This paper is designed to assist in the exploration of Milwaukee’s revenue side of the budget equation by investigating ways in which other city governments across the country raise revenue, and hypothesizing the impacts these alternative revenue options might have on Milwaukee’s budget. It stems, first and foremost, from the conclusion reached in the Forum’s 2009 report that overreliance on state shared revenue is a severe threat to the city’s fiscal health. Recognizing that threat does not make the political and logistical issues surrounding new revenue sources any easier to resolve, but it does create an imperative to at least ask what alternative revenue structures might exist, and whether they may be suitable for Wisconsin’s largest city.