The Milwaukee Common Council adopted the 2019 proposed budget Tuesday, however the Mayor still has the option to veto any specific items.
After almost five hours of debate, the 2019 proposed City of Milwaukee budget was passed by the Common Council Tuesday. The budget will increase the amount the average homeowner will pay in property taxes and fees by approximately $50. However, any item in the adopted budget could still be vetoed by Mayor Tom Barrett.
Amendments
Last minute amendments approved by the council included funding for the new Inspector General position, $1 million for street re-pavement, $1.5 million to demolish blighted homes and the creation of a special purpose account to tackle multiple public health and safety issues across the city.
The new Inspector General position’s salary will be $24,335 per half-year. The position was created last month by the Common Council in hopes to provide an independent watchdog to prevent future problems within the city’s many departments. The council also passed an amendment to re-pave about one mile of city streets, for the price tag of $1 million. The $1.5 million for property demolishing will be added to the $1 million already allocated for this purpose.
The Health Department
The Finance and Personnel Committee, whose job it is to go through the budget line by line after the Mayor presents it to the council, added multiple amendments relating to the Health Department’s lead prevention program. This comes after Mayor Barrett announced $20 million in the proposed budget for “reducing lead risks and abating lead problems.”
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One of the amendments said that Health Commissioner Jeanette Kowalik must “establish a defined process for addressing cases of elevated blood lead levels in Milwaukee.” Commissioner Kowalik must present this process to the council before April 2019. The budget said that the Health Department must develop and present a water filter distribution plan to the council before April 2019. The budget also directed representatives from the Department of Public Works, the Milwaukee Water Works and the Health Department to form an “ad hoc committee and report quarterly to the Council on long-term strategies and recommendations for addressing the lead service line replacements.”
The council also narrowly passed an amendment spearheaded by Ald. Nik Kovac that creates a special purpose account for the Milwaukee Health Department to tackle gun violence, the increase of STI’s, infant mortality rates and lead poisoning across the city. The amount of the account totals $425,000, which could be used by the department for multiple purposes, like adding new positions such as nurses, or fund a contract to remediate lead within a home.
However, the amendment eliminated a new police recruiting class of 10 cadets. This is a tradeoff that Ald. Kovac believes is necessary.
“It’s proven statistically that these kind of investments will improve public health,” said Ald. Kovac. “It is not proven statistically that increased investments in the police department will reduce crime. The fact is there’s no correlation.”
The amendment was passed by the vote of 8-7. This means that the 2019 budget will now include funding for 1,861 sworn MPD officers, instead of 1,871. Funding for the Milwaukee Police Department currently takes up $299 million of the $1.5 billion city budget. Ald. Tony Zielinski voted no on the measure.
“I agree that we have to do more to combat lead, but I think there’s other options, I don’t think it’s just cops versus lead,” he said. “I would argue that the experts in our community would rather take money from our parking fund that would go towards the streetcar to help to combat lead, rather than take money from cops to combat lead.”
Ald. Kovac agreed that the Police Department is important, but he said that he believes that the Health Department needs more funds to fight these specific battles.
“It’s quite a nonspecific special purpose account but it was done in constellation with them to give them maximum flexibility,” he said. “We need to prioritize… because often the rhetoric around public safety is we have to save lives. It ultimately becomes life or death.”The amendment did create four community outreach liaisons and one health project coordinator in the Health Department. Ald. Kovac estimates these positions will cost around $250,000.
Additional Amendments
The council also adopted an amendment to create four community oriented policing houses in Promise Zones in the city. They also passed a $200,000 Healthy Food Establishment Fund amendment established in the Department of City Development to promote fresh food purchase opportunities in neighborhoods lacking such locations.
Mayor’s Veto?
The Mayor will have seven working days to issue any specific vetoes. 10 of the 15 alders will have to vote to override any veto by the Mayor.
A spokesperson for the Mayor said “As with all vetoes, the Mayor will review the changes made by the council and determine the impact to the city. The intent of the change and the actual outcomes will be thoughtfully considered.”
