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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Finance & Personnel Committee Hears 2027 Proposed Budget on October 1, 2026

Common Council — Thursday, October 1, 2026

BodyMilwaukee, Wisconsin

SessionCommon Council

DateThursday, October 1, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 3:27:52

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:00

Today is Thursday, October 1st, 2026.

0:03

I'm Alder Woman Marina Dmitrievich, the chairwoman, joined by my vice chairperson Alderman Peter Bergellis, Alderman Scott Spiker is here, Alder Woman Millet Lake Hoggs, and Alder Woman Charlon Moore.

0:16

That does prevent us a present us, not prevent, present us a quorum to begin our 2027 City of Milwaukee budget hearings.

0:26

We're also on virtually here and appreciate anybody tuning in and welcome everybody.

0:30

We'll now be on item number one.

0:32

And we'll be on this item for a while.

0:34

And that's 26001.

0:38

Communication from the mayor relating to the proposed 2027 budget.

0:44

Please get used to this because I'll kind of read it into the file each time we go through piece by piece.

0:50

These are the areas that will be covered today.

0:52

Our budget overview, capital improvements, city revenue and city debt, grant and aid fund, the common council contingent fund, and tax stabilization fund.

1:06

So with that, we will now welcome and we'll be spending a lot of time together.

1:09

Our budget director, Nick Kovac.

1:12

And we do want to thank you and your team.

1:15

We know it's been many, many hours, weeks, days, months, um, to put this document together for us to go through together and possibly make any adjustments as needed.

1:25

So want to you to know that we truly think that.

1:28

Thank you for that.

1:29

So with that, then the floor is yours to begin.

Speaker 2

1:32

Uh thank you, Madam Chair and Committee members.

1:33

I'm Nick Kovac, Director of the Budget Management Division.

1:37

I'm very happy today to be able to present to you, Mayor Cavalier Johnson's proposed 2027 budget.

1:42

Uh we're going to start with this overview.

1:44

I have uh several slides I'll go through, and then Mason Levy will present capital improvements along with city debt.

1:50

So those will be together.

1:52

And then Nathaniel Hack will present city revenue and tax stabilization fund.

1:56

Those will be presented together.

Unassigned speaker

1:58

Sarah Osborne will present the grant and aid fund and Brian Reinders is here to present the contingent fund.

Speaker 2

2:03

Uh so that's the schedule for today.

2:05

I'd also I've mentioned about half the team's names.

2:07

I'd also like to thank uh Amanda Cervantes, Angeli Pettigrew, Tyler Caligaro, and Awa Fati, the other members of the budget and management division, who you'll be meeting, or you've met most of them already, uh, as we go through all of the various uh departments.

2:22

But today is m mostly overviews uh of of large sections of the budget.

2:26

And I'll begin with an overview of of the budget in its entirety.

2:30

Um the total proposed 2027 budget is 2.26 billion dollars.

2:38

The largest subset of that is the levy supported tax levy supported budget, which is 1.77 billion dollars.

Unassigned speaker

2:46

Within that 1.77 billion is the general city purposes budget, often referred, you know, generally speaking, that's those are the departmental budgets.

Speaker 2

2:54

So excluding for that is is pension capital debt and the contingent fund.

2:59

Uh that's 846.8 million.

3:02

So looking at the part of the overall budget that's not the levy supported budget, it's uh 346 million.

3:11

I'm sorry.

3:12

I skipped that is 492.6 million.

3:14

I skipped number two here.

3:16

The total proposed tax levy is much smaller than the levy supported section of the budget.

3:22

There are other revenue sources.

3:23

We'll have charts explaining all that.

3:25

So that 1.77 billion of levy supported activities and expense expenses are supported by 343.6 million of property tax levy, along with several other revenue sources, which we'll outline shortly.

3:39

The the portion of the budget that's not the 1.77 billion is 492.6 million.

3:45

That is composed primarily of enterprise funds, sewer water and transportation, also the grant and aid fund, which Sarah will tell you about later today, the county delinquent tax fund, and the settlement fund.

3:56

So I I've incorporated uh some pie charts here in years past when I've done this overview.

4:01

I've well there's some later pie charts, which you'll recognize from prior years.

4:05

But we've added in some pie charts that were part of the public outreach that my team, the budget management division, and the mayor's office team did.

4:13

We presented it to this committee earlier this summer.

4:15

We also presented it at uh quite a few smaller neighborhood meetings and the two big um the two big meetings at the libraries where the mayor just were summarized the requested budget before the proposed came in.

4:27

So one of our one of our goals with these slides is to help people visualize not just in numbers, but most people I think think better in pictures than numbers, although some people do think in numbers.

4:38

Um I think it's helpful to to look here at the general fund or the levy supported budget in blue, 1.77 billion, and you get a sense of the scale of that, that about 22 percent of the budget is self-supporting.

4:50

Uh and this this chart illustrates that.

4:52

Uh this chart then tells you.

4:54

So I'm remembering that yellow part, that's gone now, so now we're just looking at the general fund.

