The budgeting process has begun for the coming fiscal year for both the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County. The Common Council and Board of Supervisors, respectively, will consider the budgets proposed by the Mayor and the County Executive.
While there are no earth-shattering headlines from either proposal as both Tom Barrett and Chris Abele seek re-election next year, a new analysis of both the city and county budgets points to some questions. Public Policy Forum president Rob Henken say he noticed primarily patterns of hesitation.
"What we have seen at both the city and the county is a substantial reliance on state revenues which are flat or going down, reluctance to raise the property tax, reluctance to raise fees and not having the ability to pursue forms of other revenue sources," Henken says.
