Finance & Personnel Committee Meeting - May 6, 2026
Finance & Personnel Committee Meeting - May 6, 2026
The Finance & Personnel Committee of the Milwaukee Common Council met on May 6, 2026, from 9:19 AM to 1:07 PM, with all five members present (Chair Dimitrijevic, Vice-Chair Burgelis, Alds. Spiker, Coggs, Moore). The committee considered 26 agenda items, including appointments, financial reports, ARPA fund reallocation, payroll, and bond issues. The most debated item was the reallocation of $617,215 in unspent American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Lianna Bishop, Zilber Family Foundation, testified in support of The Bridge Project, which provides unconditional cash stipends to low-income pregnant mothers. She cited a 67% decrease in housing instability and over 1,000 applications for 122 initial spots.
- Colleen Foley, Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, testified in support of Eviction Free MKE (right to counsel). She reported that in 2025 the program served 2,088 city residents and has served over 31,000 since 2021. Default judgment rates dropped 40% and eviction filings fell 13% citywide. Every dollar invested yields $4.66 return.
- State Representative Ryan Clancy (District 19) testified in support of both programs, emphasizing their transformative impact and urging the committee to “double down on proven strategies.”
Discussion Items
- Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Hotline Report (Item 1): Comptroller’s Office presented the 2025 annual report. The hotline received 83 complaints (vs. 79 in 2024), 14 actionable, 3 substantiated. Abuse remained the most common type. A motion to place on file carried 5-0.
- ARPA Fund Reallocation (Item 7): The administration proposed reallocating $617,215 from closed-out projects to various programs. Two substitute amendments were offered: Substitute A (Ald. Spiker) would allocate $300,000 to The Bridge Project and $317,214.37 to Eviction Free MKE. Substitute E (Ald. Burgelis and Moore) proposed a broader split: $150,000 to Eviction Free MKE, $150,000 to Employ Milwaukee Earn & Learn, $55,000 to the City’s Summer Youth Intern Program, $120,000 to ECO energy efficiency upgrades, $75,000 to down payment assistance, and $67,000 to The Bridge Project. After extensive debate, Substitute A’s components failed on separate roll calls (first: 1-3-1; second: 2-2-1). Substitute E was introduced but before a vote, the committee voted 4-1 to hold the item to the call of the chair, with a plan for a special committee meeting before the May 12 Common Council meeting.
- Pension Cost Recovery (Item 8): Adopted unanimously; directs departments to prepare summary on reimbursable overtime and extra-duty contract pension costs.
- City Information Management Committee (Item 9): Ordinance passed to expand membership and increase meeting cadence to bi-monthly due to rapid changes in IT and AI.
- Vacancy and Fund Transfer Agenda (Item 10): Approved with one exception: the Media Producer position for Police Department was held for further discussion at the Public Safety and Health Committee. Other positions approved. Fund transfers were also approved, including $2.5M from DPW Infrastructure salaries to operating due to higher-than-expected vacancy rates.
- Carryover of Fund Balances (Item 11) and Contingent Fund (Item 12): Adopted to close 2025 financial books.
- Fire and Police Revenue Reimbursements (Items 13-14): Adopted.
- Sole Source Contracts (Items 15-16): Approved/placed on file after presentation by Purchasing.
- Classification Studies (Item 17): Placed on file; included market study for lab positions in Waterworks and Health Department, costing ~$450,000 annually. DER noted this is the final large market study in a five-year cycle.
- Sewerage System Revenue Bonds (Items 18-20): Adopted in order. The refunding will release ~$9 million in trustee-held funds and achieve ~$1.5 million annual debt service savings through 2033 in the sewer fund.
- Grants (Items 21-22): Adopted.
- Travel, Rates of Pay, Positions (Items 23-25): Adopted.
- Place on File (Item 26): Resolution creating ARPA Funding Allocation Task Force placed on file as no longer necessary.
Key Outcomes
- Appointments confirmed: Jerry Allen and Deborah Ford to Employees’ Retirement System Annuity and Pension Board; Steve Mahan and Molly King to Deferred Compensation Plan Board. (All 5-0)
- Health & Wellness Program (Item 6) held to call of chair.
- ARPA Funds (Item 7) held 4-1; special committee meeting to be scheduled before May 12.
- Police Media Producer position held for further review.
- All other items adopted/passed as noted, mostly unanimously.
- Meeting adjourned at 1:07 PM.
Meeting Transcript
2026. Thank you for being here. We have a full quorum, which is wonderful. And we are joined by the Vice Chairperson Alderman Peter Bergelis, Alderman Scott Spiker, Alder Woman Millele Coggs, and Alderwoman Charlon Moore. That provides us the quorum to do the people's business today. Let's start out with item number one, which will be replaced by item number five due to a request. So we'll take five first and then go to item number one. Number five is 252161. Reappointment of Ms. Molly King to the deferred compensation plan board by the mayor. Ms. King, come on up and let us know why you'd like to continue serving on the deferred compensation plan board. Well, first thank you, madam chair and committee member for taking up this reappointment and out of order for the record. I'm Molly King, the city's benefits director. And I have been I have had the honor to serve on this board since 2018. Yes, I was only 15 when I started. But I've had the honor to serve on this board since 2018, and it's the work that we this board has done from a time I've been to analysts in the budget office to the fiscal policy director in the mayor's office to now the benefits director, seeing the work and evolution through all this um plan has been an honor to be a part of it. It went from I remember about 600,000 to over a billion dollars today. So our employees are doing what so uh financial wellness that's important to our employees. So in my current terms, I've had the honor and privilege of serving as both the executive vice chair for the executive finance committee and the executive board with an amount of an amazing amount of uh partners with it on that board, a very smart group. I can't imagine um serving with you know to keep you challenging and all this very stimulating. So I've had the privilege of serving with uh I think Miss Mahan, who's also up for a reappointment today, have the honor to serve with him also on this board. Um, we've had some great work ahead of us. We were able to make decisions on current programs that we're doing current design and also the future strategic goal and plans for this um for this different compensation plan that impact our members. Again, we want to make sure our member uh serve and work and retire with dignity, right? And so that is what this plan is all about, and professionally is my role as again as mentioned in the mayor's office, budget office, and now the benefits director has given me a strong foundation of fiscal stewardship as an employee benefits and uh responsible governance, and I take this rule really seriously, right? Because I want to focus on making sure that this plan is well managed and working in best interest for the employees and the retirees. So, with that uh madam chair and committee member, I respectfully ask for your the opportunity to continue serving on this deferred compensation board to better employees and our retirees. Okay, thank you. Thank you for um taking up this this extra work really. I mean, we all have many things that we do, and we don't have to sign up for these, and it compliments your work. Any discussions of this confirmation? So move okay, quick question. Yes, uh, Alder Woman Moore moves confirmation of Ms. King and Alderman Spiker has a question. Um, thank you for your service. Just wondering when did you start serving on the board? Since 2018. Under Mayor Barrett has appointed me at that time. And then for the mayor's office, I guess the attendance record is based on since the last confirmation or the attendant's record, I believe, is based on the last confirmation, which I think Miss Um Bed Con Beth is online. She was gonna be here, but just for the record, I did ask what my comp my attendance was in the last, and I had one um absent for the entire term. Pass on 1920 or something exemplary like that. Okay, no, happy to support things. Okay, great. Thank you for your service. Confirmation has been moved by Alder Woman Moore. Discussion of the confirmation of item five, objections to confirmation, hearing none so it ordered. Thank you. Thank you. We'll now move back to item one.
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