(The Center Square) – Republican lawmakers are not being shy with their criticism of the plan for Milwaukee’s mayor to raise salaries at city hall.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson recently proposed a sweeping pay raise policy that would boost his salary from $147,000 to $169,000 a year.
The proposal would also mean pay raises for Milwaukee’s police chief, fire chief city treasurer, city council president and aldermen.
The pitch to pay people more comes just months after lawmakers at the Wisconsin Capitol agreed to allow Milwaukee and Milwaukee County to raise their sales taxes.
On Tuesday, a number of those Republicans blasted the mayor’s plan.
“Wait. I thought Milwaukee was on the brink of bankruptcy,” Rep. Barb Dittrich, R-Oconomowoc, said on social media. “I didn’t vote for the shared revenue increase so that elected officials & hi-level admins could pad their pockets.”
Rep. Bob Donovan, R-Greenfield, echoed those thoughts.
“The state didn’t save Milwaukee so local politicians could enrich themselves,” Donovan added.
The anger from the statehouse, however, does not appear to be stopping the pay raise push at city hall.
Milwaukee Common Council President Jose Perez said the city council will give it a serious look.
“We’ll talk about it, and we have questions on where the long-term funding is coming from, how we sustain it,” Perez said. “But executive pay is an issue that hasn’t been dealt with at the city for many years, over 15, and we want to make sure that we are competitive and retain talent.”
The plan breaks down to essentially a 15% pay raise for elected leaders in Milwaukee, and a 10% pay raise for about 60 others.
No one is saying exactly how much the pay plan raise would cost the city. Milwaukee is waiting to see about $16 million per-month, or less than $200 million a year, from its new sales tax when it takes effect in January.
