KENOSHA COUNTY, Wis. — County Executive Samantha Kerkman presented her 2026 budget Tuesday night, touting a fifth straight year of the county’s AAA bond rating, a heavier investment in public safety, and a property tax rate that ticks down even as the levy rises modestly.
Kerkman framed the plan as both fiscally conservative and safety-first. Public safety would account for more than 56% of levy spending, up from 47% five years ago—nearly $199 million in levy funds over 2022–2026, with 2026 alone more than $12 million above 2022. The package includes a newly ratified three-year contract boosting deputy pay, dedicated mental-health support for deputies, a study of the Sheriff’s Office operations budget, and software to speed prosecutors’ review of police body-camera video.
Finance-wise, the levy would increase 2.98% while the countywide rate per $1,000 of equalized value would decrease by 13 cents (about 4%). Kerkman tied those moves to what S&P Global called “robust fiscal management,” noting AAA status has saved roughly $1.2 million in interest since 2021 and positions Kenosha County—one of just seven in Wisconsin with a top rating—for continued stability.
The plan also trims headcount slightly through attrition, a nod, Kerkman said, to families tightening their own budgets. On the service side, Workforce Development would add a Lead Economic Support Specialist/Trainer to speed onboarding, cut call waits, and keep SNAP error rates low, protecting federal dollars. Veterans Services reported nearly $140 million directed to county veterans in 2024, and Brookside Care Center—now back in the black—would add a Compliance and Education Nurse to strengthen training and regulatory compliance.
Infrastructure remains a headline item: at least 13 miles of county roadway repaving, reconstruction of Highway W from Wilmot to the Illinois line next year, and continued work on three “legacy” projects—the new Human Services Building, the Pike River South Branch restoration, and engineering for Kemper Center shoreline revetment.
Economic growth underpins the budget narrative. Kerkman cited top-in-state net new construction in 2024 (2.73%), strong five-year employment gains, and a string of corporate moves—Concept Labs consolidating in LakeView, a $166 million Schutz facility, Balcan’s $200 million expansion, continued Uline build-out, Microsoft’s 240-acre data-center site, and Eli Lilly’s $3 billion project in Bristol with up to $100 million in state tax credits. Housing activity, meanwhile, tops 2,500 units in various stages countywide, from Pleasant Prairie’s Highland Estates and Inspire Prairie Springs to city workforce projects and Bristol and Somers multifamily builds.
The County Board’s budget review begins in committee in the coming weeks, with a public hearing set for Nov. 4 and a full Board vote expected Nov. 5.
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11 Responses
So our property taxes won’t increase even tho KUSD increased ?
Your property tax bill has multiple lines.
Look at it. Sam only controls the county budget line.
Not schools. Not village or town or the city you live in.
Not even Gateway.
These all have separate lines and their own taxing powers.
True everyone pays for “County” deputies even though you may also pay for city or village cops.
Twin Lakes is one example.
But deputies are needed for any areas that are not incorporated. And they assist every other department.
County roads are in every municipality regardless of what village or city they run through. Have to pay to plow them.
Anyone that doesn’t understand these separations can call the clerk where they live or a friend who is a Realtor. They can explain each line to you. Realtors know this because it’s part of selling a house.
Thank you!
Sam excels at self promotion. All the while destroying Kenosha county and achieving her wet dream of creating lake county north. She is useless
I met her. She is down to earth and has an incredible amount of energy.
I know her and she’s a completely empty suit. Destroying everything good about Kenosha county.
…won’t be long till all the farmland in SE WI is sold. 😢
Western Kenosha County isn’t interested in your Workforce Development plans, so please leave our communities out of it.
She’s done something with her hair. That’s a good thing.
Still a slob
Amazing how she’s destroying useful programs while licking the boots of police who do nothing and all these people applaud. Take a good look at the budget, it’s shortsighted and is the definition of “reinventing the wheel”. What a joke.