Leveraging federal funds for our police department keeps our streets safe. Repairing and improving the KK River channel will enhance the value of nearby neighborhoods and add to the city's green space. Cleaning up the environmental problems at the old Tower Automotive site will lead to future development, more jobs and an increase in the city's tax base. Investing in high speed and commuter rail will enhance Milwaukee's standing as the state's center of commerce and a national destination.

These are the types of activities I want to pursue for funding. These are investments that will pay off in the future and investments that are worth making. We must continue to grow Milwaukee.

In order to grow Milwaukee, we will need to capitalize on partnerships at all levels. Gov. Doyle and I recently formed a partnership with the Milwaukee donor community to study the finances of the Milwaukee Public Schools.

I'm expecting the work and findings to be completed within the next few weeks. The governor and I will then present a report and prepare legislation to be taken up by the State Legislature.

I can tell you that the briefings I have had on the schools so far are some of the most sobering and difficult meetings I have had since becoming Mayor.

The fiscal challenges facing MPS are serious and will require both short and long term solutions.

There are a number of factors that drive the district's financial bottom-line: enrollment, excess facilities, district spending and state school aid formulas.

As you know, for years I have been fighting to fix the flaws in the funding of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. No matter how you feel about school choice, the fact is Milwaukee property taxpayers pay a disproportionate share of the program's costs. These costs get attached to the Milwaukee Public School levy, drive up our property taxes and decrease the amount of money that flows into the classroom.

I am hopeful today that this scenario is about to change.

Gov. Doyle has included in his budget a provision that phases out over five years the property tax burden caused by not including school choice program students in the calculation of school aids for Milwaukee. If this provision is included in the final state budget -- and I strongly encourage all of you here to contact your state legislator and tell him or her to support the provision -- Milwaukee taxpayers will receive $38 million in property tax relief once the phase-in is fully implemented. In the first year alone, we will receive $10 million in tax relief.

This is a huge step forward and I want to express my thanks to Gov. Doyle.

Fixing the school aid funding flaw is only one piece of the puzzle. Unfortunately, there are a lot pieces and not all of them fit together nicely.

As we have worked through the fiscal review of MPS, the issue of school governance has naturally risen from the discussion. I said a week or so ago that it is time for this community to have a very frank and serious conversation about the future of our schools. I don't believe that I am alone in asking if the structure we have in place today is the best structure to address the issues facing Milwaukee Public Schools now and into the future.

The review of school finances does not address the governance issue. It is the district's finances and performance that raise the governance issue.

I have the responsibility to do all I can to ensure the growth and stability of our great city. That responsibility includes doing everything I can to improve the Milwaukee Public Schools.

Hiring and retaining great teachers, getting more dollars into the classroom and preparing our students for a bigger and more competitive world are what I want -- what most of us want.

Improving our schools will not be accomplished with any magic potion or any quick fix. That's why now is the time to have that very frank conversation about the future of MPS.

It's a conversation that should be conducted with civility and reason. Teachers are dedicated public servants. A career in the classroom is significant and one involving a great deal of sacrifice. Parents rightly want the best education possible for their children and our students should always be our main concern.

Unfortunately, city government is not immune to the international economic downturn.

I will prepare our next budget so that it's balanced and doesn't over-burden our residents and businesses. There will be tough cuts.

Not surprisingly, the city's finances are closely related to the condition of the economy. During my first five years in office the city's budget has balanced city services while dealing with declining State aid in a fiscally responsible way. That trend will continue as we address our priorities in difficult times.

Gov. Doyle's budget contains relatively modest Shared Revenue cuts. The cuts could have been deeper and I appreciate the Governor's efforts to maintain a funding freeze in 2010. Nevertheless, the city's budget picture is very cloudy.

It is more important than ever that the mayor and the Common Council address these serious fiscal issues as collaboratively as possible. To that end, I am moving forward on a suggestion offered by Ald. Michael Murphy and Nic Kovac that we implement joint fiscal planning discussions, which will also involve the comptroller and representatives from the private sector. In addition, the reconstituted Capital Improvements Committee has the potential to provide serious and well-informed discussion regarding our budget priorities for infrastructure and public buildings.

I've also directed my cabinet to continue developing partnerships that will produce efficiencies and tax savings.

From the day I took office, I have made public safety my top priority. With scarce municipal resources, I still put more cops on the street. The cooperation among police officers, the clergy, community agencies and individuals has led to some very gratifying results. Homicides of young African American men plunged 65 percent last year -- from 54 in 2007 to 19 in 2008. That's still too many homicides and we have much work to do, but it is an astonishing one-year drop.

Violent crime is down in all categories. I am grateful to all the men and women of the Police Department for their hard work.

The city funds numerous activities that help to reduce violence in our neighborhoods. From the City Attorney's office and the Department of Neighborhood Services, to the Health Department and its focus on family violence prevention through the Commission on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, we are making a difference.

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4 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by mike3333 on March 2, 2009 at 12:39 p.m. (report)

Expanding the public sector while the private sector is contracting: geniuses. The private sector funds the public sector. Let's explain this in a manner even Socialists might understand: YOU ARE KILLING THE GOOSE THAT LAID THE GOLDEN EGG. Hello, McFly....

Posted by corrina252 on Feb. 26, 2009 at 8:09 p.m. (report)

The entire foreclosure problem in housing was simply the extending of credit to non-credit worthy borrowers. Lord Obama, the most merciful one, should just let these homes go into foreclosure and then have them bought by people who can afford them. Owning a home is not a right. Can't afford your mortgage? Too bad, go rent. The sense of entitlement that ineffectual liberals embody is stunning.

Posted by corrina252 on Feb. 26, 2009 at 8:07 p.m. (report)

It is absolutely maddening to live in an area where my elected officials consists of extreme leftists such as Barrett (the most do-nothing big city mayor in the country), Russ "partial birth" Feingold, Herb Kohl, Gwen "mafia racket" Moore and Gov. Jim "Indian gaming" Doyle. These bozos would not know how to create a real private-sector job if it smacked them in their lazy, ineffectual liberal faces.

Posted by sas_tarr on Feb. 25, 2009 at 2:03 p.m. (report)

Why a foreclosed property is "cutting into a tax base"? A bank is legal owner of foreclosed property and must be required to pay all the city taxes as well as keep an eye on its property, have it in manageble and sanitary condition, and must be keeping streets around its property clean or pay the city tickets... That will teach banks not to rush into any foreclosures. And if a bank fails to pay city taxes, the bank must go bankcrupt as well as any individual non-payer.

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