Board, Abele feud on draft bill

Proposed legislation would give county executives ability to adopt 2-year budget and other powers

Draft legislation circulating in the state capital would take away chunks of power wielded by the Milwaukee County Board — from approving contracts to setting pay rates for all employees to leasing county buildings and properties — and hand it over to County Executive Chris Abele.

The bill provides limited new authority to all counties with executives or administrators by giving them the ability to switch to a two-year budget and break away from the never-ending budget planning required for an annual spending plan.

Both Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson and Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow cited the efficiencies provided by a biennial budget as one reason they support the bill.

But Milwaukee County Supervisor James Schmitt of Wauwatosa said the proposed bill erodes legislative oversight in Milwaukee County to such a significant extent that Abele would be free to increase the county wheel tax over the objection of the board. Abele’s proposed doubling of the wheel tax to $60 this year was rejected by the board when it adopted the 2018 budget.

Abele said the bill does not change the vehicle registration fee authorizing law or any other taxing authority, he said. The bill still allows the board to adopt amendments to the budget, according to Abele.

The 11 county executives in Wisconsin — five Democrats, five Republicans and one independent — have been meeting as a separate group for more than a year, Nelson said. In recent months, the executives discussed the broad outlines of this bill and created a group, County Leaders for Modernization, to lobby for the legislation, said Nelson, a Democrat.

Another bill provision that would be available to other counties is the opportunity for an executive, administrator or administrative coordinator to appoint an independent compensation commission of five residents not holding public elective office. The commission’s recommendations for compensation of elected county officials other than supervisors could not be altered by a county board. The board would continue to set compensation for supervisors.

The bill adds to the additional executive authority already given to Abele in past laws adopted by the Legislature in 2013 and 2015, from removing the board’s authority over mental health programs and sales of nonpark land to eroding board control of contracts.

This trend particularly angers Milwaukee County supervisors.

“We’ve seen this kind of legislation before, and each time the result was more power for County Executive Chris Abele,” Schmitt said.

County Board Chairman Theodore Lipscomb Sr., Schmitt and several other supervisors last week claimed that Abele was lobbying the Legislature behind the scenes to approve the latest power grab.

On Thursday, the board unanimously approved a Lipscomb resolution in opposition to the draft legislation.

The bill had not been formally introduced in the Legislature and no legislators had been named as sponsors as of Friday.

Among legislative co-sponsors to be identified this week when the bill is introduced are state Sens. Lena Taylor (DMilwaukee) and Van Wanggaard (RRacine) and Reps. Jason Fields (D-Milwaukee) and Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield), said Melissa Baldauff, communications director for Abele.

The Wisconsin Ethics Commission website reports that County Leaders for Modernization, identified only as a group of county executives, hired lobbyists to promote the legislation.

Eric Peterson is employed by the county as a lobbyist for the Abele administration.

He was listed as recently as Jan. 10 as the authorized lobbyist for the County Leaders for Modernization organization, according to the Wisconsin Ethics Commission.

Peterson was removed as the lobbyist representing the group by the end of January. There are now six private and highly paid lobbyists working for the organization, four from Michael Best Strategies LLC and two from Schreiber GR Group.

Michael Best Strategies is an affiliate of the law firm of Michael Best & Friedrich LLP. Former Gov. Martin Schreiber started Schreiber GR Group.