Unassigned speaker

5:00

Within the general fund, if you look at category of expense, most of these correspond to actual sections of the budget, but some of them we we made some adjustments to, which I can describe.

Speaker 2

5:07

When you look at debt, uh, which is Section D of the budget, pension, which is Section B, capital improvements, which is Section C, those are all part of the levy supported budget, and you can see they take up a really big chunk of the overall budget and actually more than half of the levy supported budget.

5:22

We also took out of the what we took out of the general city purposes budget, the blue there, uh two large special purpose accounts, which are part of Section A of the budget, but health care and workers comp they scale a bit with employee workforce size, but basically these are but they don't they don't always scale directly, especially on the large claims.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Budget Equity Analysis███████████████████████████████████35%

Public Works███████████11%

Fiscal Sustainability█████████9%

Public Transportation█████████9%

Public Safety████████8%

Engineering And Infrastructure██████6%

Engineering and Infrastructure█████5%

Public Engagement███3%

Public Education Funding███3%

Summary of Proceedings

Finance & Personnel Committee Hears 2027 Proposed Budget

On Thursday, October 1, 2026, the Finance & Personnel Committee of the Milwaukee Common Council, chaired by Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic, convened at 1:13 PM in Room 301-B of City Hall and virtually to begin hearings on the Mayor's proposed 2027 budget. The meeting covered the Budget Overview, Capital Improvements, City Revenue and Debt, Grant & Aid Fund, and the Common Council Contingent Fund. All five committee members were present (Dimitrijevic, Burgelis, Spiker, Coggs, Moore). The communication (260001) was not acted upon; a motion to hold it to the call of the chair prevailed 5-0.

Budget Overview

Budget Director Nik Kovac presented the $2.26 billion total proposed budget, with $1.77 billion levy-supported. The total tax levy is $343.6 million, up 2% ($6.7 million). The tax rate decreases due to higher assessments, but a typical homeowner's combined property tax and municipal services bill would increase by $1,654, driven by a $45.50 property tax increase and fee hikes.
The structural deficit remains large, with a $96.8 million gap closed primarily by $39.8 million from the Tax Stabilization Fund, $6 million from the Public Debt Amortization Fund, and $33.5 million in departmental reductions. State shared revenue is projected to increase by $5.5 million, tied to state sales and use tax collections, but remains $200 million below inflation-adjusted 1990s levels.
Key initiatives include $6 million cash transfer from the Transportation Fund for high-impact paving (34 lane miles), funding for three police recruit classes at maximum capacity (though recent classes average 30 recruits), 15 new firefighters for a fourth daily crew, and maintaining Sunday hours at Central Library plus two branches (reducing from four).
Ald. Spiker questioned the sustainability of drawing down reserves and noted that without a scientific survey, public input should be treated cautiously. Ald. Burgelis raised concerns about cutting 36 DPW positions while prioritizing roads. Ald. Coggs requested details on police recruit class costs and potential unused salary funds.

Capital Improvements

Mason Lavey presented a $338.5 million capital budget, up 15% ($43.2 million). Levy-supported borrowing is proposed at $116 million (same as 2026 adopted). Major investments include $19.2 million for local paving (record due to the $6 million transfer), $10 million for a new Municipal Services Building (total project $43.8 million over three years), $3 million for streetlight knockdown repairs, $6.1 million for Raze & Revive (55 demolitions, 7 affordable homes), and $2 million for police vehicle replacements.
The city has a $73 million estimate to maintain the current Municipal Services Building; replacement is deemed more prudent. The fire department receives $0 for vehicle purchases in 2027, relying on $10 million in unspent 2026 authority. Ald. Burgelis argued this sends a poor message about safety. Ald. Coggs requested data on insurance recovery for damaged streetlights. Ald. Chambers asked for capital costs for new library branches (MLK and Mitchell Street). Ald. Spiker noted that construction inflation means increased spending does not translate to more lane miles.
A 6-year capital plan is requested. LRB noted that IT capital costs are crowding out physical infrastructure.

City Revenue/City Debt

Nathaniel Haack presented revenue sources: $343.6 million property tax (19.4% of levy-supported budget), $218.2 million sales tax (up 2.6%), $323.3 million intergovernmental revenue (up $6.5 million). DPW major fees increase 3–3.6%, adding $3.5 million. Proposed parking permit doubling ($55 to $110), meter rates to $3/hour downtown, and $10 increase on most citations are expected to generate $6 million, transferred from Transportation Fund to capital for roads.
Comptroller Bill Christianson announced $712,000 additional in General Transportation Aids and $1.43 million more in Municipal Services Payment (after repaying a $1.9 million 2026 overpayment), totaling $2.14 million in new 2027 revenue.
Ald. Spiker questioned the narrative that higher parking fees directly fund roads, noting the Transportation Fund's fragility. Ald. Burgelis requested a breakdown of citation fees compared to peer cities and exploration of a shared parking arrangement with the county. Ald. Moore asked about the sustainability of fee increases for low-income residents.

