Dan Diliberti, Milwaukee County Treasurer, submitted a letter to Supervisor 
Elizabeth Coggs, the Chairwoman of the County Board’s Finance and Audit Committee. This letter was reproduced by BizTimes.com.
In the letter, Diliberti paints a very grim, but completely accurate, picture of the County’s finances, which has only been worsened by County Executive Scott Walker’s absolute refusal to put anything before his gubernatorial campaign:
In the short run, if Milwaukee County continued to finance transit while laboring under state tax freeze rules, funding would only come at the expense of drastic cuts to county parks, dangerous cuts in courts and public safety operations, reductions in mental health services and costly deferred maintenance throughout the county.
Milwaukee County is the last major urban area in the country to fund transit with property taxes. Yet, Milwaukee County cannot legally change that funding formula on its own because state statutes prohibit counties from creating a dedicated funding mechanism for transit.
Milwaukee County has done everything possible to remove this burden on Milwaukee County property taxpayers. The county has worked with legislators to devise legislation that was approved by the Legislature. The county has borrowed money to purchase needed replacement busses and equipment. The county has raised user fare levels to the highest in the nation.
Now the county has run out of options and money.
Diliberti goes on to say that the only viable solution is for the state to create a RTA so that there is a dedicated funding source for the transit system. To convey the importance of this need, Diliberti suggested that the County take an extreme stance with the state:
That is why I am asking the Finance Committee to consider whether Milwaukee County can responsibly continue to fund local Mass Transit beyond July 1, 2010 – the start of the new state fiscal year?
If the Board were to take action to limit county funding to the first six months of 2010, Milwaukee County would be making a similar statement that the private transit operator did in 1975 – that we have run out of options.
We have reached a crisis point and no one but the State can save our transit system. If Milwaukee County limited its transit funding to the first half of 2010, it would be a clear message that the state must deal with its responsibility to establish an RTA with a dedicated funding mechanism.
The crisis in funding the Milwaukee County Transit System has reached the point that it is an RTA or bust. It is time for the state to step up to the plate and take an action that every other state with a large urban county has already done. The State of Wisconsin must take action in order to preserve transit in this region.
I have added my voice to Milwaukee County, civic, business, labor and community groups that have already joined forces to lobby for the state to take action. The state legislature needs to understand that the only viable way to preserve mass transit in this metropolitan area is to create an RTA financed with a dedicated funding source. Absent this action, mass transit will face a rapid decline and certain death in this region.
Public Transit is essential to our economy, but it cannot survive in Milwaukee County without an RTA.
I would like to add one other recommendation. If an RTA with a dedicated funding source were created, in order to provide real and direct property tax relief, the State Legislature should also include a corresponding reduction in the current Milwaukee County Property Tax Cap. Accordingly, if enacted, the current State imposed Milwaukee County Property Tax Freeze amount would be reduced by the amount (approximately $18 million) of Milwaukee County property taxes currently allocated to the Milwaukee County Transit System.
The Finance and Audit Committee rejected Diliberti’s suggestion and instead chose to go with a $20 wheel tax.
The Editorial Board at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel agrees with Diliberti that the need is great, but backs off of taking such an extreme stance. They also disagree with the thought of a wheel tax, but instead suggested raising the property tax.
I believe that Diliberti might be on to something. Walker’s refusal to look at any new revenue streams have led the County to this place of economic woe. While the thought of the buses and the parks being shut down completely is utterly terrifying and would have devastating effects on the local, regional and even statewide economic systems, I don’t know if Milwaukee County has many other options.
I do not think that Board has enough votes to pass either the wheel tax or that large of an increase in the property tax. Or to be more accurate, I don’t think they have enough votes to override the guaranteed veto by Walker.
And even if the wheel tax or an increase in property tax was approved, there is still a $15 million dollar hole in the budget. That would still mean that there would have to be major cuts somewhere.
The County could do across the board cuts, but this would cripple many of the safety services programs and put them in serious jeopardy of being taken over by the state, as they did with the Income Maintenance program a year ago. This would not only jeopardize everyone’s safety but would also raise our taxes anyway.
The other option would be to do something akin to Diliberti’s suggestion, and target the non-mandated services, like the parks and/or the transit system. This is a terrifying proposition, but if this were to be pursued, it would have to be done correctly.
I think leaving the systems run until July 1 would be too late for a couple of reasons. One, I don’t believe the County has enough money to run them even that long. Two, no politician is going to vote to raise any tax just months before the next election.
If this plan is to work, the cut off date would have to be much earlier. I would suggest April 1, after the first quarter. This would allow the politicians in Madison more of a cushion between the vote and the election, making it more likely for them to go along with it. Secondly, it would bring home the point that Milwaukee County cannot keep on affording these systems without a dedicated funding source in a much more clear and forceful statement to the powers that be in Madison.
I also think that the RTA, while a very worthwhile long term goal, is not appropriate for now. The County has shown that they are very capable of running the system when it is properly funded. Trying to get all the parties in southeastern Wisconsin to agree to one version of a RTA, and then get the other legislators to also agree will take much more time than we have to spare.
I believe the need is so great that our regional representation needs to get both the transit sales tax bill and the parks sales tax bill passed as soon as they are back in session.
If they fail to do so, I don’t know when or if Milwaukee County will be able to recover and become the place it once was.
You can help send this message to the folks in Madison by joining your voice to ours. Please sign the petition located at the left of this page, calling on Governor Doyle and the state legislature to pass these much needed bills. If we can get them to pass these bills, not only will it save the parks and the transit systems, but it will also give us some much needed property tax relief. And after you sign, tell all your friends, family members and neighbors to also sign it.