Amid divide over pay raises, fire truck funding, Milwaukee council overrides all of mayor's budget vetoes

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The process of building Milwaukee's 2026 city budget has highlighted how the relationship between Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Common Council is in need of repair.

The divide was apparent Tuesday, when the 15-member council voted unanimously to override each of Johnson's budget vetoes.

A frustrated Johnson told reporters outside his office he was especially bothered by the council's decision to roll each veto into one combined agenda item and reject all of them with a single vote.

"I don't know if, in Milwaukee right now, there is an objective system of checks and balances," Johnson said.

Two of the biggest disagreements were over how much the city should spend on replacing aging fire trucks and how much of a pay raise city workers should receive.

Johnson said the council's decision to add about $9 million more to Johnson's proposed $2.06 billion budget could prove costly in future years.

"The budgets are not gonna get any easier," Johnson said. "They're just not. That's just a fact of the matter."

Alderpersons said Johnson's proposed 2% raises for all city employees were not enough to keep up with an increasing cost of living.

"Oh, he may be correct that it's creating a fiscal crunch in future years," east side Ald. Alex Brower said. "But in order to show our employees that they're valued, we have to take this risk."

Instead, the council voted to give 3% pay raises to city workers who don't live in Milwaukee and 4% raises to employees who are also city residents.

"We're focusing our investment on city employees," south side Ald. Peter Burgelis said. "Especially city employees that live in the city of Milwaukee."

The council also broke with Johnson on funding for the fire department.

Everyone agreed the city has to replace many of its fire trucks. However, there was a split on how much of a $10 million loan should go to the fire department.

Johnson wanted to spend $6 million of that money on new fire equipment while putting the other $4 million toward starting construction of a new electrical services building under the Department of Public Works (DPW).

The council insisted on giving all $10 million to the fire department.

"For me, personally, I'm tired of the fire department being the little bastard stepchild of public safety," northwest side Ald. Mark Chambers said.

Johnson said the longer the city puts off replacing the DPW electrical building, the more it will spend short-term on maintaining an outdated structure.

"Taking money away from it doesn't stop the building that we're talking about in the Menomonee Valley from crumbling," Johnson said. "From falling apart."

Ultimately, the alderpersons were unanimous in their belief the fire department's needs were more pressing.

"We have fire trucks that are falling apart on the way to emergency service runs," Burgelis said. "That's a much bigger priority than tucking some money away for a future project that won't be touched until 2027, maybe 2028."

Both the executive and legislative branches pointed fingers over who should've been more willing to make concessions.

Johnson insisted his budget reflected a wish to compromise, noting he originally wanted to give $2 million to the fire department before moving up to $6 million.

Chambers said the outcome might've been different had the mayor's office brought the council into budget talks earlier in the process.

"If we have a more collaborative approach with the budget, then maybe we would go with some of his priorities," Chambers said. "And maybe we could put some of our priorities together."

Police contract approved

The council was less united on the question of approving a new labor agreement with the Milwaukee Police Association, which represents rank-and-file officers.

The council voted 10-1 in favor of adopting the contract, with Brower voting no and four others abstaining.

The contract covers a four-year span between 2023 and 2026, providing a 15% raise for officers.

Brower said he rejected the agreement because it did not include language enforcing "accountability" standards for police.

"There's a lot of discretion officers are able to exercise out in the field, and that discretion needs to be monitored, I think," Brower said. "Whether it's discretion over the use of force they're doing or a high-speed chase or prompt responses to calls."

After the vote, the police union posted a statement to Facebook thanking the Common Council members who voted to approve the contract.

"We are deeply grateful for the public support that helped us reach this point," the post read. "And while this contract brings long overdue stability, we also know this journey isn’t finished. Our officers deserve to be fully and properly compensated for the dangerous and demanding work they do, and we look forward to continuing that conversation with the same partnership and goodwill that brought us here."

Chambers, who voted to approve the agreement, still cautioned that he wanted the city to lean harder on the union to ensure more active patrols in neighborhoods.

He also said the city cannot continue giving police bigger raises than other workers.

"It's gonna come to the point where there's a fork in the road," he said. "Where speaking in budgetary options, it's gonna be too insurmountable in the future if we keep going in the direction that we're going."

Panther Arena protections

The council also approved a file granting historic designations to the UWM Panther Arena and Miller High Life Theater.

The designations ensure any future efforts to tear down the buildings and redevelop the land will require the Common Council's approval.

Johnson must still sign off on the designations for them to become official.