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BUILDING COMUNITY WEALTH FOR MILWAUKEE

A Big, Bold Idea: Community Wealth and Shared Prosperity

We spend billions of dollars on highway construction while local roads struggle to get the repairs they need. At the same time, our communities turn to referendums and tax increases to maintain basic services. Housing costs are rising, and more people are struggling to afford a home or stay in the homes and neighborhoods where their families have lived for generations. 

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We haven't built a system for Milwaukee that consistently creates and retains wealth in communities where people live.  At a national scale, that challenge looks like $40 trillion in debt. Locally, that shows up in deteriorating infrastructure and high volumes of potholes, deep food insecurity, underfunded public services, and difficulty in paying livable wages to teachers, firefighters, and other workers our communities depend on.

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We propose that Milwaukee needs solutions that create long-term value for our residents and meet hte moment on the challenges we face.

Stewarding Public Assets for Community Wealth

​Historically, highways have divided neighborhoods across Milwaukee. The conversion of I-794 downtown to a boulevard presents an opportunity to use public land to create lasting value for communities across the city

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The Park East highway removal showed us what can happen when we rethink public land is used. Not only did we the creation of the Deer District, but new housing and investment in neighborhoods surrounding the corridor. The I-794 corridor presents an even greater opportunity, to not only generate additional tax-revenue, but create a lasting asset that benefits communities beyond downtown.

 

The land under the freeway is public land. Instead of selling it off $1 and capturing value once, Milwaukee can explore the ways to retain that value and use it to benefit city residents for generations.

 

A community wealth fund could support schools, libraries, parks, and roads and other community priorities, without relying on increasing taxes and referendums. ​​

What is a Community Wealth Fund?

A local municipality taking an ownership stake in real estate assets created on public land to generate revenue that goes toward investing in the local community. 

How development usually generates revenue:

A developer builds housing on a parcel of land. This attracts investment which earns returns to the investors, while the City collects property taxes and other revenues to help fund public services.

In a community wealth model, the city partners with developers and a professional management entity (or establishes one). They work together to build commercial housing, commercial space, and other mixed-use development. Instead of the value flowing primarily to the private investors, a portion is captured in a Community Wealth municipal fund and reinvested into community priorities, including diverse housing options, small business, public space, transportation, public education, and more.

The City of Milwaukee already operates similar structures

There a few ways that the City of Milwaukee already uses public assets to work for our communities:​​

  • City Parking Revenue: The City generates revenue through parking meters, structures, lots, permits, and citations. These revenues primarily support parking and other transportation operations. Historically, the surplus revenue have also helped support the City's general fund and essential services.​

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  • Port  Milwaukee: The City generates revenue by leasing publicly owned waterfront property to businesses and collecting the fees associated with port operations and cargo activity. These revenues support port operations, and surplus revenue can be transferred to the City’s general fund to help fund public services.

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  • Summerfest Grounds / Henry Maier Festival Park: The City owns the festival grounds and leases the property to Milwaukee World Festival, Inc., which operates Summerfest and hosts other festivals and events. The long-term lease generates revenue for the City, while the grounds also support local jobs, tourism, and economic activity.​​

We ask, how can Milwaukee build on these existing models to ensure that public assets are generating financial return and long-term benefits for all of our communities. 

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