Brown County Executive unveils 2022 budget proposal with tax decreases and road investments

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - Brown County’s new budget may help you save on taxes if it survives a vote by county board supervisors at the end of the month.

The proposal was presented by Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach on Friday at the S.T.E.M. Innovation Center. It includes investments for body cams, major road projects and a research park at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

“Overall costs of business is going up. Figure out a way to address that,” Streckenbach said to several leaders of county agencies attending his presentation citing inflation.

He’s proposing decreasing the mill rate by 26 cents from $3.98 to $3.72. Municipalities and schools can still increase their mill rates to offset that reduction.

Brown County will have paid off more than $90 million in debt since Streckenbach took office, according to a media release from his office.

“Overall the county’s coffers and the county’s overall health is in some of the best positions it’s been,” he said during a Q & A with members of the media.

Streckenbach mentioned during his presentation that construction on an interchange that’s part of the Southern Bridge Corridor will begin in 2025. That project will hopefully be connected to the state’s 23-mile expansion of Interstate 41. The corridor would create a bypass for vehicles around the Green Bay area.

“We’re of course optimistic that we will be part of that phased-in approach. We have the dollars. We will be ready to build the connectors that will tie into the interchange, so 100% confident it’s coming. Just a matter of what year it’s coming,” Streckenbach said.

Brown County is also looking to buy 63 acres from UWGB to build a research park called Phoenix Innovation Park.

“We’re hoping by the end of this year we’ll have an agreement in place that allows us to ultimately start making the next steps to go forward,” he said.

Staying consistent with last year, 44 cents of every dollar in this budget proposal is dedicated to public safety, with deputies getting bodycams next year.

The Brown County Board of Supervisors will vote on Streckenbach’s budget proposal on October 27 at 9 A.M. at the new Resch Expo in Ashwaubenon.

Copyright 2021 WBAY. All rights reserved.