Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Your neighborhood. Your News.

Milwaukee NNSnewsMilwaukee NNSSearch
Subscribe to NNS today!
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
    • Arts and Recreation
    • Community
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Health and Wellness
    • Housing
    • Public Safety
    • NNS Spotlight
    • Special Report
  • Posts From Community
    • Submit a Story
  • Community Voices
  • How To
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Local Video
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect
    • NNS WGLB 1560 Radio
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
  • About
    • Staff
    • Partners
    • News 414
    • The neighborhoods we cover
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Diederich College of Communication, Marquette University


Language: English English Spanish Spanish

You are here: Home / Posts from Community / County leaders have limited options to address 2018 budget shortfall

County leaders have limited options to address 2018 budget shortfall

October 13, 2017 by Public Policy Forum Leave a Comment

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

The Public Policy Forum’s annual analysis of the Milwaukee County Executive’s recommended budget finds that the 2018 proposal largely averts service cuts, which is no easy task given the $30.9 million budget deficit facing the County in the coming year. The trade-off, however, is more than $19 million of new or enhanced fees, including a proposed $30 increase in the vehicle registration fee (VRF) that contradicts the results of an advisory referendum last April.

“This appears to reflect – for the second consecutive year – a determination that significant service and staff reductions and new outsourcing initiatives no longer are palatable after years of reliance on such strategies, and that revenue enhancements represent the ‘least bad’ of the County’s difficult deficit reduction options,” says the report.

The proposed increase in the VRF – from $30 to $60 – would generate an additional $14.6 million in 2018, which would be used mainly to preserve existing levels of transit service. In addition, the VRF revenue frees up property tax resources from the transit budget that can be spread among other County functions to similarly avoid service cuts. The budget also recommends $4.7 million in other new or enhanced fees, including new parking fees at County parks, transit fare increases for regular users, increased Milwaukee County Zoo admissions charges, and increased fees for phone calls made by Jail and House of Correction inmates.

“Whether it is reasonable to reject the VRF referendum results – and to generally ask users of County services to shoulder a greater proportion of service costs – will continue to be the key

questions debated by policymakers in this year’s budget deliberations,” says the report. “As they do so, they will need to acknowledge that responsible alternatives are scarce. Because the County lacks authority under State law to raise property taxes by more than $5.5 million – and because its use of the sales tax is capped at the existing 0.5% — the only major deficit reduction option on the revenue side is the VRF and other fees.”

The budget brief points out that there are alternative options on the expenditure side, though those inevitably would need to include service reductions in discretionary areas like parks, culture, and transit.

“While we have suggested for years that a balanced approach involving both expenditure reductions and revenue enhancements is the most appropriate solution to the County’s severe structural challenges, it is fair to ask whether that balance has shifted too far to the revenue side in the recommended budget,” says the report. “The issue is not that $19 million in new revenue is not needed…(it) instead is whether the fee increases should be accompanied by expenditure reductions – which admittedly would involve real cuts in service – as a means of taking an even bigger bite out of the structural deficit and/or allowing the proposed fee increases to be phased in more gradually.”

The report adds that it would have been beneficial for the April advisory referendum on the VRF to delineate the County’s limited options to eliminate the 2018 budget gap, “as that would have made it a more valid barometer of public sentiment.”

While the proposed VRF and other fee increases are likely to be the most contentious items in the recommended budget, the report also analyzes several additional key elements. For example, it points out that despite major investments in a new international airport terminal and much-needed bus replacements, the recommended capital budget only addresses a fraction of the County’s overwhelming infrastructure needs. And, on the operating side, while new investments are proposed to address opioid challenges and for programs serving delinquent youth, the homeless, and persons suffering from mental illness, a perennial hole in the Sheriff’s budget is not fully addressed.

The report concludes by noting the recent progress the County has made in reducing its decades- long structural imbalance by lowering debt service payments, trimming health care costs, and cutting staff. Nevertheless, stagnant revenue streams, escalating retirement obligations, and a huge infrastructure backlog pose formidable obstacles. The budget brief emphasizes that decisions on the

appropriate mix of expenditure reductions and revenue enhancements in the 2018 budget must be made with the County’s long-term financial challenges in mind.

“Without question, the worst possible outcome would be an avoidance of difficult choices by delaying additional needed capital projects, depleting reserves, or ignoring legally-bound obligations to retirees,” warns the report. “Kicking the can down the road is not a solution and only would erode the recent financial achievements that have resulted from responsible action by both branches of County government.”

The County budget brief can be downloaded at www.publicpolicyforum.org. The Forum’s 2018 City of Milwaukee budget brief will be released in the near future.

Milwaukee-based Public Policy Forum, established in 1913 as a local government watchdog, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the effectiveness of government and the development of southeastern Wisconsin through objective research of public policy issues.

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

Filed Under: Posts from Community

About Public Policy Forum

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

Recent News

FoodRight gives kids an early start on making healthy meals

OPINION: Hope is the key to unlocking Milwaukee’s vast potential and moving our city forward

New building, same mission for Outreach Community Health Centers

Advertisement
Give today to support our mission. Donate to Milwaukee NNS.
Advertisement

News

  • Arts and Recreation
  • Economic Development
  • Education
  • Health and Wellness
  • Housing
  • Public Safety
  • NNS Spotlight
  • Special Reports

Engage with us

  • Posts from Community
  • Community Voices
  • Submit a Story

About NNS

  • Milwaukee NNS Staff
  • Partners
  • News414
  • The neighborhoods we cover
  • Careers
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS feed

Communities

Contact

mailing address
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Diederich College of Communication
Marquette University
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Johnston Hall 430
Milwaukee, WI 53233

email
info@milwaukeenns.org

phone & fax
PHONE: 414.604.6397 FAX: 414.288.6494


Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service is a project of Diederich College of Communication and Marquette University.
© 2020 Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Terms of use.
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee WI 53233 • info@milwaukeenns.org

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in