Milwaukee Post
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/885501
10 • Milwaukee County Post • October 6, 2017 New international concourse proposed at Mitchell Airport increasing the amount of taxes levied, up $2.9 million from 2017 figures to a total of $294 million. The addition would come from new construction — not existing property owners. Based on state statutes, Whaley-Smith said the county has few other options for adding revenue. For the second consecutive year, Abele is attempting to tap into one of the state- approved mechanisms: imposing a wheel tax on all residents with vehicles registered within the county. This past year, the county began impos- ing a $30 wheel tax, which was tacked onto the state's $75 license plate renewal fee. This go-around, Abele is proposing a $60 wheel tax to help shore up the gulf between revenues and expenses. Whaley-Smith and the board also dis- cussed a $1.6 million revenue line item from parking fees. Specifics are not known at this time, but Abele's plan calls for charg- ing for parking at popular, heavily used green spaces — including the lakefront. At face value, the parking plan drew the ire of a number of board members. "It sounds very costly just to enjoy a day at the park," Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic said. "This is very un- Milwaukee." Abele's plan calls for forming a task force that would look more deeply into determining where parking fees would be assessed. Several board members balked at the idea of approving the line item without more specifics. Supervisor Peggy Romo West said she had difficulty following such logic. "I don't understand how the county execu- tive is comfortable with that," Romo West said. "That's very trouble- some for me." In a big-picture sense, Supervisor Michael Mayo Sr. said he had reservations with Abele's budget plan. "This is going to be a very interesting budget," Mayo Sr. said. "I'm concerned about it. A lot of this stuff is doom and gloom." The County Board's Finance Committee will begin its review of the draft budget over multiple meetings this month. The full County Board will gather resi- dents' feedback at a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30. The venue will be announced at a later date. The board is slated to review and act on the Finance Committee's recommendations at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Nov. 6. Under statutes, Abele has authority to veto any of the board's changes to his budget, though a super majority of the 18-member body can override any of Abele's vetoes. By DAN MUCKELBAUER Post Editor MILWAUKEE — Noting Foxconn's announced expansion into the region, Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele proposed a new terminal for foreign flights at General Mitchell International Airport as part of his 2018 budget plan presented Thursday at the airport. "With the anticipated economic impact of the Foxconn development, passenger travel and freight shipments are only expected to increase at Mitchell," Abele said in his statement. Earlier this month, Gov. Scott Walker approved $3 billion in incentives for the Taiwanese electronics maker to build a massive $10 billion plant for manufactur- ing flat screens. The company announced Wednesday that it chose land in Mount Pleasant in Racine County. The goal is to demolish the E Concourse in 2018, the airport's oldest concourse, and replace it with a terminal with multiple gates that can handle more flights, increase passenger satisfaction and com- fort, and house all necessary U.S. Customs and Border Patrol services, Abele said. The terminal could be expanded as passen- ger traffic increases, he added. Abele's spending plan includes more than $25 million in borrowing and airport funds to begin designing a new interna- tional terminal for General Mitchell International Airport. He said "the airport will design and construct a new interna- tional terminal, at no additional cost to the taxpayers." County Supervisor Jason Haas, whose district includes the airport, said: "I'm not convinced it's a good idea to add $25 mil- lion to the county's debt to build a new ter- minal for a private corporation that has already received $3 billion in taxpayer financed incentives." Abele noted 10 new nonstop routes were added in the last year at the airport, including to Guadalajara, Mexico. The county executive anticipates more inter- national travel. "Milwaukee County is working with airlines to expand international flights to other points across the globe to meet the business and recreational travel of the cit- izens of Wisconsin and Northern Illinois," he said. The new terminal design is intended to be expandable so the airport can add to its international capacity in the future as pas- senger traffic increases. By comparison, Chicago Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans unveiled a nearly completed 10-year plan for O'Hare International Airport that would add 30 gates to the 185 it currently has, including boosting its international area. County: Parks parking fee questioned by supervisors continued from Page 1 Romo West By DAVE FIDLIN Special to the Post MILWAUKEE — Faced with a $19.4 million short- fall in an already tight budg- et, Milwaukee Public Schools officials are in the process of reviewing their options with less than a month to go before the dis- trict's 2017-18 budget needs to be finalized. A confluence of factors, including rising health care and pension benefits costs and cuts in revenue sources, have left Superintendent Darienne Driver and other officials within her admin- istration to look at what can be done to shore up a deficit in the district's $1.1 billion spending plan for this school year. Several pieces of the funding puzzle still need to be put in place this month, but concrete information has been trickling in this fall. On the revenue side of the ledger, MPS will be receiving $4.9 million less in federal Title I aid this school year. The funds have typical- ly helped the district in serving low-income stu- dents. On the expense side, recent information has revealed MPS will have to allocate more dollars toward benefits costs, as a result of rising premiums. Pensions and other retirement-related benefits have come in at $6 million more than anticipated when the heavy lifting on 2017-18 budget plan began early this year. The amount the dis- trict will shoulder for med- ical benefits is also coming in $9 mil- lion high- er than anticipat- ed. O n e i m p o r - t a n t piece of the puz- zle that is not yet f u l l y known is how much money the dis- trict will receive from the state. Enrollment data tal- lied Sept. 15 will play into that equation. "We're still waiting for those final numbers to come through," Driver said at MPS' regular School Board meeting Sept. 28. While the district waits on the last few pieces of information to come in, Driver and other district officials last week said steps are being taken to shuffle staffing at some of the dis- trict's schools as part of a routine adjustment process each fall. "For every school that lost enrollment, we have others that were over 100 students from our projec- tions," Driver said. Despite the financial pinch, district officials adamantly said there are not any plans in the works to trim teacher staffing to compensate for financial deficits. "Based on our budget estimates … we are not anticipating any layoffs," Shannon Gordon, senior director of finance and budget services, said at the School Board meeting. This spring, the district resorted to trimming staff to address what at the time was considered a nearly $50 million gap in the budget. Districtwide, 96 teaching positions were eliminated, as were 98 classroom assis- tants. While much of the dis- trict's attention at the moment is focused on clos- ing out the 2017-18 school year budget, Driver last week hinted a broader dis- cussion of future cuts is on the horizon. All of MPS' current schools will continue oper- ating through next spring, Driver said, but she indicat- ed her administration could be recommending school closures for the 2018-19 school year. "I would be irresponsible if I didn't say it's something we should be discussing," Driver said. "It really is a conversation we must have." Despite the gloomy fore- cast within MPS, Gov. Scott Walker in recent weeks has discussed how the state's newly passed biennium budget is earmarking a two- year commitment of $11.5 billion toward public K-12 education across Wisconsin. "Our budget proves you can provide more money for our schools and lower prop- erty taxes at the same time," Walker said in a statement. "Total state investment in K-12 education is at an all- time high in actual dollars." Plans call for MPS adopt- ing the 2017-18 budget at the end of the month. Driver said the district must sub- mit its certified property tax levy to the city by Nov. 2. MPS officials scramble to mint 2017-'18 budget Abele cites Foxconn, flight expansion Driver