MILWAUKEE — In light of a new agreement on shared revenue between Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and GOP leaders, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson joined The Steve Scaffidi Show to discuss its “historic” impact on Milwaukee, the state of bipartisan negotiation, pensions, school resources and more.
Early into the conversation, Mayor Johnson was asked whether he has the votes (2/3 of the common council) to raise the area’s sales tax. He expressed confidence that the common council will consider all of the factors involved and agree to pass the sales tax.
“Council members and their constituents, most importantly, will want to make sure that we preserve and increase police service in Milwaukee. They’ll want to make sure that we preserve and increase fire service in Milwaukee. They’ll want to make sure that we are able to continue on supporting our Milwaukee public library. They’ll want to make sure that we don’t end up in litigation and have an insolvency and then our pensioners, who’ve worked for 10, 20, 25, 30 years in this city, end up getting a haircut in their pensions.
“For all of these things, I think that the common council will step up, do the right thing and vote to enable us to implement this tool that Milwaukee had sort of been on island on in terms of being the largest city in the country that doesn’t have the ability to levy a local sales tax for operations.”
RELATED: Gov. Evers, GOP Leaders Reach Shared Revenue Deal
As part of the agreement, 25 School Resource Officers (SROs) will be installed at select Milwaukee Public Schools. Mayor Johnson suggested that they will be deployed in higher-risk schools and areas with more traffic infractions. Mayor Johnson said that earlier versions of the plan would put SROs in every public school in Milwaukee, which he felt was a poor allocation of limited resources.
Among those who Mayor Johnson credited for their part in the agreement were local governments, state legislators on both sides of the political spectrum and Milwaukee business leaders including the MMAC (Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce) and Greater Milwaukee Committee.
“We will have historic investments in local governments across the state of Wisconsin, allowing the flagship city — the only first-class, major metropolitan city in the state; and that’s Milwaukee — to continue to provide services that our constituents deserve,” Mayor Johnson said.
Mayor Johnson also revealed that there is a 30-year window on this sales tax agreement.
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So what’s happening with pensions for longtime workers in the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County? According to the Mayor, they will use additional revenue from the sales tax to assist with the city’s pension program.
He also explained that they will “soft close” the city’s pension program, citing that the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County have the only two individual pension programs in the state. Instead, new city/county employees will go into Wisconsin’s retirement plan.
Ultimately, both Steve and Mayor Johnson left the conversation feeling relieved that an agreement was met.
“After nearly 30 years of infighting on this issue, we’re actually able to move the ball forward and get something done,” Mayor Johnson said. “Historic for the City of Milwaukee, historic for the state of Wisconsin.”
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