(The Center Square) – People living and visiting Milwaukee will likely be paying more under Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s latest spending plan.
The mayor unveiled his 2027 city budget that is built on a property tax increase, a series of fee increases and increases in parking costs, all aimed at making the city’s ends meet.
"These are not easy budgets to put together," Johnson told reporters.
Milwaukee is looking at a $100 million gap between cash-on-hand and the money needed to pay the city's bills.
Johnson is proposing a 2% property tax increase in his new budget. That'd take the tax bill for a typical $192,000 home to $1,500 dollars. The mayor says homeowners can expect a $45 property tax increase next year.
But it's not just property taxes that the mayor wants to raise. He is also looking at city fee increases.
Milwaukee charges everyone who lives in the city fees for everything from sewers to ice and snow removal. Johnson said those fees will jump 3%.
Right now, those fees are more than $650 a-year. The mayor said those fees will jump another $16 a year under his plan.
Visitors to Milwaukee can also expect to pay more. Johnson is expecting to bring in more money by hiking the cost to park in Milwaukee.
The mayor wants to hike the price at downtown parking meters to $3 per hour. Currently those meters cost either $2.25 or $2.50. The mayor also wants to add $10 to the cost of parking tickets. And his budget would double the cost for overnight parking permits, from $55 a year to $110.
Still the budget is not expected to fix Milwaukee's long-term budget needs. Johnson said he's looking to lawmakers for that help.
"Ultimately, I'd like the state to be the partner that it should be so we can make these investments without hitting people in the pocketbook," he added.
Milwaukee's city council will now review the mayor's plan and could make changes. But City Council President Jose Perez said the mayor's plan is mostly a done deal.
"We agree on 96% of the budget," Perez told reporters.