African American Roundtable Blasts City and State Leadership Over Revenue Plan
Group Calls for Less Spending on Police, Less Taxes, and More Community Investments to Improve Quality of Life for Milwaukee Residents
Today, the African American Roundtable (AART) blasted Wisconsin Republicans for their proposed shared revenue plan and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier “Chevy” Johnson for his support of it.
The revenue plan would increase shared revenue to 20% of the overall sales tax. In order to access the additional shared revenue, the City of Milwaukee would have to keep overinvesting in police and likely add over 100 police officers. This plan would also return school resource officers into local schools.
In addition, the plan would allow both the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County to have a referendum for a sales tax, of which the city would ask for 2% and the county .375%. These changes would still leave the City of Milwaukee with a $15 million deficit annually and Milwaukee County with a $5 million deficit annually.
AART believes this revenue plan does more harm for Milwaukee than good and continues to add to Milwaukee’s financial problem. The cost of police outpaces the potential additional revenues, so this does not solve the problem but rather delays it.
"This deal fails Milwaukee. There is nothing we should celebrate, said Devin Anderson, Campaign and Membership Director of AART. “This forces Milwaukee to continue their harmful investments in police, taxes the poorest residents, and continues to make austerity budgets likely."
“We are deeply disappointed in the deal Milwaukee’s mayor made with the state to undercut our community's request to divest and defund police,” said Markasa Tucker-Harris, Executive Director of AART. “Every budget cycle for the last three years residents have overwhelmingly asked to decrease spending on police and increase resource programs that nourish residents’ mental, physical, and economic well-being. Policing does just the opposite.”
“It is utterly appalling to even consider any sales tax with inflation, the lack of access and resources to support residents' mental health needs, and quality family-sustaining jobs. We reject this as an answer to solving the city's poor mismanagement of our city resources and stand by our call to defund police to support improving the quality of life for residents, not worsen it by investing in more policing,” Tucker-Harris added.
"Our communities know what we need to grow and thrive together; we know it’s not more police,” said Dr. Cassandra Bowers, Board President of AART. “This deal is for a handful of politicians elected to represent us to govern only for the wealthy few and well-connected.”
“These are the same politicians that shame and blame us for the hardships they create, trying to distract us while they close our hospitals, deny our schools resources, and hand the money they take from our communities to their corporate donors, police backers and the wealthiest in our state," Bowers added.
AART released a report in 2021 about how Milwaukee police pensions are bankrupting the city. Read it here. The organization has repeatedly sounded the alarm about the true cost of police, to no avail. AART is continuing its fight alongside residents through its LiberateMKE campaign to fight against wasteful spending on police and for more community investments that will make a real difference in the lives of the people of Milwaukee.
