Manitowoc County passes 0.5% sales tax, joining 68 other Wisconsin counties. Here’s when it starts.

MANITOWOC – Manitowoc County residents and visitors will be charged an additional 0.5% sales tax starting Jan. 1.

The sales tax was approved by the Manitowoc County Board in an ordinance July 16.

The proceeds from the tax are expected to fill a $6 million deficit in the county's Human Services Department that was revealed in April.

"There aren't a lot of big items we can do to get rid of the deficit," board member Paul Hansen said during the July 16 meeting.

Hansen also said raising property taxes wouldn't help as much as the county needs, since state levy limits only allow an approximately 12% increase at a time, not the 30% increase that would be needed to balance the deficit.

He told the other board members that, because most of the county's budget is spent on items that are mandated by the state, the county doesn't have many options for cutting back on spending.

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Board member Leo Naidl put forward an amendment to the sales tax ordinance to include what is known as a sunset clause, or a provision that would end the sales tax, for Dec. 31, 2029. However, the vote to approve the amendment failed.

The ordinance was approved in an 18-6 vote. Supervisors Matthew Phipps, Ryan Phipps, Doug Klein, Larry Bonde, Scott Schiesl and Naidl voted against the ordinance. Supervisor Don Zimmer was absent from the meeting.

Unlike the other times the county board discussed a sales tax, County Executive Bob Ziegelbauer promised not to veto this sales tax resolution, because it was being done to fill the large hole in the Human Services budget.

Ziegelbauer has estimated the sales tax will bring in $7 million to $9 million per year.

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While Manitowoc County has never before implemented a countywide 0.5% sales tax, 68 other Wisconsin counties have. In 2024, Manitowoc County was one of only four counties in the state, along with Winnebago, Waukesha and Racine counties, that did not collect a 0.5% sales tax in addition to the state's 5% sales tax.

In May, the Herald Times Reporter

what they thought about how the county should handle budget deficit. Nearly 37% of the people who responded said they would prefer a countywide sales tax over a property tax increase. Only 3% said they'd prefer a property tax increase.

Alisa M. Schafer is a reporter for the Herald Times Reporter in Manitowoc. She can be reached by email at aschafer@gannett.com.