Posted on Wednesday, 28th April 2010 by Patrick Dorwin

Milwaukee finishes year with $20 million surplus

Good news, and Tom the taxer Barrett even claims that he will use the extra money for tax relief next year, I hope he follows through.

Now let’s see if Wisconsin liberal bloggers attack Barrett the same way as they did Scott Walker when it was announced that Milwaukee County had a surplus.

Posted in Home | Comments (9) |

9 Responses to “Good news for City of Milwaukee taxpayers”



  1. Glenn D. Frankovis Says:
    April 28th, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    Tom, don’t forget to thump your chest with the “crime is down; police overtime is down; and the demand for service is down reflecting citizen satisfaction” chant. Of course, there are some of us who know what that’s all about but let’s not allow the truth to get in the way.



  2. Glenn D. Frankovis Says:
    April 28th, 2010 at 3:17 pm

    Does this mean that MPD can get the new radios for their cops? http://badgerblogger.com/?p=16309#comments



  3. HeatherRadish Says:
    April 28th, 2010 at 4:20 pm

    And the wheel tax can be repealed, because clearly there’s enough money.



  4. Jaeson Says:
    April 28th, 2010 at 5:38 pm

    Tom the taxer Barrett even claims that he will use the extra money for tax relief next year

    That’s a real knee slapper.



  5. Glenn D. Frankovis Says:
    April 28th, 2010 at 6:39 pm

    You just knew this wouldn’t be far behind: http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/92317929.html
    Check out the comments.



  6. Glenn D. Frankovis Says:
    April 28th, 2010 at 7:19 pm

    Maybe Tom can use the surplus to offset the rate increase (tax increase) being requested by the City Water Department. http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/92277219.html
    Or he could just do something positive to attract business to Milwaukee and increase our tax base. More businesses would use more water. Since the Commissioner is basing this rate increase request on the fact that water usage is down, that might be the answer.



  7. Roland_Melnick Says:
    April 28th, 2010 at 7:49 pm

    It comes as no surprise to me…my property value assessment went down by $6000 while my tax bill went up $400. Mayor Tom has cut back on a lot of city expenditures while still collecting more money. Some property tax relief would be nice…or better yet, spend a little on trash removal…



  8. Patrick Dorwin Says:
    April 28th, 2010 at 8:02 pm

    Not So Fast

    Alderman Jim Bohl is calling Mayor Barrett out for his claim that this surplus is $20 million, Bohl shows that the surplus is actually in the range of $4 million> Yes, the surplus is still a good thing, but if Barrett wasn’t running for Governor, his numbers may have been a little more… Honest?

    The Mayor is using the $20 million surplus figure based on the city’s Tax Stabilization Fund (TSF), which is withdrawn from and replenished (or regenerated) each year as needed to stabilize the city’s tax rate and protect citizens from tax rate fluctuations that can result from erratic variations in non-property tax revenues. According to his administration, after regeneration at the end of 2009, the TSF was to have a balance of approximately $28.5 million.

    So, according to my calculations, if the TSF currently has $33 million – as claimed by the Mayor today – that would mean the city really has a surplus of $4.5 million. Again, the surplus is a positive thing for the city, but residents and taxpayers need to have a clear idea of what it truly is, and how it came to be.

    Why is the clearer picture needed?

    Because, in my opinion, information is deliberately being manipulated for political reasons. Don’t misunderstand that yes, the Mayor and the Common Council have made some prudent budgetary decisions to help us achieve the surplus (and Mother Nature spared us the snow removal headaches and costs this past winter), but the claim of the $20 million surplus has more to do with the Mayor’s run for higher office and is much less about fiscal reality. There’s a reason some call election time the “silly season.”

    You can read Bohl’s entire press release here, and see the accompanying documentation here.



  9. andykilvinsky Says:
    April 28th, 2010 at 9:46 pm

    If there’s a surplus, I want a refund. I don’t care if it’s $20. It’s my money.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.