{"id":4199,"date":"2023-07-13T05:06:33","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T05:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=4199"},"modified":"2023-07-13T10:04:46","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T10:04:46","slug":"milwaukee-city-council-okays-16-million-per-month-sales-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=4199","title":{"rendered":"Milwaukee City Council Okays $16 Million Per-Month Sales Tax"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/wisconsindailystar.com\/news\/milwaukee-city-council-okays-16-million-per-month-sales-tax\/tcsquare\/2023\/07\/13\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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by Benjamin Yount<\/h5>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Taxes are going up in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s Common Council on Tuesday approved a new 2% sales tax that is expected to bring-in $194 million next year.<\/p>\n

Mayor Cavalier Johnson said the new sales tax is necessary to avoid a fiscal calamity and stave-off severe budget cuts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn taking this action, the Council has protected Milwaukee and its residents from unimaginable cuts to library and public safety services,\u201d Johnson said after the vote. \u201cWe have reached a turning point in the history of Milwaukee\u2019s municipal finances. This is certainly the most significant change in how city services are funded in more than a century.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sales tax will add 2% to most sales in the city of Milwaukee. Wisconsin currently charges a 5% sales tax, and Milwaukee County is considering a 0.4% increase to its 0.5% sales tax.<\/p>\n

If county supervisors follow the city\u2019s lead, the increases mean people in the city of Milwaukee will be paying 7.9% in sales taxes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the new revenue, Milwaukee will be positioned to improve emergency service response times. We will also be able to continue the innovative work of the Milwaukee Public Library,\u201d Johnson added.<\/p>\n

The state of Wisconsin estimates the new Milwaukee sales tax will bring-in $16 million per-month.<\/p>\n

But not everyone on Milwaukee\u2019s Common Council is happy about the new tax.<\/p>\n

Three aldermen, Andrea Pratt, Mark Chambers Jr. and Milele Coggs voted against the sales tax.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not want to see us fail,\u201d Pratt said during Tuesday\u2019s meeting. \u201cI also do not want to save a city by rejecting citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the voters who turned out to Milwaukee\u2019s public hearings on the sales tax oppose the idea as well.<\/p>\n

They told aldermen they either opposed the increase in prices, or resented the spending restrictions imposed on Milwaukee by state lawmakers.<\/p>\n

Those spending restrictions earmark the sales tax money for police, fire, roads, and other key needs. The restrictions stop Milwaukee from spending sales tax money on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, as well as the city\u2019s streetcar \u2018The Hop.\u2019<\/p>\n

Mayor Johnson says he expects to sign the sales tax ordinance \u201cin the coming days.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sales take could take effect as soon as January 1, 2024.<\/p>\n

\u2013 \u2013 \u2013<\/p>\n

Benjamin Yount is a contributor to The Center Square.\u00a0<\/a>
\nPhoto \u201cMilwaukee City Council\u201d by Milwaukee City Council.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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The post Milwaukee City Council Okays $16 Million Per-Month Sales Tax<\/a> appeared first on The Wisconsin Daily Star<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/wisconsindailystar.com\/news\/milwaukee-city-council-okays-16-million-per-month-sales-tax\/tcsquare\/2023\/07\/13\/ by Benjamin Yount \u00a0 Taxes are going up in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wi-daily-star"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4199"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4200,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4199\/revisions\/4200"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}