Proposed 2027 Milwaukee budget: More money for road repairs, funded by permit and fee increases
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- At Milwaukee City Hall, potholes are the top priority in Mayor Cavalier Johnson's proposed 2027 budget. To pay for increased road repair efforts, a number of fees would increase.
Delivering his budget address at City Hall Tuesday, Johnson told the Common Council this would be the largest single-year investment in road work in Milwaukee history.
The mayor's proposed budget would transfer an additional $6 million toward pothole repairs and more paving projects.
Johnson also proposed putting millions of dollars toward the eventual construction of a new library branch in the Midtown neighborhood and a new public works facility; those will be multi-year projects with additional city funding needed in the 2028 and 2029 budgets, according to Nik Kovac, the city's budget director.
Johnson's proposed budget also includes funding for three police academy classes of 65 officers each and a $1 million increase for violence interruption efforts.
Here is how Johnson would pay for it:
The cost of an overnight parking permit would be doubled from $55 per year to $110.
The cost of parking tickets would go up by $10, and parking meter fees downtown would increase to $3 per hour. The yearly vehicle registration fee, commonly referred to as a wheel tax, would not increase.
Overall, property tax collections would go up by 2%. Individual property tax bills would vary from one property to another, depending on the city's assessment. Kovac said the city relied on past assessment trends to conclude a 2% total increase in collections was feasible.
User fees, like trash collection, snow removal and streetlights would increase by 3%.
"That ain't gonna work with me neither because I'm a homeowner," Taylor said. "I'm not gonna appreciate that, at all."
Johnson said the results of city surveys indicated street repair is residents' top priority, and the selected fee increases represented the revenue sources people were most comfortable paying.
Jasmine Johnson said potholes are a huge problem in her neighborhood as she walked her dog near the Bluemound Heights Community Garden, near N. 63rd St. and W. Fairview Ave.
She said she could tolerate extra fees if it meant seeing a significant improvement in road conditions around her home.
"I feel like we buy brand-new cars just to drive down the street, and they get tore up," Johnson said. "Everything is going up, so you can't get around it, but at least we'll have better, clean streets, where it's a flat surface."
Johnson added he hopes with big changes coming to state government, there will be more funding for local governments. Wisconsin will have a new governor, Assembly speaker and Senate majority leader when the Legislature begins a new biennium in January.
"I think the state should be helping us out more than what they are, more than what they have been," Mayor Johnson said. "Including providing more resources for local roads in their formula, not just in Milwaukee but across the state of Wisconsin."
People will have their chance to sound off on the proposed budget in about two weeks. A public hearing on the budget is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall on Oct. 5.