@TheTable: Milwaukee’s fire chief hoping for shared revenue solution

Doing extra with much less might assist with a finances disaster, but it surely’s not seen as a sustainable answer when you’re operating a fireplace division and responding to a rising variety of emergencies.

“Dire Straits actually does not start to explain it,” stated Milwaukee Fireplace Chief Aaron Lipski. He was a visitor on @TheTable Thursday night time.

Governor Tony Evers and Republican lawmakers are within the technique of making an attempt to work out a shared income deal that will ship more cash again to native governments to pay for public security providers like hearth and police.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson has been speaking with key lawmakers for months concerning the finances disaster dealing with the town.

Chief Lipski, a fourth-generation Milwaukee firefighter says tens of millions of further {dollars} are wanted to interchange what has already been reduce or closed.

“If we’re speaking a couple of hearth engine, and if I may get another hearth engine, I may open one of many many closed hearth stations that sit all through the Metropolis of Milwaukee proper now.“ Lipski stated. “One million {dollars} funds slightly below half of 1 hearth engine.”

The opposite monetary disaster dealing with the town has to do with its promised pension prices for firefighters and police. The pension is severely underfunded.

Mayor Johnson is making an attempt to persuade lawmakers an area gross sales tax improve is required to assist fund the town’s long-term pension obligations and keep away from extra drastic finances cuts or the potential for chapter.

Gov. Evers on Thursday stated he would veto a GOP shared income proposal that supplied the town the choice to boost the gross sales tax by two cents on a greenback.
Evers stated the Republican plan had too many restrictions, however he is not against rising shared income or a gross sales tax improve for Milwaukee.

Lipski just isn’t a part of the negotiations however like everybody else within the metropolis, he’s watching and ready to see how all of this performs out in Madison.

“I do not know if it is the most suitable choice on the desk. However I’ll inform you it’s the closest we’ve got gotten as a metropolis and as a county to getting actual, actual restorative funding to get out of this gap,” stated Lipski

Watch the complete dialog within the video on the high of this text.

Charles Benson and Shannon Sims interview key individuals in our neighborhood throughout TMJ4’s @TheTable section weeknights at 10 p.m.

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