Wisconsin has handed cash-strapped Milwaukee a lifeline to stave off bankruptcy, allowing the city to raise sales taxes without voter approval as part of a larger local government and K-12 schools funding plan, according to a bipartisan deal announced Thursday by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican lawmakers, the Associated Press reported. Evers called it a “transformative” deal that will rescue Milwaukee from the threat of bankruptcy, “something that would have devastating consequences for communities in every corner of our state and our state economy as a whole.” As part of the deal, the GOP-controlled Legislature agreed to spending an additional $1 billion on K-12 schools, along with increasing payments to families whose children attend taxpayer-funded private voucher schools. The much-discussed local government funding plan has taken on urgency in the Legislature this year. Milwaukee officials have warned about dire consequences and deep cuts as the city faces bankruptcy by 2025. Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson warned lawmakers of “catastrophic budget cuts” if a deal for more funding wasn’t reached. Milwaukee, the state’s largest city, faces an underfunded pension system. Milwaukee has increasingly become reliant on federal pandemic aid to fund its essential services, which city leaders have said cost $150 million more per year to maintain. The largest sticking point in reaching a new funding deal had been who would determine whether Milwaukee city and county can raise the local sales tax to pay for pension costs and emergency services.
