Milwaukee OK'd pay raises for top city officials. What to know about the new salaries

Milwaukee's elected officials and dozens of top unelected city leaders will see their salaries rise later this year, many by tens of thousands of dollars, under a plan that divided a Common Council passed Wednesday.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson supports the pay plan, which comes on the heels of the city adopting a new 2% sales tax intended to shore up the city's bottom line.

Here's what you need to know about how much pay will increase, who will see the raises and what it will cost.

Who voted for and against the salary increase at council?

The bump was approved with a 9-6 vote, with council members Andrea M. Pratt, Mark Chambers, Jr., Jonathan Brostoff, Milele A. Coggs, Khalif J. Rainey, Larresa Taylor, Marina Dimitrijevic, Russell W. Stamper and council president José G. Pérez in favor of the change.

Aldermen Robert Bauman, Lamont Westmoreland, JoCasta Zamarripa, Michael J. Murphy, Mark A. Borkowski and Scott Spiker were against the increase.

Spiker, who voiced his concerns at committee, reiterated them before his colleagues: "My grounds for objecting in committee were I didn't think the timing was good to ask for a sales tax and then ask for these increases."

The Common Council also voted on a resolution related to establishing accountability reporting requirements for certain positions, which was approved unanimously.

How much will salaries increase for elected officials?

Elected officials' salaries will change in the following ways:

• Mayor: increase pay by 15%, from $147,335.76 to $169,436.12
• City attorney: increase pay by 15%, from $147,335.50 to $169,435.83
• Municipal judge: increase pay by 15%, from $133,049.02 to $153,006.37
• Comptroller:  increase pay by 15%, from $125,607.04 to $144,449.25
• City treasurer: increase pay by 27%, from $114,039.64 to $144,449.25
• Common Council member: increase pay by 15%, from $73,222.24 to $84,205.58
• Common council president: increase pay by 14%, from $82,749.16 to $94,310.25

How much would salaries increase for unelected Milwaukee officials?

Dozens of people in unelected leadership positions would see raises, many of them substantial.

The retirement system executive director would remain the top-paid, with a range of $184,565 to $258,381, according to a report from the Department of Employee Relations.

Police and fire chiefs' annual pay range would rise from between $115,161 and $161,221 to between $174,117 to $243,756. The increases in the low and upper ranges represent a 51% change.

Commissioners in the departments of public works, neighborhood services, city development and health, along with the director of administration, would see their pay range rise to between $164,261 and $229,958. The lowest pay for those positions is currently either $115,161 or $122,746 while the top pay is either $161,221 or $171,838, potential increases of 42% for the lower and upper ranges.

When will the Milwaukee raises go into effect?

The raises would take effect at the beginning of the 2024 term in office, after the April 2 election. 

On the ballot will be races for mayor, city attorney, comptroller, city treasurer and the 15 members of the Common Council.

Primaries will be held Feb. 20 for mayor and three Common Council seats.

How much will these salary increases cost?

The raises would cost $1.8 million for the remainder of 2024.

The cost for a full year, barring any future raises, would be $2.8 million.

How will the City of Milwaukee pay for the salary increases?

The raises are not part of the 2024 budget, which was adopted late last year.

That means this year departments will be relying first on any greater-than-anticipated salary savings, then other non-salary department savings, according to the city Budget Office.

If funds are still needed, the city plans to pull from its wages and supplement fund and then the contingent fund.

What do proponents say about the Milwaukee salary increases?

Those in favor of the salary increases argued that:

• Elected officials last received raises in 2008.
• The city needs to offer competitive salaries to better draw and retain employees.
• Many rank-and-file employees received pay adjustments to better reflect the market rate for their positions before leaders' salaries were adjusted.
• Not adjusting salaries to reflect market rates would lead to unpredictable service disruptions as employees leave for better-paying positions elsewhere and too few people remain at the city to perform the work.
• Under state law, the council and mayor must change their salaries before a new term begins after the April election.

What do detractors say about the Milwaukee salary increases?

Council members who opposed the raises argued:

• The increased spending could make budgeting more difficult in future years when the city's finances are predicted to again become strained.
• The proposal comes just months after the council and Johnson approved a 2% city sales tax that went into effect Jan. 1 and helped the city avoid deep service cuts, raising questions among some constituents about the timing.
• The increases for elected officials are too large.

The raises came under fire from conservative media and some Republicans in the state Legislature, who criticized city elected officials for pursuing raises for themselves after imposing a sales tax.

"Milwaukee officials begged legislators for months to bail them out of their financial mess," state Sen. Duey Stroebel posted on X Friday. "The legislature did, and then those same officials immediately pushed to give themselves a massive pay raise. At least some people in Milwaukee will be able to afford the new sales hike."

Before this summer's legislation allowing the sales tax and boosting shared revenue to local governments across the state, Milwaukee had been approaching a 2025 "fiscal cliff" that threatened to decimate city services.

A number of factors led to Milwaukee's fiscal problems: The state returned a stagnant amount of shared revenue to the city for more than two decades and limited local governments' ability to raise revenue through other means such as sales taxes or by raising property taxes. At the same time, the city's annual pension contribution spiked while other costs were also rising and reserves were dwindling, including the nearly $400 million Milwaukee received in pandemic aid.

The warnings had been coming as far back as 2009, when experts at what is now known as the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum were sounding the alarm about the city's fiscal situation.

Milwaukee-area leaders had long pushed for the state to allow a local sales tax and return more shared revenue to local governments. 

Will Milwaukee elected officials get raises in future years?

That depends.

Starting in 2025, elected officials' pay would increase by 3% each year — but if general city employees receive a smaller increase, elected officials' pay raise would match general city employees', the legislation states.

Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.