Grant & Aid Fund

Sarah Osborne presented a $146.7 million grant budget, down 23% from 2026, primarily due to expiring ARPA and other COVID-era grants. Pre-COVID average was $58 million. Major decreases in DOA (ECO) and Community Wellness and Safety. The health department has new lead abatement funding. Police have new drone programs. The fund authorizes expenditure; individual grants still require committee acceptance.

CC Contingent Fund

Bryan Rynders presented the $5 million Contingent Fund, unchanged since 2007. Historically, 86.3% is spent each year; $1.65 million remains in 2026. The fund covers unbudgeted expenses, mostly legal settlements (primarily police and DPW) and year-end shortfalls. Ald. Burgelis requested a breakdown of settlement types and suggested the fund may need to be increased to avoid borrowing.

Tax Stabilization Fund

Presented as part of City Revenue. The mayor proposes a $39.8 million withdrawal (50% of the unassigned balance of $79.6 million), up from $32.3 million in 2026. The balance is historically high due to higher-than-expected sales tax collections, but officials noted this is not sustainable given the structural deficit. Ald. Spiker questioned reliance on reserves.

Key Outcomes

The communication (260001) was held to the call of the chair by a 5-0 vote.
No formal action was taken on any items; all presentations were for information and discussion.
Several information requests were made: breakdown of streetlight repair costs and insurance recoveries (Ald. Coggs), lane miles for high-impact paving (Ald. Dimitrijevic), 6-year capital forecast and city office space study (Ald. Burgelis), capital costs for new library branches (Ald. Chambers), citation fee comparisons (Ald. Spiker), and sales tax revenue distribution (Ald. Burgelis).
The committee will continue budget hearings on October 2 (City Attorney, Treasurer, Comptroller at 9 AM; City Clerk, Assessor, Municipal Court at 1 PM) and a joint public hearing on October 5 at 6:30 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Today is Thursday, October 1st, 2026. I'm Alder Woman Marina Dmitrievich, the chairwoman, joined by my vice chairperson Alderman Peter Bergellis, Alderman Scott Spiker is here, Alder Woman Millet Lake Hoggs, and Alder Woman Charlon Moore. That does prevent us a present us, not prevent, present us a quorum to begin our 2027 City of Milwaukee budget hearings. We're also on virtually here and appreciate anybody tuning in and welcome everybody. We'll now be on item number one. And we'll be on this item for a while. And that's 26001. Communication from the mayor relating to the proposed 2027 budget. Please get used to this because I'll kind of read it into the file each time we go through piece by piece. These are the areas that will be covered today. Our budget overview, capital improvements, city revenue and city debt, grant and aid fund, the common council contingent fund, and tax stabilization fund. So with that, we will now welcome and we'll be spending a lot of time together. Our budget director, Nick Kovac. And we do want to thank you and your team. We know it's been many, many hours, weeks, days, months, um, to put this document together for us to go through together and possibly make any adjustments as needed. So want to you to know that we truly think that. Thank you for that. So with that, then the floor is yours to begin. Uh thank you, Madam Chair and Committee members. I'm Nick Kovac, Director of the Budget Management Division. I'm very happy today to be able to present to you, Mayor Cavalier Johnson's proposed 2027 budget. Uh we're going to start with this overview. I have uh several slides I'll go through, and then Mason Levy will present capital improvements along with city debt. So those will be together. And then Nathaniel Hack will present city revenue and tax stabilization fund. Those will be presented together. Sarah Osborne will present the grant and aid fund and Brian Reinders is here to present the contingent fund. Uh so that's the schedule for today. I'd also I've mentioned about half the team's names. I'd also like to thank uh Amanda Cervantes, Angeli Pettigrew, Tyler Caligaro, and Awa Fati, the other members of the budget and management division, who you'll be meeting, or you've met most of them already, uh, as we go through all of the various uh departments. But today is m mostly overviews uh of of large sections of the budget. And I'll begin with an overview of of the budget in its entirety. Um the total proposed 2027 budget is 2.26 billion dollars. The largest subset of that is the levy supported tax levy supported budget, which is 1.77 billion dollars. Within that 1.77 billion is the general city purposes budget, often referred, you know, generally speaking, that's those are the departmental budgets. So excluding for that is is pension capital debt and the contingent fund. Uh that's 846.8 million. So looking at the part of the overall budget that's not the levy supported budget, it's uh 346 million. I'm sorry. I skipped that is 492.6 million. I skipped number two here. The total proposed tax levy is much smaller than the levy supported section of the budget. There are other revenue sources. We'll have charts explaining all that. So that 1.77 billion of levy supported activities and expense expenses are supported by 343.6 million of property tax levy, along with several other revenue sources, which we'll outline shortly. The the portion of the budget that's not the 1.77 billion is 492.6 million. That is composed primarily of enterprise funds, sewer water and transportation, also the grant and aid fund, which Sarah will tell you about later today, the county delinquent tax fund, and the settlement fund. So I I've incorporated uh some pie charts here in years past when I've done this overview. I've well there's some later pie charts, which you'll recognize from prior years. But we've added in some pie charts that were part of the public outreach that my team, the budget management division, and the mayor's office team did.

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