Aging Milwaukee fire trucks; battle over funding new rigs

Battle over how to pay for new MFD rigs

There is a battle brewing over Milwaukee tax dollars. Mayor Cavalier Johnson vetoed some, but not all, money to replace aging Milwaukee fire trucks.

MILWAUKEE - There is a battle brewing over Milwaukee tax dollars. Mayor Cavalier Johnson vetoed some, but not all, money to replace aging Milwaukee fire trucks. 

Four million dollars are on the line, a fraction of the city's $2 billion dollar budget, but enough money to possibly buy two new fire trucks.

Aging Milwaukee fire trucks

What we know:

Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski asked for $14 million for new fire trucks. The mayor laid out $2 million in his proposed 2026 city budget.

The Milwaukee Common Council passed a budget that would have given a total of $10 million for new fire trucks, including taking $4 million the mayor proposed using for a future Department of Public Works' building.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android

The mayor's veto scraps using that $4 million for fire trucks. That means his veto would leave $6 million out of that initial $14 million ask. 

"It's my desire to make sure that we continue to make investments in the fire department. I want that to happen, and I think this is a good compromise between what I initially proposed and what the council amended the budget to be. It's somewhere in the middle," Johnson said.

What they're saying:

"We have an entire city. It's not one department by itself, and so I don't want to continue investing money into a building that's basically falling apart. I want to make sure that we're able to get a fix for that too, while also fixing the fire department issues, as well," said Mayor Johnson of his desire to use the $4 million dollars for a future DPW Municipal Services Building.

Chief Lipski is not happy with the reduction.

"We regularly are not funded to even those basic levels. A huge hole is formed, and now we're in the huge hole, and now what we are being given doesn't get us out of the hole. And I don't think that's acceptable."

Lipski says three of the city's ladder trucks recently failed an Underwriters Laboratories' stress test.

"I don't think that's acceptable to my firefighters. Their lives rely on this equipment and the lives of the people who might need to be saved."

He said it has gotten so bad, the department has had to borrow fire trucks from other departments recently, as some of MFD fire trucks were in for repairs, and their own backups are running low. 

"We don't always know if there's another ladder truck available in the county or another spare engine, but if it is, they will borrow it to us. It keeps me up at night. I used to have a full head of hair," Lipski said.

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

Override of mayor's veto?

What's next:

The Common Council is expected to vote on Tuesday, Nov. 25 on whether to override the mayor's partial vetoes. It will take ten votes to override – and 12 Common Council members have supported this extra funding for fire trucks.

If the vote to override succeeds, then the budget would allot $10 million for new MFD fire trucks. If it fails, the budget will allot $6 million for that purpose.

"It's nowhere near enough," Lipski told FOX6.

"There's only so much money to go around. I mean, that's the consequence of every single city budget," said Johnson.

The same day as that vote, the Milwaukee Common Council will vote on whether to approve a new contract for Milwaukee police officers – which includes $25 million in back pay.