$12.4 million cut should be restored and targeted to funding Milwaukee Police next year.
Madison – Today State Senator Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) stated that Governor Scott Walker should, in his next budget, restore his $12.4 million per year cut to the City of Milwaukee’s shared revenue payment, and target it for one biennial budget to funding increased costs incurred by Milwaukee Police Department.
In 2012, Governor Walker cut shared revenue to the City of Milwaukee by 4.3 percent, or $12.4 million dollars. Through 2016, such cuts have not been restored.
“The City of Milwaukee will be enduring increased costs due to increased patrols during this difficult summer. What makes this more urgent is the report that nearly 20% of the city's 1,889 sworn police officers (339 officers) would be eligible to retire over the next 18 months. The stress this places on Milwaukee is substantial. When state shared revenue was cut so drastically – and not restored – the Milwaukee property taxpayers are unfairly burdened with costs for public safety,” said Carpenter.
