WEST ALLIS, Wis. — Assembly Republicans unveiled their plan Thursday to significantly increase the amount of money the state sends back to every community in Wisconsin to help fund critical services.
From police and firefighters to picking up garbage and plowing snow, cities, towns and villages are responsible for providing services people depend on each day.
But for the past two decades, funding from the state to support those needs has flatlined for most and even gone down for several communities.
"As I go back recent years, we've probably reduced our workforce in the past three budgets by over 20 people,” said West Allis Mayor Dan Devine.
Mayor Devine says certain cuts have been unavoidable. Wisconsin Department of Revenue data shows West Allis received about $2 million less from the state in 2022 than it did in 2000.
Each dollar you spend in Wisconsin comes with a 5-cent state sales tax. Assembly Republicans are proposing taking 20 percent, or one of those pennies and sending it back to communities.
At a minimum GOP leaders say that would result in a 10 percent increase in funding to local governments.
"It's exciting, and something I feel like I've been calling on my state representatives for every year for 15 years,” Mayor Devine said.
Mayor Device says the reduction in shared revenue has left West Allis with little recourse to fully fund its budget. He says the city is landlocked which limits the potential for new development and more tax revenue.
The city of Pewaukee has experienced the opposite effect.
"Interestingly enough, my community has not had to make any cuts,” said Mayor Steve Bierce.
Mayor Bierce says Pewaukee hasn’t had an issue funding its government and services due to population and business growth. He knows most other communities are not as fortunate. He believes state lawmakers have neglected this issue for far too long.
"They've basically been starving us for 20 years under the guise of controlling taxes,” he said.
Under the Republican proposal, the state would have a say in how cities, towns and villages spend the extra month they receive, with a large focus on bolstering public safety efforts.
Mayor Bierce said if it were up to him, the state would remove one cent from its sales tax altogether and give more autonomy to municipalities to create tax revenue to fund their needs.
“If you were to take a vote on this shared revenue increase, would it be yes or no?” TMJ4 reporter Ben Jordan asked.
“If this was the only avenue in front of me, it would be yes,” Mayor Bierce replied. “People need this help right now. Communities need this help."
Assembly Republicans and Gov. Evers are in agreement on wanting to send 20 percent of the state’s sales tax revenue back to communities. It remains unclear how close or far apart they are on the fine details.
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