A file was introduced with the purpose of directing the City of Milwaukee’s budget office to prepare a model 2021 police department budget showing a 10% reduction in resources.
Let’s keep in mind that the 2020 police budget consumes just over 45% of the City’s general fund revenues compared to funding for the Milwaukee Public Library (at just under 4%) and the Milwaukee Health Development at just over 2% for the same year.
In fact, for the last few years, the budget of the police department captures every single property tax dollar generated in the city plus several million more and in 2021, as in years past, the police department is asking for more.
Couple that with the fact that the state shared revenue program that in the past paid the entirety of the cost of the police department and left the city with millions of additional dollars to invest in infrastructure and other areas, is simply broken and we have a funding system that is simply unsustainable.
Don’t the African Americans who live beyond the city limits in communities in adjacent counties deserve the same protections and justice that are being advocated for in Milwaukee and other large American cities?
