Instead of cutting taxes this year the Milwaukee Board of School Directors voted to increase its Fund 80 levy by $77.7 million.
Fund 80 is a special fund for non-classroom activities that serve the entire community including adult education, recreation and day care services.
By increasing the fund, the district’s total tax levy is $320 million this year.
MPS officials told the Policy Forum that over $40 million of the Fund 80 increase will be spent on a new recreation community center and aquatic facility at the former Browning School and Browning Playfield location that has been in the planning stages since 2018.
The district had previously considered issuing debt for the project but now will pay cash to avoid interest costs. The remaining amount will be used to address a backlog of repair needs for other MPS-owned recreational facilities.
The $77.7 million could have been used to reduce taxes this year.
——
Over the last few months, the central argument from MPS and referendum proponents has been that these resources will preserve the status quo for the next five years, and they have laid out no certain path toward improvement in educational outcomes. Preservation of the current state should be acceptable to no one.
