Dane County could face a budget deficit of nearly $32 million in 2027, with very few options to close the gap, according to a memo prepared by Controller Charles Hicklin and obtained by Madison365.
The memo, provided to County Executive Melissa Agard on February 18 and forwarded to County Supervisors, lays out how an increase in expenses and diminishing surpluses could force the county to cut as many as 241 full-time equivalent jobs, almost 10 percent of its workforce.
According to the memo, unexpected revenue increases in 2021 and 2022 have led to surpluses, meaning the county has had money left over at the end of every budget year. Those surpluses have covered annual deficits for several years, but have been rapidly diminishing. For example, the county had $58.9 million left after 2024, which it was able to apply to the 2025 budget. However, at the end of 2025, the county only had $27.1 million left to apply to 2026, a $31 million drop-off. Still, the $27.1 million surplus was able to fill most of the 2026 budget deficit, which also amounted to about $31 million. The adopted 2026 budget also cut all county wages by one percent for one year, and eliminated 31.5 positions, including 20 vacant sheriff’s deputy positions.
Hicklin said in his memo that the county will likely end 2026 with a surplus of about $7 million – a $20 million decrease.
Rising costs of employment – namely, contracted wage increases and skyrocketing health insurance costs – and other factors will lead to an increase of expenditures of about $17 million, while revenues will only increase by $7.2 million.
That leaves a gap of about $9.8 million. Add to that a $20 million drop in available surplus funds, $2 million in one-time expenditures, and that adds up to a $31.8 million deficit.
In the memo, Hicklin said things aren’t going to get any easier. Annual personnel costs could continue to rise by $8 to $10 million per year, if health care cost increases don’t slow down. Other contractual increases could push the total increase in expenses to $10 to $13 million per year.
Meanwhile, increased tax revenue will probably bring in $5 to $6 million more per year, leaving deficits of $5 to $7 million every year, with no surplus to mitigate them.
“Due to these longer‐term projected shortfalls, it will be important that solutions to the 2027 deficit rely heavily on adjustments to base ongoing expenditures and not one‐time sources,” Hicklin wrote.
District One supervisor Colin Barushok, the only supervisor who responded to a request for comment from Madison365, lay blame with the state legislature.
“A lot of Dane County’s budget challenges are the artificial result of an unfair shared revenue formula imposed by the State of Wisconsin,” he wrote in an email to Madison365. “Our residents pay their income taxes, but the state legislature has refused to return that revenue back to Dane County fairly. The legislature also limits the property tax levy in such a way that local revenue can’t keep up with inflation. I hope when Democrats take majorities in the state legislature in 2026, they help us ensure Dane County receives its fair share and provide us with additional revenue flexibility. At the same time, we must make wise decisions locally and think about new solutions to growing expenses such as employee health insurance, working closely with employees themselves.”
The County Executive typically proposes a budget for the next year in October, after which the County Board amends and approves it.
