$20 Million discrepancy in sales tax revenue reported received.
Senator Van Wanggaard today released data showing that nearly between 90-99% of the revenue Milwaukee received under 2023 Act 12 was spent on raises for city employees, including the mayor and common council, and its unfunded pension obligation. The exact percentage is unclear, because of a discrepancy in the amount of sales tax money Milwaukee reported it spent versus what Milwaukee reported it received. Milwaukee Police officers, excluding the Chief of Police, had the smallest percentage budget increase benefit since Act 12 went into effect.
“The Legislature passed Act 12 to help Milwaukee avoid bankruptcy due to its underfunded pension, and to improve public safety,” said Wanggaard, who represents a portion of the City of Milwaukee. “I started looking at this to see how Milwaukee spent their Act 12 money. I never expected to fall down this rabbit hole. While I’m glad they’re paying off the pension as required, it appears they’re more interested in rewarding everyone from the mayor to the dog catcher[1] with raises, rather than investing in police and public safety.”
NOTE – As near as Senator Wanggaard’s office can tell, Milwaukee does not employ a dog catcher.
Discrepancy in Amount of Sales Tax Revenue Received
Complicating any analysis of how Milwaukee spent its Act 12 revenues is a disagreement over how much revenue the city received as a result of the sales tax. According to a memo written by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, there is a discrepancy of nearly $20 million between sales tax revenue reported spent by Milwaukee, and the amount which was reported received by the city’s Comptroller, and cited in the actuarial valuation for the City retirement system. According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau:
“…the City of Milwaukee budget office reported $182.5 million in actual expenditures tied to sales and use tax revenues in 2024, while the City of Milwaukee Comptroller reports $200.6 million in sales and use tax revenues received in in 2024.”
“It looks like the City ‘lost’ nearly $20 million,” said Wanggaard. “Maybe there’s a simple explanation as to why the Comptroller is giving one set of numbers and the city is saying it has $20 million less than that. But, right now, it doesn’t make sense. Where did it go?”
Pension and Raises Account for 90-99% of “New” Money
Wanggaard also created two tables using data from the City of Milwaukee budget website and Legislative Fiscal Bureau proving that 90-99% of “new” revenue went to either pension payments or increased pay for city workers, other than police. Pay raises accounted for 70-76% of those revenues depending on if you believe the city’s budget amount or the Comptroller’s amount of sales tax revenue. [2]
Police Budget Gets Smallest Increase
In addition, Milwaukee increased spending on all other City functions by an average of 35% over the last two years. The police budget increased just 11%, receiving only two-thirds of the next smallest budget increase, the Mayor’s office.
NOTE – The Milwaukee Budget Summary document states that $499,692,703 in salary and wages was budgeted in 2025. However, the total money paid in salary in wages is scheduled to equal $525,788,418.
“I’m going to be blunt. The Legislature helped Milwaukee because it said it couldn’t afford to hire more police and was going bankrupt – quickly,” said Wanggaard. “And what do they do? They balloon their budget and give large salary increases for everyone but police. They leave rank-and-file police officers without a contract for three years and hurt recruitment and retention efforts at the Milwaukee Police Department. It’s a bait and switch.”
Milwaukee’s Use of COVID Money Exacerbates Issue
Among the reasons that Milwaukee’s budget spends so much of its Act 12 revenue on salary increases is their use of one-time American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) moneys for increasing the salary, wages and benefits of employees. Milwaukee gave over $140 million in ongoing wages to employees with one-time ARPA dollars in 2024. In 2025, Milwaukee replaced the one-time ARPA funds with the ongoing Act 12 revenues dollar-for-dollar. In some cases, Milwaukee increased their expenses even further.
“Milwaukee is re-creating the same problem that led to Act 12. It’s creating unsustainable ongoing budget levels, all while short-changing public safety,” said Wanggaard. “Milwaukee needs to take a look in the mirror. Do Milwaukee leaders want to turn Milwaukee into Chicago, Baltimore or Washington DC? Or are they going to be serious about making Milwaukee neighborhoods safer?
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me,” Wanggaard said. “There isn’t going to be a second chance. More money won’t be coming.”
“Investing in its Department of Administration, ‘Special Purpose Accounts’, or getting affordable housing grants, as the Mayor said, isn’t going to make Milwaukee safer,” Wanggaard concluded. “It’s way past time for Milwaukee leadership to get serious about investing in public safety and police. It’s literally now or never.”
Wanggaard also unveiled an interactive website detailing salary and spending increases across Milwaukee’s government since Act 12 was enacted. Visitors to the website can view breakdowns of salary and spending increases, and explore a searchable database of jobs in Milwaukee city government and their salary increases since Act 12 because law. This website can be found here.
In a Facebook post, the Milwaukee Police Association responded,
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