By Paul Thurman
Cutting the outrageous size of the Milwaukee County Board might soon be a reality. A state bill, obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel would require a referendum to be held this April which, if passed would cut the county supervisors’ pay to $15,000, reduce staff size and further limit the Board’s budget to just .25% of the county’s levy.
$15,000? This might sound like a preposterously low amount for a county as large as Milwaukee, but consider the following: Today a county supervisor makes $50,000 per year. A healthy amount over the Median Income for a family in the area they serve. And while the job of a county supervisor is an important one, it’s not exactly fulfilling the full-time compensation they are receiving. If that wasn’t enough, Bruce Murphy of Urban Milwaukee pointed out last year that the Milwaukee County Board costs taxpayers millions of dollars each year. In this he lays out a painful truth:
“…The national Association of Counties showed that 10% of all board members [nationally] were located in just one state: Wisconsin” he goes on to say “Even huge states like New York and California had fewer county supervisors”
The answer seems to be obvious. And to each of the 12 municipalities that make up Milwaukee County, it is. On an advisory question presented to voters in April of last year,all 12 municipalities agreed 18 county supervisors is too many, and they agreed the board should be reduced to nine. What did the board do with a unanimous voice? They rejected the measure.
2012 was not the first year that this was brought up. In September of 2011 Rep. Joe Sanfelippo, who at the time was a county supervisor, proposed cutting the board pay to $15,000. What did the board do in response? Struck the measure down 6-0.
For too long Milwaukee taxpayers have paid the price for an oversized, and often redundant county government. Now it’s time for County Executive Chris Abele and the legislature to fix the dysfunction in Milwaukee County government.