County Will Re-Evaluate Cultural Contributions

Milwaukee Art Museum. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Milwaukee County could soon formalize a process for re-evaluating its financial contributions to cultural institutions in Milwaukee.

County Board Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson drafted an amendment to the 2024 budget that directs county officials to review the agreements the county has with cultural institutions and determine whether they are sustainable for the county, and also whether more funding is warranted.

In the event more funding is recommended, though, Nicholson’s amendment requests county staff recommend “a more holistic approach” to determining funding.

“Right now it’s very piecemeal,” Nicholson said. “It’s based on who’s been able to get to their supervisor advocate the loudest and we want to keep an eye on equity as we invest in our cultural institutions.”

The county budget approximately $400,000 each year for cultural contributions through the Milwaukee County Cultural Artistic and Musical Programming Advisory Council. The county also budgets approximately $7 million annually to support a number of local cultural institutions, including the Milwaukee County Historical Society, War Memorial, Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, Charles Allis Art Museum, Marcus Performing Arts Center, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee Public Museum and the Federated Library System.

The board does, at times, consider contributions to the various entities beyond what it budgeted. Most recently, the Milwaukee County War Memorial Center has advocated for additional funding and an amendment to the 2024 budget added $44,000 to the county’s contribution. In 2022, the board committed $45 million for the Milwaukee Public Museum to build a new museum downtown.

Decades of budget deficits have forced the county to whittle away at spending that isn’t mandated by state law. In July, as the board was considering a new 0.4% sales tax increase to shore up the county’s finances, cultural funding was one area of the budget that was slated to be cut altogether in the coming years.

A five-year budget analysis by the county’s Office of Performance, Strategy and Budget, showed that, without the new sales tax, by 2028 the county would have needed to eliminate all of its funding for cultural contributions.

The county’s financial challenges aren’t over, though. County policymakers are working with a budget surplus unprecedented in the past two decades for 2024, but budget deficits are projected to return in 2026, as the structural imbalance between how revenue much the county brings and how much it costs to run the government eats away at the new stream of revenue from the sales tax.

Nicholson explained to her colleagues on the board’s Budget Committee that her amendment is aimed at give the board “more legislative oversight for how we invest in our cultural institutions.”