David Crowley's Costly Construction Projects are Breaking Milwaukee County
Starting one vanity project after another, Crowley keeps his Wisconsin union pals happily employed while operating at a budget deficit, cutting bus services to the poor, and jacking up property taxes.
Some folks collect baseball cards or action figures; Wisconsin's Democrat governor candidate David Crowley collects construction projects. As the Milwaukee County Executive, Crowley starts expensive, years-long building projects even when the county doesn't have enough money to pay for them. He supports his habit by extracting more money from taxpayers, shrinking government services and buying on time like a trophy wife with a billionaire's credit card—or in this case, lots of municipal bonds.
Crowley's supporters—builders counting on county contracts, and union bosses—don't mind. Steady work on government projects at prevailing wage keeps their portfolios fat and their retirements secure. It's no wonder Crowley loves data centers; builders and unions love data centers too. And they would love to see Crowley get his hands on Wisconsin's purse strings.
He faces Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany in November.
Failure to Control Expenses
Crowley has mismanaged Milwaukee County's budget since taking office in 2020 at age 33. Now 40, his record shows him ignoring financial limitations, raising property and sales taxes, and forging ahead with multiple ultra expensive construction projects at the same time.
Wiser municipalities plan one major project at a time, spacing out funding to ease the burden on taxpayers. Crowley has foisted multiple showpiece county building projects into the pipeline.
"Expenses continue to outpace our revenue," Crowley complained without a shred of self-reflection during his Feb. 2026 budget address in which he announced a property tax levy increase of $12 million. He took no responsibility for the county's $46.7 million budget deficit, instead blaming "inflation, tariffs, and economic uncertainty" brought on by the Trump administration. Crowley said conditions were more favorable under Biden.
"I will do everything that I can to ensure that local taxpayers don't pay the price for the decisions of leaders in Washington." Crowley grumbled that the emergency Covid-era American Rescue Plan funds sunset for 2026, leaving a hole in the county's budget. It was his job to anticipate that. Crowley's response to less money is to keep spending and hire more people. "That's why fiscally responsible investments are the way forward to advance our mission of becoming the healthiest county in the state of Wisconsin," Crowley said. "This budget adds new positions in the Department of Health and Human Services for child support services, youth residential care, and housing intervention efforts."
The real reason for the budget deficit, according to a county report, was "a surge in spending on employee salaries and health care benefits as vacancies were filled coming out of the pandemic and compensation was increased to keep up with rising inflation and a tight labor market." Plus "escalating debt service – caused largely by the county's major building projects."
No matter what Crowley's excuses are, the fact remains that the county comptroller's five-year forecast shows Milwaukee County with a $168 million budget deficit by 2031, and he keeps on building. Imagine what Crowley's out-of-control spending would do to Wisconsin's state wallet.
It's Always Building in Milwaukee County
The $22 million refurbished rhino exhibit at the Milwaukee Zoo and the $30 million spent to "reimagine" the Mitchell Park Domes Horticultural Conservatory are comparatively small when set next to some of the 9-figure mega projects in the works. The question is not whether all the projects are needed—although that should be explored—but it is the scope and timing. Were all these projects necessary at the same time? Crowley should have staggered the timing, paying some off before starting something new. Instead, he has largely benefited his union friends but overburdened the county budget for years to come. Perhaps his run for governor is meant to help him escape the consequences of his disastrous budgeting before Milwaukee County finances get even more uncomfortable.
Here is a look at some of Crowley's biggest projects and who benefitted the most.
Center for Forensic Science and Protective Medicine
A new, 212,000-square-foot, four-story building housing Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office, county Office of Emergency Management, Wisconsin Department of Justice Milwaukee Crime Lab, and the Versiti Wisconsin Organ Procurement and Tissue Bank.
Total Cost: $233 million
County Cost: $120 million
Broke Ground: November 2023
Completed: Spring 2026
Contractor: C.D. Smith Construction
Unions:
- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW Local 494):
- Laborers' International Union of North America (LiUNA Local 113)
- United Association of Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters (UA Local 75 / Local 601)
- OPCMIA Local 599 plasterers and cement masons
- Iron Workers Local 8
- Carpenters Union / North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters
- SMART Local 18 (Sheet Metal Workers)
- Roofers & Water proofers Local 65
Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin
This project, replacing the Milwaukee Public Museum, included the purchase of new land and the construction of a 200,000 square foot, five story building. Milwaukee Public Museum's current building has "ceiling leaks, burst pipes, and poor conditions threaten priceless collections and result in costly repairs," its website reads.
Total Cost: $255 million
County contribution: $45 million
Contractor: Mortenson Construction and subcontractors Belonger Corporation Inc., Common Links Construction, CW Purpero, Doral Corporation, Duwe Metal Products, Grunau Company, JCP Construction, Lee Mechanical, Lemberg Electric Company and Stonecast Products.
