The 2024 budget was an unusually easy one that benefited from the new 2% city sales tax and a surge in shared revenues from Wisconsin Act 12, as well as the opportunity to spend the last $110 million tranche of federal pandemic relief aid. As they prepared the 2025 budget, however, the Mayor and his budget team saw a return to more traditional challenges. Faced with the expiration of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, new Act 12 obligations to increase police and fire department staffing levels, and typical cost to continue challenges, budget officials initially warned of an $87 million budget gap that might necessitate the resumption of staffing and service cuts in non-public safety departments.
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