Courtesy of MilwaukeeTool.com
With the news of the possible expansion* of Milwaukee Tool to Downtown on 5th and Michigan with the help of a $20 million grant from the city, one might ask: Why do successful companies need any taxpayer money to begin with?
“That was actually the first question that I had,” says Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic. “When I learned about the $20 million grant, I asked the commissioner what it was for, not in a rhetorical way, but actually what it was for.”
One of the main pieces of the grant is the promise of 1,200+ jobs being created by the development of the new Milwaukee Tool location. Alderwoman Dimitrijevic does support the grant, with the help of an amendment she made to it at a meeting last week with the Common Council’s Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee. Her amendment is two-fold.
Marina Dimitrijevic
“Having a real, transparent annual public reporting mechanism, in a monitoring fashion, I think is incredibly important,” says Dimitrijevic. “The larger thing is community benefit. What that means to me is: Are more than a few people truly benefiting from this?”
The second part of the amendment is about adopting a core ordinance which focuses on external benefits from this deal for the greater good of the city and surrounding neighborhoods. Essentially what we’re getting at is: are we seeing the right return on our investment in these public subsidies
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Alderwoman Dimitrijevic included in her amendment that any entity getting over $1 million in TIF (tax increment financing) that reporting is done on the jobs being promised to be created and that those high standards continue post-construction.
Alderwoman Milele Coggs is worried about displacement and gentrification where people will be pushed out of surrounding neighborhoods because of this investment from the city.
Mayor Barrett and the commissioner see this deal as one of the largest opportunities for jobs being introduced to the city in a long time. Barrett started his speech to the committee by enthusiastically proclaiming his support.
The campus-feel of the property as it stands right now was one thing that appealed to Milwaukee Tool, but there will be significant modifications to the property before it is able to welcome the thousands of jobs they’re promising.
“Pretty soon, we’re going to be investing hundreds of millions of dollars in relief funds, as we rebuild our city, we’re going to have to think long and hard what we want that city to look like,” says Dimitrijevic. “It’s a balance and I think every big city needs a strong downtown, but we have to balance that with strong neighborhoods.”
There is a final meeting of the Common Council on the matter tomorrow, May 4, to decide the fate of the grant. May the Fourth be with them.
* This article was edited to reflect the change from "relocation" to "expansion." The first published version of the story stated this would be a relocation for the headquarters from Brookfield to Milwaukee. To be clear: this is an expansion.
