MILWAUKEE — New numbers are out on what would be the impact if Milwaukee city leaders do not pass the sales tax increase. That information was brought out during the Common Council's Steering and Rules Committee hearing Monday.
The Common Council has a big question before it, whether or not to pass a sales tax increase to generate revenue for the city. It is estimated Milwaukee could make approximately $190 million a year from the sales tax.
But what would it look like if the sales tax does not pass? Milwaukee's Fire Chief Aaron Lipski had strong words on what it could mean for the city's future.
"If this ends up a no vote, the safety and security of Milwaukee ends up a pleasant memory,” said Lipski.
If the Common Council votes against it, the city would start feeling the impact by 2025. Numbers show there would be a $193 million dollar budget gap by then. American Rescue Plan dollars, used in previous years to fill the budget gap, would be gone. So, city leaders say that would likely mean:
- Laying off at least 700 of the approximately 1600 Milwaukee Police Officers
- Laying off at least 250 of the approximately 700 Milwaukee Firefighters
- Laying off at least another 400 general city employees
“If there are 250, that is a third of my available personnel. That is a third of my sworn staff,” says Lipski.
The fire chief says on top of firefighters getting laid off, at least 12 of the city's 30 fire stations would likely close.
"We are adding real minutes to those responses. We are not on a factor of seconds and bickering about is it only three or four seconds. We are on a scale of minutes to initial responses and we are not going to handle the sheer demand on the system. We are barely handling it today,” said Lipski.
There are a lot of extra provisions that came with the state’s sales tax revenue bill. For example, cities can't use money generated from the revenue to pay for diversity, equity, and inclusion positions. It also requires cities to not reduce public safety staffing or face a penalty.
However, those measures are now law with the bill passing, so the Common Council can only vote yes or no to the sales tax increase.
"There are opinions all over the board on this. Right now the most important opinion lies with the Milwaukee Common Council. They have to decide whether or not to do this,” said Lipski.
The Common Council is expected to vote on the sales tax revenue increase on July 11.
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