1 Percent Sales Tax Hike Proposed For Milwaukee County

MILWAUKEE COUNTY, WI — Citing a need to modernize public buildings and provide property tax relief, Milwaukee County officials are proposing to increase the county's sales tax by one percent.

According to a Wisconsin Public Radio report from Monday, the proposal was introduced by leaders from each of the county's 19 municipalities. State Rep. Evan Goyke, D-Milwaukee, and state Sen. La Tonya Johnson, D-Milwaukee, intend to bring the proposal before the state legislature this fall. If it passes muster there, it could be on the ballot in Spring 2020 in the form of a referendum.

According to estimates,$160 million would be raised in the first year alone, with one-quarter of that money coming from out-of-town visitors.

The combined sales tax rate in Milwaukee County is 5.6 percent.

“This is a really great first step,” MMAC President Tim Sheehy said in a Milwaukee Business Journal report Monday. “No question this is a difficult lift in Madison. We made (legislative) leaders aware of what we’re doing. Nobody shot us out of the water to start.”