Mayor Johnson Talks about Budget Repair Bill

Muskego Mayor John Johnson has received hundreds of emails about Governor Scott Walker's proposed budget repair bill. City residents, business owners, and mayoral colleagues from across the state are exchanging messages, and they're all asking the same thing, Johnson said.

"Everyone wants to know what it means for Muskego or for their city," he stated. "And the only answer anyone has right now is that we don't know for sure."

Johnson went on to say that he doesn't necessarily disagree with Walker's bill, but said cutting collective bargaining altogether may not be the answer.

"Maybe getting rid of collective bargaining is overdue, I don't know," he said. "Cutting it out entirely seems like throwing the baby out with the bathwater."

Muskego, Johnson, said has been negotiating a new police contract for the last couple of months that falls in line with Walker's proposal that public employees pay more for their healthcare and their pensions. While police and fire would be exampt under the budget repair bill, Johnson said they shouldn't be.

"By taking police and fire out of the issue, there's the potential to pit employee against employee," he said. "If collective bargaining gets cut, then it should be across the board." Johnson noted that he's a former cop - he served as the city's police chief before retiring and running for mayor - so he understands what that means.

As far as what the budget repair bill could mean for Muskego's bottom line, Johnson said that assuming the bill passes in its current state with the 5.2 and 12 percent contributions to pension and health benefits, respectively, the city could save $250,000. It's a lot of money, he noted, but that doesn't tell the whole story.

Muskego receives roughly $500,000 a year in state shared revenue. If that revenue is going to be drastically reduced or eliminated altogether, Muskego would have a $250,000 hole in its annual budget.

"That's a lot of money and then how do we make that up?" he added. "We can't ask property owners to pay more so then we look at savings through reduced services or other options."

Johnson also wryly noted that as the first state to pass collective bargaining laws, Wisconsin could also be the first state to do away with those same laws.