budget

The sales tax in Milwaukee will go up 2 cents per dollar next year after the Common Council voted Tuesday to raise the rate as part of a bipartisan plan to avoid bankruptcy.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has signed off on a two-year spending plan after gutting a Republican tax cut and using his broad veto powers to increase school funding for centuries.

A two-year spending plan that cuts income taxes, increases funding for K-12 schools and cuts the University of Wisconsin’s budget in a fight over diversity, equity and inclusion programming has been sent to Gov. Tony Evers.

The proposed Wisconsin state budget goes to the state Assembly Thursday afternoon, after passage by the state Senate Wednesday. Democrats spent hours unsuccessfully trying to talk the GOP out of approving a large tax cut.

Rothman says cuts could lead to more closures of small campuses. It could also disrupt the UW’s new free tuition “promise” to students from low-income families.

Republican lawmakers voted to cut the University of Wisconsin System’s budget by $32 million despite a projected record-high $7 billion state budget surplus, leaving the university nearly half a billion dollars short of what it requested.

Wisconsin’s Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has signed a bipartisan bill that sends more money to Milwaukee and gives both the city and county the ability to raise the local sales tax in an effort to avoid bankruptcy.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says expect income tax cut and efforts to limit property taxes.

The Wisconsin Legislature has passed a compromise designed to prevent Milwaukee from going bankrupt that also boosts funding for all other smaller communities in the state.

The school funding bill is part of a shared revenue deal reached by Gov. Evers and Republicans that would allow municipalities to raise more revenue.