Attempts to delay, calls from Gov. Evers and zebra burgers: How the Milwaukee County sales tax hike happened
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- After nearly two hours of debate, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors approved a sales tax increase Thursday. The 15-3 vote paves the way for the county to raise its sales tax from 0.5% to 0.9%.
The increase will amount to an additional 40 cents on every $100 spent in Milwaukee County. The tax hike will generate a little more than $80 million per year in additional revenue, and that number is expected to grow in the coming years.
After the vote, supervisors said the days leading up to Thursday's meeting were filled with voices from both supporters and opponents of the tax trying to persuade them.
Supporters said they were moved by the possibility of deep cuts in the coming years, particularly to the parks system and public transit.
Good morning from the Milwaukee County Courthouse, where the county board will vote today on raising the sales tax from 0.5% to 0.9%.
— A.J. Bayatpour (@AJBayatpour) July 27, 2023
It would increase county revenue by about $80 million per year. Proponents say that'd stave off particularly deep cuts to parks and transit. pic.twitter.com/zTxoMGwbdN
"When it came down to it, decisions like our mental health and our paratransit, and the fact that individuals' lifestyles could be completely uprooted," Sup. Kathleen Vincent said.
Vincent, whose district includes all of Greendale, most of Greenfield, and parts of Milwaukee's southwest side, said she had been lobbied by local officials on both sides of the debate.
Still, she was surprised Wednesday afternoon when she ignored a call from the 608 area code, then listened to the voicemail.
"He said, 'This is Tony Evers,' and wanted to talk to me about reasons why I encourage you to place a yes vote."
Evers' communications director, Britt Cudaback, did not immediately respond to questions Thursday about whether Evers had contacted other supervisors about the vote.
Vincent said she felt Evers was understanding when she explained she was still torn on whether to support the tax.
"There was no pressure there, which I was very grateful for," she said. "He said, 'Whatever decision you make tomorrow, I am going to respect that.'"
Vincent said the voices that influenced her the most were those of constituents who said future cuts would take away services on which they rely.
"A gentleman from my district, who is blind, who talked about how he needs these services to get to his appointments," she said.
Supervisors Ryan Clancy, Sequanna Taylor and Steve Taylor voted no on the tax hike.
Timing is everything
The sales tax increase will take effect Jan. 1. In tandem with the newly-enacted 2% Milwaukee city sales tax, most purchases made in the City of Milwaukee will come with a 7.9% sales tax.
That's largely in line with total sales taxes in similar-sized cities. Milwaukee's overall sales tax will be higher than that of Louisville and Baltimore, but lower than what's taxed in Memphis and Kansas City.
Multiple supervisors said collecting those dollars as soon as possible was an important reason for holding the vote before leaving for their August recess.
Had they not acted by the end of July, the tax increase wouldn't have been able to take effect until April because of how long it takes for the Department of Revenue to set up a new tax, and then the tax cannot become active until the following calendar year quarter.
Clancy, who represents the Bay View neighborhood and much of the city's south side, said that wasn't enough of a reason to force the vote.
He said because the worst of the financial crunch -- caused by a pension scandal in the early 2000s and worsening projections for the county's pension fund -- wouldn't hit for another five or so years, the board should've waited until it could develop a more detailed plan for using the new tax revenue.
"We keep talking about closing senior centers, selling parks, cutting half of the bus routes," Clancy said. "I'm amazed nobody's brought up selling zebras at the zoo for their meat and having a zebra burger day. These things are half a decade in the future."
Board Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson said it was important to act with urgency because not enacting the tax as soon as possible would simply be too costly.
"Every month this isn't passed is $7 million we leave off the table to invest in critical services our constituents rely on," she said.
How the money can be used
Supervisors on both sides of the vote said the sales tax increase wasn't an ideal outcome because they would've preferred the GOP-controlled legislature giving local governments more money when they negotiated a deal with Evers to revamp the state's shared revenue system.
Still, conservative Sup. Steve Taylor, who represents Franklin, voted no because not enough of the new revenue would directly benefit people in his district.
"I can tell you, we don't have buses that come down to us, barely comes in my community," he said. "We don't use the same services as the City of Milwaukee."
The new sales tax revenue can only be used to pay off outstanding pension obligations and on public safety measures, such as the sheriff's office and district attorney's office. Once the pension debt is gone, the new shared revenue law calls for the 0.4% sales tax increase to sunset.
Sup. Peter Burgelis, whose district includes West Milwaukee and much of the area around American Family Field, said while the newly collected revenue had restricted uses, it would still give the county breathing room to address other departments facing dire straits.
"Currently, we spent about 10% of our tax levy, about $31 million to pay off pension bonds," Burgelis said. "If we use sales tax revenue for that, that frees up other revenue we can use for other priorities, like transit and our parks."