process

State Statute 59.60 governs the annual budget process for Milwaukee County. Each department is required to submit requested operating and capital (as part of a five-year capital plan) budgets to the Director of Administrative Services in June. On or before August 15, the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) is required to submit a summary of the requests to the County Executive and County Board. The County Executive is required to hold public hearings on the requests. DAS is required to analyze the operating and capital requests and assist the County Executive in making “changes in the proposed budget that in the executive's or administrator's discretion are considered desirable or proper” (§59.60 (6) (a)).

The resulting County Executive’s budget is then presented to the County Board on or before October 1. The Board then considers and may adopt amendments to the County Executive’s Budget, and must hold a public hearing on the budget no later than the first Monday in November. After adopting amendments and holding the public hearing, the Committee submits the amended budget to the County Board, which adopts the final budget in mid-November. After the budget has been adopted and a detailed summary of appropriations is provided to county departments, DAS-PSB and the Comptroller’s Office monitor the budget during the fiscal year. This monitoring involves periodic checks of expenditures against appropriations, reviewing actual revenue compared to budgeted revenue and reviewing requests for transfer of appropriations. This completes the budget process.

Budget Archive