Council Overrides Mayor’s Veto, Adopts 2024 Milwaukee Budget

Common Council members debate the 2024 budget on Nov. 3. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The Milwaukee Common Council didn’t waste any time Tuesday overriding Mayor Cavalier Johnson‘s partial veto of the city’s 2024 budget.

Johnson’s veto attempted to save the owner of a median home $1.46 on their property tax bill by effectively spending down a federal grant instead of raising the property tax levy. The Common Council, on Nov. 3., added $269,848 in tax levy supported spending to the budget, increasing the median property tax bill an additional $1.46 beyond the $50.09 (2%) increase included in the mayor’s proposed budget.

“In a year when we have had to make tough decisions in order to stabilize our fiscal future – and many of those necessary decisions have increased what our residents will pay next year in sales taxes, fees, and property taxes, I would ask that we use our existing resources before we ask them for even more,” wrote Johnson in a veto message last Tuesday.

The tax levy expanding amendments include a $150,000 proposal from Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs to expand the Office of Equity and Inclusion’s Direct Connect MKE job connection program, a $20,000 proposal from Ald. Mark Chambers, Jr. to expand a $30,000 fund used to fund city events, a $30,000 proposal from Ald. Khalif Rainey to expand Hip Hop Week MKE and a $69,848 amendment from Council President José G. Pérez to fund an administrative services coordinator position and travel expenses for the council’s expanded two-person lobbying team, the Division of Legislative Affairs.

Alderman Michael Murphy was the lone council member to speak directly to the veto.

“I think these amendments are worthy in terms of providing important key services for the most part,” said the alderman. But he objected to further increasing the tax levy for them.

Murphy was joined by council members Mark Borkowski and Scott Spiker in voting to support the veto. The three had voted against the amendments during the adoption process.

Johnson proposed the council pay for the cut by reducing the proposed Citizen-Led Transformation Fund from $2.4 million to $2.13 million. Johnson had initially proposed $5 million for the fund, but the council’s budget amendments cut the amount in order to increase library hours, repave more streets, fund two domestic violence victim service facilities, provide small business grants and a series of other service enhancements. The transformation fund is backed by property tax revenue freed up by spending down the remainder of the council’s $394.2 million American Rescue Plan Act grant elsewhere in the budget.

Two other council members did speak about the budget veto vote, but not the veto itself. Coggs asked the city clerk to explain the effect of voting yes or no (a no vote was a vote with the mayor to uphold the veto). Ald. Russell W. Stamper, II asked if Johnson had issued two or three vetoes, only to be informed it was a single veto.

After the vote initially was counted as 11-4, Rainey said his vote was misunderstood and the count was revised to 12-3.

The city’s mill rate is to be $9.47 per $1,000 of assessed value. The total levy is to be $317,696,575. The city’s property tax levy represents approximately a third of local property tax bills.

Residents and visitors will encounter a new 7.9% sales tax rate next year, an increase on the 5.5% current rate. The city was granted a 2% sales tax and Milwaukee County was given an additional 0.4% sales tax. Both taxes are to cover drastically rising pension costs. Surplus funding from the city’s tax must be spent on public safety until the city hits benchmark figures stipulated in the state legislation.

For more on the 2024 budget, see our earlier coverage.