The cause of the Manitowoc County Human Services Department’s deficit is several factors that happened quickly.
Manitowoc County Executive Bob Ziegelbauer explained to Seehafer News that the department helps with children and family services, including help for mental health, AODA, and foster care.
Ziegelbauer says one part of the deficit is that the number of children in the foster care system has grown from about 40 to 45 five years to now about 150 children this past year.
Because of that and other factors like inflation and increased demand, the county has had to spend more money on the department than in the past.
“In 2020, we spent $22.5 million on the Human Services Department but four years later we spent $32.5 million,” he explained. “But we didn’t increase the local share of that. It was always a little less than $6 million.”
But since then, Ziegelbauer explained that investment hasn’t been enough in recent years, and because of that the surplus in the Human Services budget had from 2018 to 2021 started to go away.
In 2022, the department had a deficit that continued into 2024.
“In 2025, we have to contribute about $2 or $2.5 million more to the Human Services Department to keep it on an even keel,” Ziegelbauer noted.
The County Executive also says that in many cases, the county must help someone if it is court-ordered.
“We can’t say no basically,” Ziegelbauer tells Seehafer News. “If the court sends them to our door, we have to provide them services.”
The Human Services Department also gets money from the state through the federal government, which has been helping the department.
Ziegelbauer continues to accept responsibility for the deficit and reminds residents that there will have to be a 12.5% property tax increase or implementing a 0.5% sales tax to get the Human Services Department back in the black.
The County Board of Supervisors has until September 1st to make the decision before the 2025 budget deadline.