Broke Ground: May 2024
Target for Completion: summer 2027
Unions:
- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW Local 494):
- Laborers' International Union of North America (LiUNA Local 113)
- United Association of Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters (UA Local 75 / Local 601)
- International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 139
- International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers (Local 8
- International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) / District Council 7
Milwaukee County Courthouse Complex Overhaul
The Courthouse Complex is a collection of three buildings in downtown Milwaukee. This plan will replace the public safety building and renovate the historic courthouse and the criminal justice facility. A video selling the project explains it is necessary to "maintain dignity," for defendants in court cases. The courthouse has no rooms for defendants to meet with their attorney privately, forcing them to hold so-called "garbage can meetings," standing in the hallways where there are no tables. Attorneys spread legal papers out on the only surface available, the hallway garbage cans.
One immediate and cheaper solution to this problem would be to move some small tables to the hallway but that has apparently not yet occurred to county officials.
Total Cost: $897 million (Estimated)
County contribution: The county will fund the entire project. $15.4 million spent so far.
Contractor: AECOM, a court and prison designer working with the National Center for State Courts' Court Consulting Services Division. Project is in planning stage. A building contract will be awarded after plan approval.
Breaking Ground: Aiming for 2028 demolition and 2029-2032 start of construction.
Unions: Will be engaged once the building contract is signed.
Crowley the Union Guy
No one opposes more construction jobs, as long as the people spending the money balance them with realistic ways to fund them without putting the community into debt, raising taxes, or cutting vital services. When politicians like Crowley are too close to unions, they are easily persuaded by the financial goals of the unions rather than the needs of the community.
Further complicating political entanglements with unions, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have made infiltrating unions a key goal to influence politics.
While DSA candidate Francesca Hong dropped out of the race, she is campaigning for Crowley, and they are in lockstep on most issues except Hong would have paused construction of data centers. Voters should consider Crowley a closet communist based on his proximity to Hong and his deep partnerships with unions.
Union Campaign donations to Crowley
- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW Local 494): $86,000
- Laborers' International Union of North America (LiUNA Local 113): $86,000
- Wisconsin Pipe Trades Association PAC Fund: $86,000
- International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 139: $84,000
- United Association of Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters (Local 601): $25,000
- United Association of Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters Local 400 COPE Fund (Committee on Political Education): $25,000
- Wisconsin Carpenters PAC: $45,000
- United Association Local 118 PAC (plumbers, steamfitters, and HVAC service): $25,000
DSA Connection
Crowley is not a card-carrying member of the DSA, but he is DSA-friendly enough to win Hong's support. When Milwaukee's Colectivo Coffee workers unionized with IBEW Local 494, the DSA provided extra bodies at protests and helped spread flyers to amplify the union's message. It wasn't just Colectivo Coffee workers demanding a union—it was a coordinated political effort mobilized by the DSA's Labor Solidarity Working Group.
This group is not deterred when a DSA candidate like Hong is not elected. Its work—to implement socialist communism—is continuous, and as long as they have a candidate warm to labor unions, the DSA still has a larger voice than taxpaying voters to move government policy through union demands.
DSA has not only taken over the Democratic party, but it has also infected unions. According to its website, the DSA's Labor Solidarity Working Group "focuses on workplace organizing and wielding the power of organized labor against the capitalist class."" "We work to support existing unions and organizing campaigns in the Milwaukee area and seek out new workplaces to organize. In addition, the working group seeks to educate workers on how socialism and organized labor go hand in hand."
Follow the money and the journey explains why Crowley is so addicted to building. All his power depends on symbiotic relationships with DSA-infected unions. As long as Crowley feeds them big jobs and clears government obstacles like that pesky budgeting, the unions will continue to fund his political career, tell their members to vote for him, door knock for him, and tell Crowley what DSA led policies the union wants him to champion.
The cost of these relationships is passed on to constituents. For example, the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) has proposed a 25 percent reduction in bus services starting in 2027 to address a structural budget deficit brought on by Crowley's mismanagement. This hurts the poor Crowley claims to help.
But we know this about him now: when faced with a choice, Crowley will ignore the needs of his constituents. Crowley will always choose his socialist entangled union bosses.
MORE COVERAGE FROM RESTORATION NEWS
Well, He's Our Guy: Budget-Bungling Milwaukee Executive David Crowley Gets Democrat Nod in WI Gov Primary
DSA Blues: DSA's Failed Bid for Wisconsin Governor Exposes Democrat Fracture—Not Unity
You Don't Hate the Media Enough: 'A Milwaukee Man': How the Media Hides the Illegal Aliens Committing Crimes
Crowley's Uphill Battle: David Crowley's Tepid Support from Home County Bodes Badly for His Chances in Wisconsin Governor Race
Foreign Interference: Communist China Poised to Swing Wisconsin Governor's Race?
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