By Larry Sandler of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Feb. 28, 2009
Examples of Declines
* Milwaukee would lose $466,906, or 0.2% of its $229.9 million shared revenue allocation.
* Mequon would lose $62,251 from its yearly allocation of $424,418, or nearly 15%.
Related Chart showing shared revenue cuts by county and municipality can be viewed by clicking here.clicking here.
When it comes to shared revenue, a 1% cut isn’t a 1% cut for everyone.
On the surface, Gov. Jim Doyle’s proposed 2009-’11 state budget would trim shared revenue to local governments by 1% next year, an $8.5 million slice out of the $850 million-a-year program.
But the actual impact would vary significantly among Wisconsin’s counties and municipalities, because of a formula based on property values and population.
If the Legislature agrees, the wealthiest communities – including Waukesha and Ozaukee counties and several Milwaukee suburbs – would take the biggest hit on a percentage basis, up to the 15% maximum reduction allowed by the budget. But because those communities aren’t receiving much shared revenue now, the cut in total dollars would be relatively low.
By contrast, less affluent communities – including the Milwaukee city and county governments – would lose just a fraction of a percentage point of their shared revenue. But those communities would see some of the biggest cuts in dollars, because they’re getting the largest shared revenue payments now.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is relieved it wasn’t worse. He said city officials were expecting a 5% to 10% cut. Instead, Milwaukee would lose $466,906, or 0.2%, of its $229.9 million shared revenue allocation.
Barrett says the cut still would complicate 2010 budgeting and local officials are still unhappy about any cut to shared revenue, which has been frozen for years. Yet Barrett says he’s glad Doyle, a fellow Democrat, “didn’t balance the budget on the backs of the municipalities.”
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker sees it differently, even though his county’s $225,982 cut would be 0.4% of its $56.3 million in shared revenue. The cut is less than half what county number-crunchers had expected and shouldn’t be too difficult to manage, county Budget Director Steve Kreklow said.
Nonetheless, Walker – a Republican expected to challenge Doyle in 2010 – says the governor has “shifted a lot of the costs onto local taxpayers and local governments,” instead of slicing more deeply into the state bureaucracy.
For his part, Doyle argued his proposed 1% reduction in local government aid is one of the smaller cuts in state government programs.
The governor told Journal Sentinel editors and writers that the shared revenue cut is less than those pushed through by his predecessors in less-dire circumstances.
Doyle described the funding as a way to prevent local governments from making cuts to police and fire services. The funding also serves as a check that prevents steep property tax increases, he said.
Among the suburbs:
• Shared revenue for Waukesha County is expected to drop 15%, a loss of $149,757, for 2010 and to remain at that level the following year, said Norman Cummings, director of administration. The 15% cut puts the wealthy Waukesha County on the high end of Doyle’s revenue cuts.
• For the City of Waukesha, shared revenue is expected to drop 4.4%, a loss of $87,820, city Finance Manager Steve Neaman said.
• Mequon City Administrator Lee Szymborski said his city would lose nearly 15% of its shared revenue – the maximum cut allowed under Doyle’s plan. Mequon would lose $62,251 from its yearly allocation of $424,418. Szymborski would not say if the governor’s formula was fair, but he said the loss would be tough.
• West Bend City Administrator Dennis Melvin said his community would see its shared revenue drop about 2%, or $36,731, from about $1.5 million. Melvin said the decline in state funding would require city budget cuts, although he called the loss manageable.
“We certainly understand that we’re going to have to share in the pain,” he said.
• Oconomowoc Finance Director Sarah Kitsembel said her Waukesha County community would lose about 8%, or $28,674, of the $340,870 it now gets from the state.
Local officials also are concerned about cuts in other state aid programs, as well as new limits on local property taxes, Kitsembel said.
Milwaukee, for example, is gearing up for a perennial fight over recycling aid, with about $1.5 million at stake, said Paul Vornholt, the city’s director of intergovernmental relations.
Darryl Enriquez, Steve Schultze and Sharif Durhams of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report