Milwaukee sales tax hike possible; residents, lawmakers weigh in
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee could run out of money sooner than you think, and city and county leaders are weighing whether to raise the sales tax.
There’s no referendum for a sales tax hike, but it would impact consumers whether it passes or not; without it, city leaders said they’d have devastating cuts. FOX6 News asked Summerfest attendees: Should Milwaukee raise the sales tax?
"We make enough money that we are living on what we have right now, and I don’t think we need to be giving anything else to the government," said Milwaukee resident Lisa Schmidman.
SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News
"It kills me to vote for that, but desperate times call for desperate measures," said Frank Vitucci. "We have to do this to get back on track. We have to bail out those people who made bad decisions to put us in this position."
"I am against the two cents on every dollar taxes, because being a young man myself, 21 years old, I can already tell inflation is hurting me as I’m living on my own," said Jared Sandkuhler. "I’m working 40-50 hour weeks, and I feel like they’re getting enough already, honestly. I have to work more just to give them more? I don’t think it’s really fair."
It’s not these people at Summerfest who will be voting on the sales tax, though. If 10 of 15 Common Council members approve, the city will create a new city tax of 2%. If 12 of 18 county supervisors approve, the county will raise the county tax 0.4%.
"I just believe this increase in sales tax is going to be life changing for our budget," Supervisor Liz Sumner said. "We’re facing a fiscal cliff in five years, and it is not going to be pretty."
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android.
"Absolutley not on the sales tax. Sales taxes are regressive, they fall harder on our poor and working class residents," said Supervisor Ryan Clancy. "I know that we will be looking at some significant cuts. I also know there are pathways in the next five years to avert that and get us more of our own dollars back to Milwaukee County."
Right now in Milwaukee, you pay a sales tax of 5.5%. If the new taxes get approved, it would go up to 7.9%. It means a $26 Summerfest ticket sales tax would go from $1.43 to $2.05.
The Common Council will vote on the city tax July 11. You’ll have the chance to share your thoughts to them at a public hearing Monday. The Wisconsin Fiscal Bureau estimates the sales tax could bring the city almost $194 million dollars, and the county estimates they could get roughly $80 million a year. The county board hasn’t yet decided when they’ll vote, but FOX6 is told it could be July or August.