Milwaukee County’s goal is to enrich your life by providing essential services that meet your needs and those of your family, neighbors, co-workers and friends.
We enhance the quality of life in Milwaukee County through great public service.
Milwaukee County is home to over 950,000 people living in one of 19 communities, which range in size from the City of Milwaukee, with 595,000 residents, to the Village of River Hills, with roughly 1,600 residents.
Still a manufacturing stronghold, the region features 16 Fortune 1000 companies and thousands of others in the financial services, medical device, hospitality and retailing industries.
Find information about things to do and happenings in Milwaukee County.
Budget, Capital Planning and Accounting Service Area
The Milwaukee County Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance (SBP) houses the budget office for Milwaukee County.
We are responsible for managing and overseeing all countywide budgeting, capital planning, accounting activities and preparation of the County Executive's Annual Budget.
SBP 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.
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.
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-SPB 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
2025 Adopted Operating Budget
2025 Adopted Capital Budget
2025 Recommended Operating Budget
2025 Recommended Capital Budget
2025 Requested Budget Summary
The County Executive and County Board host forums in August and September for residents to share priorities and weigh in on new revenue options. The engagement sessions also provide an opportunity for you to learn about county services and ask questions of department leaders. We will publish information from these forums when available.
Reports made to the County Board pertaining to this year's budget will be published here when available.
Milwaukee County Courthouse 901 N. 9th St., Room 308 Milwaukee, WI 53233
Email: [email protected]