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Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele on Wednesday made good on his threat to veto a "living wage" ordinance requiring an $11.32 minimum hourly pay for county workers and employees of certain county contractors.

Abele urged the County Board to sustain the veto, noting a warning from the county comptroller saying the wage ordinance could jeopardize the county's Family Care program, which employs some 2,400 low-wage workers.

The care program provides in-home services to frail elderly and disabled people.

Additional costs to the Family Care program could total more than $28 million through 2019, Abele said in his veto message, citing worst-case figures provided by Comptroller Scott Manske.

"Not only is that an unsustainable spending plan, it will also threaten our ability to maintain core services, including many of the safety-net services that benefit low-income workers," Abele wrote.

The impact on Family Care could be "catastrophic," Abele said.

Manske also has warned that the state might terminate the county's Family Care program if its reserves are drained.

If that happened, 88 county employees would be laid off, as would 500 care managers and nurses who work for private firms that contract with the county for the Family Care program, Abele said.

The living wage measure was approved by the board last month on a narrow veto-proof 12-6 vote. That means at least one of the supervisors who voted for living wage would have to switch sides for Abele to have his veto sustained.

Backers of the living wage plan said workers deserve to earn enough to support their families. The $11.32-an-hour figure is based on the federal poverty level for a family of four.

An override vote is scheduled for Thursday by the County Board.

Jennifer Epps-Addison, executive director of Wisconsin Jobs Now and an advocate of the minimum wage measure, said Abele's veto message warning was a scare tactic.

"This is the same type of sky-is-falling mentality that corporate interests have always used to try to prevent giving people a living wage," Epps-Addison said. She said it was unlikely the higher wage costs for Family Care workers would all be passed on to the county.

A second veto by Abele issued Wednesday was on a resolution the board adopted supporting increasing the state or federal minimum wages. Abele said he favors that, but not a provision supervisors added stating county backing for a state law permitting local minimum wages.

Meanwhile, state legislation that would restrict local minimum wage laws has not yet been scheduled for a vote in the state Senate, which is expected to adjourn for the current session April 1. The Assembly passed the living wage pre-emption bill last month.

The state measure would allow such local minimum wage ordinances to be in place only if no money from the state was used to pay the workers. That would likely sharply limit the proposed Milwaukee County ordinance, as well as similar laws on the books in Milwaukee, Madison and Dane County.

Abele also vetoed a resolution sponsored by Supervisor John Weishan Jr. calling for the county executive to negotiate an agreement with the City of Milwaukee to transfer taxi regulation to the county. The resolution conflicts with state law, Abele said.

Twitter: twitter.com/SteveSchultzeJS