Referendum passed, now what?

On Nov. 4, a majority of Milwaukee County voters passed an advisory referendum in support of a 1 percent sales tax to provide $67 million in property tax relief and to increase funds for parks, transit, and emergency medical services (EMS).

With its passage, many of these same residents are wondering, “what now?”

For starters, it’s important to know that this does not start immediately. In fact, it will take a while for the process to play out. The referendum was advisory because the Milwaukee County does not have the power to levy a sales tax without first getting permission from the state. Now that it was approved by the voters, the torch has been passed to the state.

One possible outcome: If the governor is willing to put empowering language in his 2010 budget and the legislature agrees, we could see enactment in January 2010. Under this speedy scenario, the county could budget for this influx of funds and plan for long-overdue parks maintenance, begin the replacement of 150 broken-down buses, and finally provide much-needed property tax relief to Milwaukee County’s homeowners. This is the best-case scenario, but it’s far from a guarantee.

Another outcome: The governor doesn’t put the sales tax in his budget. Milwaukee’s state representatives would have to add the language into the budget or pass it independently of the budget for the change to go through. If this happens and the governor signs it, the enactment timeline would be similar, as would the outcome of enhanced transit, parks, and EMS along with the $170 in annual property tax relief to the average homeowner.

The no-action outcome: The governor and the state Legislature could choose to not do anything. This would leave us without a solution to the $300 million in deferred maintenance in our parks, we would lose one-third of transit service for all of Milwaukee County-say goodbye to Freeway Flyers and night and weekend service-and property taxes will continue to climb for homeowners.

These are the most likely scenarios for what the next few years hold. If you have a strong opinion on this, I encourage you to contact me. Better yet, contact the governor, your state representative, and state senator and let them know what you think. These problems aren’t about to fix themselves.

Chris Larson is supervisor of Milwaukee County’s 14th District, which encompasses southern parts of Bay View, the airport, and other parts of Milwaukee’s southeast side. He can be reached at chris.larson@milwcnty.com or (414) 278-4252.

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