MILWAUKEE — Three of Milwaukee's critical public resources have to share their requested budgets to keep their operations going as-is, before hard decisions have to be made by the mayor's office this fall.
The budgets for Milwaukee police, fire and public library have to get to the mayor's office on Tuesday after the police department underwent what leaders called a stress test to see what it would look like if they had to cut their resources - if the MPD's budget was trimmed by up to 25% or nearly $70 million.
Last month, the police department had to lay out how cuts to their department could lead to eliminating officer positions and an entire police district altogether. During the initial presentations, the fiscal policy director for the mayor's office says safety on our roads has been a priority to the mayor's office like "Vision Zero," to prevent traffic deaths. But with police being one of the most expensive items on our city budget, something may have to give. Community members, however, say the timing of these changes comes when rising crime is at the top of their minds.
"We're in the loom of falling off a cliff," said Molly King, fiscal policy director for the mayor's office. "Our financial system is dire and so we need to make tremendous and extreme cuts to sustain our budget."
Milwaukee resident Xavier Sims told TMJ4 News, "We need a police presence here; it's too many wild accidents, Kia boys, people getting killed on the street every day. We need the police presence to at least deter some of it."
It's important to note that receiving the three budget submissions doesn't mean any decisions will be made today. The mayor will ultimately sign off on the city's budget later this November.
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