Manitowoc County’s executive made some partial vetoes to his own budget.
A letter from Bob Ziegelbauer explains that one of the vetoes includes “deleting three positions in the Human Services Department and substituting 181 full-time positions for 184 full-time positions listed in the budget.”
The department has been dealing with a deficit for the last two years, which Ziegelbauer told Seehafer News previously due to inflation and rising costs.
Ziegelbauer tells Seehafer News that the positions cuts aren’t filled and there are already others unemployed areas that need to be filled before the one’s cut.
He says it splits the difference after a county board member wanted to make cuts in the budget.
Another partial veto Ziegelbauer put in was the borrowing amount for the Highway Department.
The department will now borrow $2.5 million for future road projects, compared to the $3.2 million originally included in the budget.
According to Ziegelbauer, there was an unexpected surplus in the highway department, so all the projects will still happen.
It will also result in a decrease in total debt at the end of 2025 by $45,000 rather than increasing the total debt by $655,000.
The Manitowoc County budget was approved by the board of supervisors earlier this month on a 15-9 vote.
Some members wanted some financial changes made, but they were all voted down before the budget was approved.
