2025 Milwaukee budget plan; mayor calls for boost for police, fire
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson revealed on Tuesday, Sept. 24 his 2025 budget proposal. It calls for a boost for police and fire, but it could also mean higher fees and taxes.
Johnson's budget plan proposes a 2% increase to the tax levy. The mayor said, for a typical Milwaukee homeowner, that would amount to $62 more for your city property tax.
Fees would go up too. For example, garbage pickup for one cart will go up 2% – that is an extra $1.25 a quarter (every three months) for a regular garbage bin.
"What do you say to people who are dealing with inflation, are seeing a 2% property tax levy increase and an increase in fees – worried about having to pay more taxes?" asked FOX6's Jason Calvi.
"This was a very intense budget process. I pay attention to every single issue, many times pushing back and advocating for residents in Milwaukee to make sure we weren’t overly looking to take more money from their pockets. I want them to have more resources in their pockets, so we were very, very vigilant on that," Johnson said. "It’s important for us to make sure we don’t have a structural deficit in the future and that’s what this budget lays the foundation for, so we don’t have those sort of issues in the future."
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If the Common Council approves the mayor's budget proposal, the 2025 budget would go up $88 million – to a total of more than $2 billion.
Mayor Johnson's budget calls for portable cameras to monitor reckless driving.
"Speeding cameras are not allowed in Wisconsin, so what are these cameras going to do here?" asked FOX6's Jason Calvi.
"These cameras will allow for us to be able to get more information about vehicles that are speeding," Johnson replied. "Say someone calls in an issue of speeding in a particular area, but didn’t get the make and model of the vehicle; didn’t get a license plate, if there was one. This will amplify the police’s ability to be able to do some recognizance; get that information and be able to go after those vehicles."
The mayor's budget calls for three classes of police recruits – 65 recruits per class, the most the mayor said they can have.
Hecklers interrupted the mayor's speech. They criticized police funding and said they wanted participatory budgeting.
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Mayor Johnson's proposal would also add firefighters – and leave open the possibility of reopening a closed fire station. The budget would continue investments in Raze and Revive, to demolish blight. It would also place investments in roads.
The public will have a few chances to share their views on the proposed budget. First up is the financial committee meeting on Monday morning, Sept. 30 at City Hall. Then, on Oct. 7, there will be a joint public hearing with the mayor and Common Council. Lastly, the Common Council will then get to work hashing out the budget for passage in November.