Brewers Ballpark Subsidy Stings County Budget
The county's contribution to the American Family Field deal is making its budget deficit worse in 2024.
American Family Field. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Milwaukee County government, which is already facing a sizable budget deficit, is getting dinged an additional $2.5 million by the stadium deal between the Milwaukee Brewers and the State of Wisconsin
The stadium deal is yet another issue plaguing the county’s fiscal health, as it faces massive overtime expenses, lower than expected sales tax revenue and rising healthcare costs, all of which are blowing its 2024 budget apart. Current projections see the county coming in up to $19 million short.
In 2023, the Milwaukee Brewers organization cut a deal with the state legislature and Gov. Tony Evers that will see taxpayers provide $500 million in funding for upgrades to American Family Field in exchange for a guarantee that the team stays in Milwaukee until at least 2050.
As part of the deal, the state is withholding $2.5 million annually in shared revenue payments to the county. State legislation gave the county new financial mechanisms to cover those costs, but they were not signed into law until after county policymakers finalized their 2024 budget. The county will have the annual $2.5 million payments withheld through 2030.
While the legislation included revenue changes that can offset the impact of this reduction, it was passed after adoption of the 2024 budget and was therefore not previously accounted for, according to a July report by Joe Lamers, director of the county’s Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance.
The county was supposed to have a surplus cushioning it from the reduction in aid from the state, but that’s no longer the case.
Initially, the 2024 budget was supposed to an aberration in the county’s recent history: a surplus and filled with new investments in government services and infrastructure. All of it was thanks to the new 0.4% sales tax authorized by the Milwaukee County
But cost overruns, most of it for overtime in the Milwaukee County Sheriff‘s Office (MCSO) and at the Community Reintegration Center (CRC), put the county’s fiscal projection in the red within the first few months of the year. Now, county officials are anticipating that sales tax revenue will come in way below what was expected, effectively doubling the county’s budget deficit.
The county is now headed toward a budget deficit by the end of the year as high as $19 million, according to the Office of the Comptroller. And $2.5 million of this deficit is directly caused by the stadium deal for American Family Field.
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More about the Miller Park Stadium Tax
- MKE County: Brewers Ballpark Subsidy Stings County Budget - Graham Kilmer - Jul 28th, 2024
- Governor Signs Brewers Subsidy Agreement At American Family Field - Evan Casey - Dec 5th, 2023
- Gov. Evers Signs Bills to Keep Milwaukee Brewers, Major League Baseball in Wisconsin Through 2050 - Gov. Tony Evers - Dec 5th, 2023
- Council, Mayor Bickered On Brewers Deal - Jeramey Jannene - Nov 29th, 2023
- Brewers Stadium Deal Passes the Legislature - Shawn Johnson - Nov 14th, 2023
- County Executive David Crowley’s Statement on Bipartisan Bill to Keep Brewers in Milwaukee - County Executive David Crowley - Nov 14th, 2023
- Gov. Evers to Sign Bipartisan Plan to Keep Milwaukee Brewers, Major League Baseball in Wisconsin Through 2050 - Gov. Tony Evers - Nov 14th, 2023
- A swing, a miss, and an errant bat in the stands - State Sen. Chris Larson - Nov 14th, 2023
- Supervisor Burgelis Responds to State Senate Vote on Brewers Stadium Funding - Sup. Peter Burgelis - Nov 14th, 2023
- Murphy’s Law: Civic Blackmail Works For Brewers Again - Bruce Murphy - Nov 14th, 2023
Read more about Miller Park Stadium Tax here
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As long as the Milwaukee County Taxpayers is/are stuuupid enough to keep funding a multi-million dollar private business, what do you expect? Sure…people will say how it brings jobs and taxes to the community…but really people? The Stadiums and Arenas should be financed by the entity itself…with tax payer money only being used for things like policing and traffic control. Imagine if that $500 million that we subsidized them with went to that…would there be such a sizable budget deficit?
DAGDAG,
The Milwaukee County Taxpayers weren’t given a lot of say in whether they subsidize the Brewers. The state legislature passed the subsidy (including the county’s obligation) without a local vote and almost entirely reliant on outstate representatives.
Anybody else see another tax hike proposal on the horizon?
Blame Wisconsin’s Republican dominated Legislature. They did a lot of damage to Democracy in 14 years.
Their days are numbered.
Gerrymandered Maps were reversed by Wisconsin Supreme Court recently.
Again the county which is the economic engine of the state is staggering along because there is no progressive commitment to allowing the local government to impose an income tax on money generated in the geographical boundaries of that entity! Earn money in Milwaukee enabled by its safety and other institutions but get those services free because employees income tax contributions go to the state! The Mayor and County Exec need to begin lobbying for a local income tax to pay at minimum for safety(police and fire) as well as local transportation costs (those local roads and buses) . Without Milwaukee (as a former mayor used to say), Wisconsin becomes Iowa though I’d say Kansas!
I’m pretty sure that the incompetent people running the county will run deficits no matter how much tax money you give them! Time to start budgeting for the money we actually have.
Trolling: Spreading misinformation & denigrating Milwaukee.