Wisconsin cops might get defunded...because there's no money to maintain them

An outcry of “defund the police” has emerged in recent days from the George Floyd-inspired protests. And naturally Republicans are trying to take this to an extreme, claiming that some people want policing to go away, in a pathetically cynical attempt to stop their flailing and tanking poll numbers over the last couple of weeks.

No one thinks there shouldn't be some kind of police force, but Dems and others need to be reiterating that what is being discussed is a reimagining of how we do policing. If that reimagining leads to reductions in taxpayer funding for cops, I say “so be it.” Some of this is because it is because education, roads and social services are likely a better use of limited taxpayer dollars in dealing with society’s problems instead of trying to be “tough on crime.”

But while recent events may lead to a change in priorities (I hope sit does), there could be a simpler reason for cuts and changes to PDs in Wisconsin. That’s because local governments are facing major budget deficits as revenue sources have dried up in recent months. and some things are going to have to be defunded in the coming months.

And while Governor Evers announced a block grant to all Wisconsin local governments (in late May), it likely won’t come near filling the budget holes that have opened up.

On May 27, Gov. Tony Evers announced “Routes to Recovery” grants that total $190 million to local governments, drawing down $1.9 billion in federal COVID-19 aid the governor controlled.

But local governments cannot use that $190 million to make up lost revenues, said LWM Executive Director Jerry Deschane. “We appreciate the ($190 million), but that’s not where the real hole is,” he said. “Lost revenue is the far bigger problem.”

Wisconsin cities and villages get about one-third of their budgets from sources like room taxes, fines and forfeitures, parking fees, EMS reimbursements, licensing fees and other programs, Deschane said. Municipal water utilities serve both businesses and homes.

Cities and village adopted budgets for 2020 that balanced revenues and expenses last fall, Deschane noted. But, beginning in mid-March, “Those revenues cratered. They’re just gone.”

Those lost outside revenues are a big deal, because most Wisconsin cities don’t collect their own sales taxes (just counties, and only at 0.5%), which means the property tax and money from other levels of government has to pay for nearly everything else. And much of that money goes to pay for police, especially in a large city like Milwaukee, where the police department accounts for nearly half for what is spent from the City’s General Fund.

Deschane tells Wisconsin Eye’s Steven Walters that because state lawmakers won’t give local governments needed flexibilities on the property tax, the locals will badly need additional aid from Congress to stay afloat for next year..or sooner!

Local government leaders also won’t pick a “political fight” in the Capitol by asking that state-imposed limits on their 2021 property tax levies be removed, he said.

Instead, local governments need federal aid to keep paying COVID-19 bills, Deschane said. “There has to be a federal backstop for that revenue loss.”

Those property tax limits will lead to automatic cuts if no action is taken, because there is no opportunity for local governments to make up for those losses. Well, except for one source that’s become more common in Wisconsin – wheel taxes.

We’ve already discussed how an infrastructure bill would go a long way toward filling holes in the state’s Transportation Fund that exist because people are driving less and paying less gas tax. But it also would help cities, towns and counties fix their roads without having to use up scarce property tax resources. This could either be through direct money to those localities, or passed through the state in the form of higher aid payments.

A lot of the big decisions for local governments have been frozen until we find out if any help is coming down from DC. But we’ll know one way or the other in the next couple of months, which will also be right around the time that we find out if any kind of rebound in those room taxes and parking fees is coming as the economy reopens (or not). And then we will see just how tight things will be, and how many budget cuts or tax increases are going to be required for 2021.

And hey, if Republicans in state government could use a tight budget in 2011 as a reason to make major cuts to education and local governments (which have not been restored), why can’t local governments use tight budgets a decade later as a reason to reduce the massive amounts of money spent on law enforcement, and use it in a more cost-effective manner? And isn’t smaller, more effective government something “conservatives” should favor anyway?