Budget Amendment Would Boost Libraries, Streets, Voting and Lead Abatement

Common Council chamber at Milwaukee City Hall. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

A $4.5 million budget amendment from Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic and Common Council President José G. Pérez aims to improve city services across Milwaukee.

It would boost the number of streets repaired, open libraries on Sundays, build more traffic calming and bike infrastructure, add early voting sites, fund inspections of Housing Authority properties, prune and plant more trees, create a loan program for lead abatement repairs, fund more small business grants and fund two spaces for victims of domestic violence.

“We think this consensus-based amendment reflects what we’ve heard from both constituents and alders,” said Dimitrijevic, the chair of the Finance & Personnel Committee, in previewing the amendment.

The proposal would be funded by an additional $1 million in borrowing, a reduction of $1 million in the city’s de facto settlements fund and allocating $2.5 million from Mayor Cavalier Johnson‘s proposed $5 million One Milwaukee Fund, where citizens could request how the city spends the remainder of its American Rescue Plan Act grant.

“There is a call for us to be both innovative, but also take care of residents see and feel when they step right outside of their house,” said the alderwoman.

The measure, according to information provided by the council leaders, has picked up seven co-sponsors. The finance committee will first review the amendment and any others on Oct. 26. The full council will vote on the budget in early November.

“We took some of the mayor’s initiatives and increased them due to resident feedback and alder feedback,” said the alderwoman.

The increases include an additional $750,000 for the High-Impact Paving Program, $500,000 for traffic-calming infrastructure, $250,000 for sidewalk repair and $250,000 for bike infrastructure. The move would accelerate projects or shorten repair backlogs, which Pérez said council members and residents are asking for.

“One of the hottest items we’ve heard was street repair and repaving,” said Dimitrijevic.

The Milwaukee Public Library would be provided with $750,000 to add Sunday hours at the Central Library, one southside library and one northside library. The new hours would likely begin in March. Dimitrijevic said it would be the first time in more than a decade that multiple libraries were open on Sundays.

“The citizens of Milwaukee will feel the difference,” she said, noting that the extended library hours and reopening of a fire station were a result of the sales tax agreement.

Funding would also aim to shorten a tree stump replacement cycle that Department of Public Works officials recently said was five years long. It would also fund more trimming, which the city has slowed as its financial help deteriorated.

“We are pretty far behind where we want to be,” said Dimitrijevic of the $500,000 proposal.

“On the public safety side, a lot of the pruning and tree trimming is really critical for lighting,” said Pérez, noting that too much of a canopy darkens streets on fall and winter nights.

A newly awarded $12 million federal grant will also help address the issue, but the funding is being split with Milwaukee County and Milwaukee Public Schools and can only be spent in disadvantaged areas.

The Milwaukee Election Commission would be given $10,000 to add early voting sites at UW-Milwaukee and Milwaukee Area Technical College for the spring general election. Under the mayor’s plan, the commission was already planning to offer the sites for the fall presidential election.

But the issue of the Midtown Center early voting site remains unresolved. The shopping center’s new owner wants more money for the vacant space the city has temporarily leased in recent years. The location has been a popular early voting site.

“I am confident in Alderman [Mark Chambers, Jr.] ability to get us to the finish line there or find us an alternative that can yield the same results,” said Pérez.

“I think there is going to be an increased cost, they’re just still negotiating,” said the alderwoman.

A new $750,000 revolving loan fund would be established to make lead-safe repairs to homes for landlords or owner-occupants. “This is pretty significant and we’re excited to do something new that we think will improve the health of families,” said Dimitrijevic.

Pérez said he was excited by the potential for the city’s lead risk assessors to be able to recommend repairs and contractors, simplifying the process for potential applicants.

The program would be modeled on the STRONG Home Loan program, which offers improved terms to lower-income owner-occupants.

The Department of Neighborhood Services (DNS) would be given $120,000 in funding for two new inspectors to deal with the increased workload of inspecting Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) properties. Authorization would be granted for five positions, which DNS requested, with funding intended to come from inspection fees once the program is rolling. Pérez said he didn’t want to delay the inspections, which are being requested by a Common Ground Southeastern Wisconsin campaign involving HACM residents.

A total of $50,000 would be set aside to create two new “soft rooms” for victims of domestic violence. Planned for one on the North Side and one on the South Side, the rooms would be comfortable, safe spaces for victims and their families to meet with the Milwaukee Police Department and other social service agencies. The rooms would be modeled after one near Downtown at the Sojourner Truth Family Peace Center.

The amendment would also earmark $100,000 for a reimagining of Swing Park. The park, under the Holton Street Bridge, has become a source of neighborhood frustration following a string of gun violence incidents.

The Commercial Corridor program, which includes facade, white box and sign grants for small businesses and property owners, would receive an additional $500,000.

The One Milwaukee Fund would be maintained with $2.5 million for resident concerns. Dimitrijevic said she was comfortable spending some of the funding because it was going to citywide initiatives for public infrastructure that would equitably benefit all residents.

The amendment would reduce the city’s settlement fund, the Damages and Claims Special Purpose Account, to $1.8 million. Johnson had proposed $3 million, in excess of the past decade’s average of $1.2 million. The amount is below what the city normally pays out. The city routinely transfers money in from its contingency fund each year, which City Attorney Tearman Spencer and Budget Director Nik Kovac have implied is a legal strategy to avoid having a big sum with a bullseye on it for plaintiffs.

The new borrowing would offset a $1 million reduction in cash financing proposed as part of a $4 million allocation to buy new Milwaukee Police Department vehicles. MPD would still get the full allocation, but the city would incur an additional $25,000 in borrowing costs starting in 2024.

According to a draft, the amendment would have no impact on the city’s tax levy.