Category Archives: State Government

WisDOT’s new Zoo Interchange plan includes expansion; hearings scheduled

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The Wisconsin Department of Transportation will hold a hearing March 22 and March 23 on one of those things Gov. Scott Walker thinks is more important than education or transit — a bigger Zoo Interchange.

WisDOT has revised its proposal for the Interchange, reducing the estimated price tag from$1.9 billion to a mere $1.7 billion, plus about $65 million for alterations to nearby streets. (Earlier estimates put reconstruction and expansion costs at up to $2.3 billion — WisDOT doesn’t explain how the projected cost dropped by $400 million.)

The new plan, called the Reduced Impact Alternative, includes freeway expansion. From the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement:

While an 8-lane Reduced Impacts Alternative would result in less efficient traffic operations (and increased congestion) through the design year than any of the previously-developed Modernization Alternatives, the reduction is not significant (see Section 3.3). A 6-lane version of this alternative would not provide acceptable traffic operations (delay, level of service), and therefore is not offered as a reasonable alternative.

Under the old plans, WisDOT would need to acquire 6 to 32 residences for reconstruction and expansion. The revised plan calls for the acquisition of eight homes, in the form of one multi-family apartment building three businesses. The work on nearby streets would lead to the acquisition of one commercial building containing two businesses, according to WisDOT documents.

The new plan greatly reduces the impacts around 84th St.

The old plans are still included in WisDOT’s alternatives for reconstruction, but it’s pretty clear which road the agency is traveling down.

The hearings on the new plan will be on March 22, 2011, 2-7 p.m. and March 23, 2011, 4-8 p.m. at State Fair Park, Tommy Thompson Youth Center, gate 5, 640 S. 84th St., West Allis (Milwaukee County Transit System Route 67).

The Walker budget — part 3

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Holy payback! Gov. Scott Walker wants a 68% debt service increase to pay back transportation debt!

That’s an amazing increase and is even 21% more than the Wisconsin Department of Transportation asked for!

In FY10 and FY11, WisDOT will pay about $151.3 million in debt service; the agency asked for $287.1 million for 2012 and 2013; and Walker is recommending an astonishing $346 million.

Walker’s proposal is $194.6 million more than the 2010-11 figure and $58.9 million more than WisDOT sought.

Why this big increase? We don’t know. Walker’s proposed budget doesn’t tell us other than to say there is a re-estimate. For what? By whom? Yes, he is up to his old county tricks of withholding important information from the public footing the bill.

And Walker is pumping money into big road and unnecessary freeway expansion projects — the Zoo Interchange and North-South I-94 here in Milwaukee County — while cutting transit, local road aids and the money the state pays counties to take care of state roads. Transit, under Walker’s proposal, will move to the general fund, where it will compete for resources with education and social services, which Walker is also cutting. He also proposes to grab a share of sales tax revenue, which traditionally funded things like education and social services — and use it for transportation instead.

Who needs decent schools at a time of increasing global academic competitiveness when you can have wider roads in a time of declining oil resources instead?

Maybe all this laying of concrete is Walker’s tribute to himself: cement head, cement state.

The Walker budget — Part 2

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Here is a presentation on the impacts of Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget on Milwaukee Public Schools, as given by the district Finance folks during Thursday night’s Strategic Planning and Budget Committee meeting.

A cut of a cool $74 million.

Ald. Michael Murphy, meanwhile, said that his very rough, very back-of-the-envelope estimate is that the governor’s budget will be a $30 million hit to the city.

The Walker budget — Part I

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Why, oh why, should City of Milwaukee property taxpayers subsidize some rich kid attending a private school in River Hills?

Gov. Scott Walker says he wants to “phase in” a repeal of income limits on students enrolled in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. From his budget:

The Governor recommends the following changes to the income eligibility requirements for the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program for students who did not attend a Choice school in the 2010-11 school year as either a choice or nonchoice pupil as follows: (a) repeal all income eligibility requirements to receive the state-funded tuition payment; (b) prohibit the participating school from charging tuition above the state payment for pupils with family incomes below 325 percent of the federal poverty level; (c) allow participating schools to charge tuition above the amount of the state payment for pupils with family incomes above 325 percent of the federal poverty level; (d) determine family income as it relates to the federal poverty level only at the time of initial application; and (e) require the participating school to cite the amount of the state payment in the letter of acceptance.

Let’s think about this one for a minute. Walker wants to repeal income eligibility criteria for anyone who did not attend a Choice school previously. That’s one helluva “phase.” (Plus, it is hard to believe that students enrolled in Choice schools this year will be ultimately exempted from this particular gravy train. Of course parents of the relatively few kids who wouldn’t qualify for the Choice subsidy will scream bloody murder, and it’s a good bet legislators will listen. )If this particular piece of budget goes through, look for it to be broader than it is.

Walker’s budget also would expand the Choice program to include any qualifying school in Milwaukee County.This is very, very, very bad news for city of Milwaukee property taxpayers. Here is why:

Each Choice student is publicly funded to the tune of $6,442 this school year, a figure Walker proposes in his budget to hold flat.

Of that $6,442, a generous $2,473.73 is deducted from MPS’ state aid. MPS levies property taxes to offset the state aid loss. This school year, city property taxpayers ponied up more than $50 million to pay for the Choice program.

Under Walker’s proposal, very, very, very wealthy kids would be eligible for the Choice program and would be able to go to school in the suburbs. For each of those kids, MPS would lose money from its (greatly reduced, under Walker’s proposal) state aid pot. The district in turn likely will raise property taxes to recover the money now subsidizing rich kids’ private school educations.

Thus, you have it. The school system charged with educating some of the poorest students in the state will be forced to subsidize the suburban private school tuitions of children from very comfortable or wealthy families. The district will be allowed to recover the money from homeowners in one of the poorest large cities in the country.

Meanwhile, kids living in Milwaukee County suburbs — even poor kids — would not be eligible to attend schools in their own communities under the Choice program. Suburban school districts would be spared the financial hit that Milwaukee residents will bear so that rich city kids can be subsidized at suburban private schools.

Huh. Go figure.

Full disclosure: I am an MPS employee. This blog is not controlled by the district administration or the School Board and the opinions expressed here are mine.

Scott Walker’s community pillaging continues

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Gov. Scott Walker yesterday confirmed what was already widely suspected — he is going to propose a billion dollar cut in aid to schools and local governments.Walker says communities can make up the cuts with the flexibility he is giving them by crushing unions and collective bargaining rights.

Walker is delusional. His budget repair bill probably will pass eventually and then there will be job actions, and then what? Will local governments actually fire all of their public health workers if they walk off their jobs? Their garbage collectors? Their teachers?

It’s immensely clear that communities all across the state will be worse places to live.

As a city of Milwaukee lobbyist said during a meeting last week, this bill was just not well thought out.

And will police and firefighters, who got theirs, stand with other public workers if they have to make the choice?

And, finally, betcha Walker takes care of the road builders like he took care of the cops and firefighters who supported him. Keep an eye on the transportation budget and what Walker proposes in new, wasteful highway building.