Blog
12/18/17
Albuquerque is new national leader for bus rapid transit
A new leader has been crowned in the movement to advance the quality and speed of bus services in the U.S. After nearly a decade of looking to Cleveland’s HealthLine as the best model for bus rapid transit (BRT) in the nation — as we did in our Picking up...
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12/1/17
Is teacher turnover still a challenge in metro Milwaukee? Latest research says yes…and no
Can schools in metro Milwaukee and Wisconsin maintain a stable corps of effective educators for the students they serve and the subjects they teach? The question is a crucial one. Among the factors within a school’s purview that drive student achievement and long term economic outcomes in adulthood, access to...
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10/31/17
Our latest take on the 2018 Milwaukee County budget
While Forum members and supporters know that we publish budget briefs each year analyzing the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, and Milwaukee Public Schools budgets, some may be unaware that our work does not stop there. After releasing our budget analyses, we continue to monitor budget deliberations, and we offer...
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10/26/17
My Experience with the Kansas City Streetcar
Few local policy issues generate more emotional debate than the Milwaukee streetcar. And, if a recent Marquette Law School poll is any indication, this issue is likely to remain controversial even after the initial streetcar line opens a year from now. While there are several aspects to the streetcar debate,...
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10/16/17
2018 proposed budget shows structural imbalance has come to a head
In our 2018 budget brief, we find that the City of Milwaukee’s unsustainable revenue structure and rising pension costs cast huge shadows over the 2018 proposed budget. A report we published earlier this year, On the Money?, found that Milwaukee relies far more on State aids than other peer cities...
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10/13/17
VRF Dominates Milwaukee County Budget Debate for Second Straight Year
At this time last year, in the Forum’s review of the Milwaukee County Executive’s 2017 recommended budget, we marveled at how unique it was to see a single issue dominate the budget and its deliberations. This year, in our analysis of the 2018 recommended budget, we sheepishly admit we were...
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9/28/17
Is metro Milwaukee prepared for the new knowledge-based economy?
Our latest research finds that the four-county Milwaukee metropolitan area has made strides in increasing educational attainment levels and adding scientists, engineers, and technology workers to the regional talent pool. Yet, with regard to other indicators tied to innovation — including small business formation and venture capital funding — our...
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9/25/17
Building Infrastructure Challenges Highlight City, County Limits
The further the Forum gets into our examination of local government infrastructure challenges, the more we discover vulnerabilities in the different types of infrastructure owned by our largest local governments. In the first two reports of our infrastructure series, we found that Milwaukee County is facing a serious burden in...
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9/8/17
Region’s Property Tax Collections See Only Modest Growth
Of all the local government and school district policy issues researched by the Public Policy Forum, perhaps none generates more contradictory conclusions than our annual review of property taxes and values in the region. This year’s report — which we release this morning — offers a good case in point....
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