Board of Supervisors Calls for Fair Deal to Avert County Funding Crisis
"Milwaukee County is facing a serious funding crisis."
MILWAUKEE – The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously (18-0) today to endorse an outline of potential solutions to avert a funding crisis facing Milwaukee County.
“Milwaukee County is facing a serious funding crisis. We need a new partnership with state leaders on solutions that are good for the county and the state. We all have a shared interest in solving this problem,” said County Board Chairman Theodore Lipscomb, Sr.
Supervisors adopted a resolution from the Fair Deal for Milwaukee County Workgroup that outlines several areas for possible action by the State Legislature.
The workgroup studied the impact of a rapidly growing imbalance between necessary expenditures and the ability to generate sufficient revenue.
The recommendations include:
- Allowing Milwaukee County local control to generate new revenue and reduce the current reliance on property taxes through a binding referendum process;
- Increased, fair contributions from the state toward the provision of current and any new state-mandated services;
- Fully reimbursing the County for the cost of patrolling state highways (Milwaukee County is the only Wisconsin county required by state law to patrol state highways);
- Equally sharing Circuit Court and Register of Deeds fees collected by the County (currently 80% goes to the state and 20% remains with the County);
- Adjusting state Shared Revenue payments and other state aids to align with any inflationary increases in the cost of adequately providing public programs and services;
- Accepting federal dollars to expand BadgerCare statewide, which would reduce the cost of private health insurance borne by the County;
- Adequately funding any youth justice facilities located in the County;
- Rejecting any reduction in existing funding below amounts received in the 2019 Adopted Budget;
Chairman Lipscomb and County Executive Abele signed the resolution immediately upon adoption by the Board of Supervisors.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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