Takeaways from Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson's $2 billion proposed 2025 budget

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson will present his $2 billion proposed 2025 budget to the Common Council Tuesday morning, just over a month after he warned that some departments would be facing "difficult decisions."

Even so, Johnson and key members of his team told the Journal Sentinel the budget avoids layoffs and was crafted with the goal of avoiding service cuts that would be noticeable to the public.

Next year will be the second in which the city budget will be shaped by Act 12. The local government funding law went into effect in 2023, allowing the city to implement the 2% local sales tax that began Jan. 1 and boosting the revenue that returns to the city from the state, known as shared revenue. The law also came with significant increased costs , including for public safety and the city's pension, and many other non-fiscal policies aimed at the city.

Here's what to know about Johnson's proposed budget:

Milwaukee property tax levy would increase 2% in 2025, fees to increase

Under Johnson's budget proposal, the city's total property tax levy would increase by about 2%, from $317.7 million in 2024 to $324 million in 2025.

This means the median Milwaukee home valued at $166,500 in 2024 would see a total city property tax bill of $1,380.29 or an increase of about $62.06 from 2024, according to the city Budget Office.

The five major user fees — solid waste, snow and ice, stormwater, sewer, and street lighting — would also increase by between 2% and 6%. In all, the Budget Office estimated the fee increases would boost total costs by $18.75 per year, or $4.69 per quarter.

Budget Director Nik Kovac said if the city did not raise taxes and fees it would have to make cuts or pull from reserves in an unsustainable way.

"If your revenue does not adjust with inflation, then you begin to have a structural deficit," he said.

Johnson said his administration had questioned whether to increase fees that would cost even a couple of dollars more.

"I'm that focused in and concerned about what the impact is on individuals in our city, but it's important for us to make sure that we're not kicking the can down the road, that we're doing the right thing to make sure that we can have a government that is functioning properly with the resources necessary," he said of the decisions to raise property taxes and fees.

New city sales tax expected to bring in $192.9 million in 2025, shared revenue increasing

When the city's 2% sales tax went into effect on Jan. 1, estimates for how much it would bring in for Milwaukee in 2024 ranged from $184 million to $193.6 million.

The 2024 sales tax revenue is expected to come in closer to the higher end of that range — about $191 million this year, according to the city.

That figure is estimated at $192.9 million in 2025.

Additionally, the shared revenue the city receives from the state will increase by $5.55 million in 2025, bringing the total shared revenue to about $245 million, according to the city.

Funding from the sales tax and shared revenue helped the city avoid "devastating cuts" that would have been necessary with the inability in 2025 to continue propping up the budget with federal pandemic aid, according to city budget documents. Such cuts would have rendered basic city services "unrecognizable," the documents state.

Proposed budget seeks to close $87.3 million gap

The budget would employ a few strategies to close an estimated $87.3 million gap between expected revenue and departments' costs to continue providing the same service levels from 2024 to 2025, according to the city.

Increasing revenue from the sales tax and the state were both helpful, but the proposal would also include increased revenue from boosts in fines and forfeitures, pulling from reserves and departmental reductions.

The cuts to departments do not include layoffs, and city officials tried to design cuts so they would not be noticeable to the public, Kovac said. That means, for instance, that library hours will remain the same, including the Sunday hours the Common Council added to this year's budget , though other smaller changes are expected, he said.

Budget continues efforts to grow police, fire departments' staffing

Johnson's proposal budgets for the "maximum number" of new police officers, along with growing the Fire Department staff.

Like in 2024, the budget proposes three classes of 65 police recruits to achieve an average sworn staffing level of 1,645 in 2025. This year, those attempts fell short, with recruitment for the classes proving difficult.

Currently, staffing for police is at 1,587 sworn officers and the Fire Department is at 199 daily staff, a city spokesperson said.

"It's not a Milwaukee thing, everywhere across the country just cannot get the bodies," Johnson said on the city's recruiting efforts. "But it's still a priority to me and that's why in the budgets I've produced the past couple of years, including this one, is calling for the maximum number of classes with the maximum number of recruits."

Act 12 requires the city to have daily staffing of 1,725 police officers and 218 members of the Fire Department by a decade after the city's new sales tax went into effect earlier this year.

The legislation also requires the city to maintain the number of police officers and the daily staffing level in the Fire Department minimally at the numbers from the previous year, excluding any who are in state- or grant-funded positions. If it fails to do so, the city will lose 15% of its shared revenue through Act 12.

Kovac said the city expects to maintain minimum staffing requirements, which requires the Police Department to maintain about 1,455 officers and 199 daily Fire Department staff.

"Public safety is a central part of this budget," Johnson said. "We're making a number of investments in that, continuing what I started just last year and wanted to do regardless of what the consequences of Act 12 were."

The budget also includes continued funding to replace police and fire radios and for trailer cameras in areas with high levels of reckless driving to record incidents and use in subsequent enforcement, Kovac said.

Fire department budgeted to re-open a station

Johnson's budget also includes significant boosts to the Fire Department.

Kovac said the budget includes the hiring of 15 more firefighters, which will allow the department to re-open a firehouse and operate another fire engine, along with budgeting for six more paramedics to operate another paramedic unit.

Which firehouse will reopen will be up to Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski, Kovac said. At a media panel event on Thursday, Lipski was asked about his wants for the budget and indicated he would like to reopen the firehouse at West 8th Avenue and South Hayes Street .

This year's budget builds on similar aspects from the 2024 budget. That budget allowed for the department to reopen Fire Station 17, near the Milwaukee airport, this year.

That station's reopening —and this year's budget — are a reversal from seven stations closing since 2018.

City borrowing would increase to address capital projects

The budget also includes an increase in borrowing from $96 million to $116 million in 2025, according to city budget documents.

The borrowing would fund projects in the 2025 capital budget such as replacing police and fire radios and completing a $17 million port cruise dock terminal. The dollars would also help the city take advantage of federal grants for major street and bridge projects, which often require the city to pay for part of the project.

What happens next with the Milwaukee budget?

Next, the budget proposal goes to the Common Council.

The council's powerful Finance and Personnel Committee will hear from departments throughout October, and the full 15-member council can amend the document before adopting the 2025 budget on Nov. 8.

Johnson's signature is also required.

There are two public comment opportunities scheduled.

The first is 10 a.m. Monday before the Finance and Personnel Committee .

The second is a joint public hearing at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 7 in the Common Council Chambers.

This story will be updated.

Alison Dirr can be reached at David Clarey can be reached at