Computer error leaves major city $4 million in the hole for the upcoming year - The Independent

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A computer error has Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, facing a $4.56 million hole in its proposed 2027 budget.

The problem came to light Wednesday, just one day after County Executive David Crowley defeated Republican Tom Tiffany in Wisconsin's gubernatorial race. The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors is set to vote on that budget Thursday.

The shortfall stems from a switch to an automated system for handling some budget calculations that were previously done by hand. A mistake in the system's formula reversed the positive and negative signs on two financial entries involving the county airport, throwing off its budget projections.

The error affected two accounts tied to Milwaukee County's airport budget. The system incorrectly calculated a $4.49 million airport depreciation contribution and about $2.21 million in airport revenue from reserves, making it appear the county would save $4.6 million more in property taxes than it actually would, according to WISN. That left a $4.6 million hole in the county's proposed $1.5 billion budget for 2027.

The missing money represents about 0.3 percent of Milwaukee County's proposed $1.5 billion budget for 2027. Still, officials must find other sources of savings or revenue to make up the difference and keep the budget balanced.

The timing of the announcement has also drawn scrutiny. Although the county did not publicly disclose the problem until Wednesday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the budget office had known about it for roughly two weeks before Election Day.

Crowley's office, however, said the announcement was not politically motivated.

"County Executive Crowley is aware of an error discovered in an automated formula used to calculate one aspect of the budget, a process previously done manually,” a spokesperson for Crowley said in a statement to Fox 6 Milwaukee.

“Once identified, the Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance acted immediately to create a solution and correct the formula to prevent a recurrence. The County Executive is confident the issue is resolved and that Milwaukee County will end 2027 with a balanced budget."

The administration told the outlet that officials needed time to determine what went wrong and identify ways to cover the shortfall. It said the Wednesday memo was timed around the County Board's upcoming budget meeting, not the election.

County officials have since thought up several potential ways to fill the $4.56 million gap. Those include collecting additional prescription drug rebates, using leftover money from capital projects scheduled to wrap up in 2027 and finding savings in individual county departments.

The administration has not said how much it expects to recover from each source but maintains that it can cover the shortfall without ending the year in the red.

The Independent has contacted Crowley’s office and the County Board for comment.