How Shared Revenue Starves Milwaukee

Can you imagine not receiving a wage increase for 20 years? How would you survive with 2024 prices? It sounds absurd and yet this is exactly what Wisconsin’s shared revenue program is expecting of cities like Milwaukee.

Essentially, Wisconsin’s Shared Revenue program takes the taxes our cities and municipalities collect and then divides it up amongst all the cities and municipalities in the state. It also prohibits cities and municipalities from raising their own sales or income tax. The idea of shared revenue was progressive at the time, but it has now been weaponized to prop up rural areas on the backs of cities like Milwaukee. 

Whenever it comes time to make budget cuts, both Republicans and Democrats are happy to attack shared revenue. In 2003, under Democratic Governor Jim Doyle, shared revenue was frozen. The funding amounts given back to Wisconsin’s cities and municipalities have stayed the same since then, obviously not keeping pace with inflation. To give some perspective, because of inflation, in 2012 Milwaukee received 36% less state funding than it had in 1995. In 2023 that number has risen to roughly 50%. All together, every year Milwaukee sends more money to the State and every year it receives less back. Year over year shared revenue has starved Milwaukee of resources and is a driving reason behind the city’s financial issues. It is not because the city is financially irresponsible as so many Republicans would have you believe. All of this is part of Republicans' widely documented hatred towards Milwaukee. Shared revenue is the perfect tool for Republicans (and Milwaukee-hating Democrats) to cut Milwaukee’s revenue again and again, then turn around and blame it for being financially irresponsible.

Despite what Republicans say, Milwaukee is not the only Wisconsin city that is struggling financially. Given rising costs in recent years, local governments across Wisconsin have struggled to remain financially sound. This is what necessitated a new shared revenue plan which the legislature passed and Governor Evers signed last year. 

So for the first time since 2003, municipalities in Wisconsin will finally see an increase in revenue. Republicans being Republicans, instead of designing the bill to fairly distribute revenue based on need and revenue contributions, structured it to favor their constituents and stuck Milwaukee with the bill. Small towns overwhelmingly benefit more from the new plan than large cities. While some small towns saw their revenue increase by 723%, Milwaukee’s revenue only increased by a modest 10%. Wisconsin's other major city, Madison, in fact ranks bottom in aid-per-resident in the new plan. Now, sometimes redistribution is a good thing, like when resources hoarded by the wealthy are redistributed for the benefit of all society. That is not what Wisconsin’s shared revenue does. Today, shared revenue is essentially wealthy Republican lawmakers waging a culture war, demonizing a city, and stealing its resources to redistribute amongst their own constituents and ensure they are re-elected. Shared revenue is not a just redistribution of resources.

The unjustness of the new shared revenue plan becomes even more apparent when one realizes that instead of giving Milwaukee an adequate, earned share of revenue, the deal allows the city government to raise sales taxes to make up for the remaining deficit. Sales tax increases have been repeatedly shown to most affect lower income individuals rather than high income individuals. Republicans are asking for Milwaukee’s poor to pay for their spending spree. Just as complicit in this process was Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, who celebrated the increased revenue for Milwaukee and actively supported the sales tax increase.

An increased sales tax is not the only cost Republicans stuck Milwaukee with in the shared revenue plan. Historically, shared revenue has been unrestricted funding for cities and municipalities. Yet, despite often talking about independent ‘local’ government and freedom, the Republicans have taken the unprecedented step of adding stipulations to how the money from shared revenue can be spent. Milwaukee is specifically called out in the bill multiple times. Not only did Republicans shortchange Milwaukee, but they also saddled us with a number of additional requirements on the money, for instance:

• Banning the city from using any money for ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ hires

• Forcing Milwaukee Public Schools to station police officers in their schools

• Remove the majority of the Fire and Police Commission’s oversight authority and instead giving it to the police and fire department chiefs

• Banning the city from using any of the money for the Hop streetcar

• Requiring the city to report back on how the money was spent

• Prohibiting reducing the number of police officers, EMS, and firefighter positions or cutting their budgets

• Requiring police to issue the same number of tickets or make the same number of arrests as years prior

These additional requirements for the city of Milwaukee are absurd, especially given, once again, that historically there have been little to no stipulations attached to shared revenue. Republicans are once again trying to impose their will on Milwaukee and have no problem ignoring precedent in the process. Governor Evers allowed them to do this. As part of negotiations he even agreed to give voucher/charter schools a huge bump in state funding, money that could have gone to public education instead. 

The shared revenue was yet another bad deal made by Evers. This may have been one of the few cases where kicking the can down the road would have been in the Governor's and Milwaukee’s best interests. In the 2024 election, Wisconsin will be using newly drawn district maps. These maps–while still a long way from being truly fair as previously covered by Milwaukee Beagle–undeniably are a step in the right direction. Meaning the next Wisconsin legislature will no longer give Republicans a super majority and they will actually have to negotiate with Democrats. Republicans knew that time was in Governor Evers’ favor. They knew they needed to increase Milwaukee’s funding. The author of the bill even admitted that not increasing revenues for Milwaukee would hurt the entire state. Evers had all the chips in his favor and could have bided his time for a better deal, or passed a stopgap measure if he needed to. Instead, he allowed Republicans to attach string after string after string to the deal. Even Cavalier Johnson admitted that he wished the shared revenue plan had been dealt with when Democrats were in control of the legislature. If Johnson, Evers, and Democrats had been more willing to play hard-ball with Republicans, they could have undoubtedly won a much better deal for Milwaukee. Now Milwaukee residents are stuck with an increased sales tax and are still not receiving their fair share of revenue from the state. When will Democratic leaders finally be willing to stand up to Republicans?

This is only scratching the surface of Wisconsin’s shared revenue and budget under Governor Evers. Stay on the lookout for future deep dives by Milwaukee Beagle.