MADISON, Wis. — After months of back-and-forth negotiations, a tentative agreement has been reached on shared revenue to change how Wisconsin shares money with communities across the state to help pay for critical services.

The compromise came just a day after GOP leaders threatened to take funding for Milwaukee out of the deal unless common ground could be reached by Friday, as lack of an agreement would have held up work on the budget by the Joint Finance Committee.

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Tony Evers and GOP legislative leaders announced Thursday a tentative agreement had been reached on shared revenue after months of back-and-forth negotiations
  • The deal would include a 20% boost in funds for local communities and no longer require Milwaukee to go to referendum to raise its local sales tax
  • Republicans and Democrats also reached a historic agreement on K-12 education funding for Wisconsin

One of the biggest hang-ups was whether Milwaukee County and the city should go to referendum and ask voters to approve raising the local sales tax to cover the costs of their pension system.

State Sen. LaTonya Johnson, a Democrat from Milwaukee, told reporters Wednesday a referendum would amount to a “death sentence” for the city out of fear voters would not support it.

“Those dollars are extremely important to Milwaukee to make sure that they can continue to just be able to remain solvent,” Johnson explained.

State Rep. Tony Kurtz, R-Wonewoc, discusses the details of the shared revenue bill in his Capitol office. (Spectrum News 1/Anthony DaBruzzi)

Last month, the Assembly passed a bill that included the referendum requirement for Milwaukee, which the state Senate had yet to approve.

After lengthy negotiations, political leaders announced Thursday afternoon, the provision would be taken out of the bill after all, thereby allowing the Milwaukee County Board and Common Council to approve a sales tax increase through a two-thirds vote.

“I don’t think that’s good for the state to have our biggest city go bankrupt, so in my humble opinion, this truly is a victory not only to give those tools to the city and the county, but it’s for the state,” State Rep. Tony Kurtz, R-Wonewoc, who spearheaded the legislative effort in the Assembly, said.

Among the final changes to the deal:

  • A 20% boost in shared revenue for counties and municipalities across the state compared to the 15% that was previously passed by the Assembly
  • Removal of the referendum requirement for Milwaukee to raise its local sales tax, as was included in the Assembly bill
  • Allowing Milwaukee County to raise its local sales tax by 0.4% instead of 0.375%

Though the deal still needs legislative approval, Gov. Evers took to Twitter on Thursday to announce the successful negotiations.

Aside from shared revenue, Democrats and Republicans also reached an agreement on education funding, including $1 billion for K-12 schools, with $50 million for reading and literacy and an additional $30 million for mental health programs in schools.

Related Stories