Late last month, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson submitted his proposed 2025 city budget. The $200 million budget addresses everything from funding parks, libraries and police. So, what happens now? And what should we know about what's in the mayor’s proposed budget?
Urban Milwaukee President and co-founder Jeramey Jannene, who has been covering city government for the past decade, says it's important to understand the steps in passing the city's yearly budget.
"The mayor introduces the budget in late September every year, then the Common Council spends all of October reviewing it," Jannene says. "That review includes a public hearing with community feedback and presentations from departments and in early November, the council adopts the budget, which is typically the day after the election."
The proposed budget covers a wide range of services in the city, however, paying for bigger projects will require borrowing, which includes a monthly interest payment.
"This year we're seeing more borrowing, which means in the future it's going to be more difficult to pay," Jannene says. "It's just more budget pressure."
Jannene says that budget pressure could also cause further complications down the line.
"That challenge is going to rear its head in 2026 or 2027. It could come earlier if the economy tanks, or be postponed if it doesn’t. But eventually, the city will need to make hard decisions about what services to cut or how to totally re-envision how they're provided."
Renetta Palmer is a member of the African American Roundtable and sees the budget differently from Mayor Johnson. Instead of the mayor and common council being the ones determining the city's budget, she's calling for participatory budgeting, or a way for residents to have a real stake in determining how their tax dollars are spent.
"Why keep putting money in the same pot when it's not doing anything?" Palmer asks, referring to spending nearly half the city's budget on policing. "Let's be innovative, and let's look at other things that are happening."
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