“Turning Public Land Into Public Wealth” - Volunteer Taylor Korslin’s Testimony at 2026 City Budget Hearing
At the first of two public hearings on the City of Milwaukee budget, Rethink 794 volunteer Taylor Korslin challenged city leaders to think beyond the immediate costs of the I-794 decision. What if the land created by removing the elevated structure could become a long-term source of community wealth, housing, neighborhood investment, and public revenue?
Taylor shared this vision with Mayor Cavalier Johnson and the Common Council:
Good evening, Mayor Johnson and common council members. My name is Taylor Korslin. I am a resident, and volunteer with Rethink 794. As you make tough decisions about limited funds, I want to share an optimistic vision to fundamentally build lasting community wealth to fund all of this and more.
The decision about interstate 794 is as much about land use, housing, neighborhood building, connecting communities and public financing as it is about cars. We want to see a neighborhood once again connect this area and provide dense housing where it makes sense; downtown.
While this is not about today's budget, it is about future public budgets and public services. Property Tax revenue from a redevelopment plan could produce 16-million dollars per year for city services but, the opportunity is bigger than that. This is public land, the most valuable land in Wisconsin. The city should take a major part in the revenue from this redevelopment to fundamentally better city financing and services, take part in community wealth at a scale of potentially $100 million per year. Think about what 100 million per year could do for a decade, by investing in our communities.
We need to meet the moment with bold ideas that take advantage of our public asset -- our land -- to fund our public services. This can do more than fill potholes and fund schools without referendums. We can actually invest in every neighborhood of our city We can provide housing -- affordable and workforce housing -- while taking part in the revenue at a fundamentally different scale. This is something not new to Milwaukee. The port authority and Summerfest grounds along with parking revenue are examples that produce municipal funds from public land. The Park-East highway removal 20 years ago was a major success that produced the highest performing TIF district in City of Milwaukee history. However, we gave the publicly owned land to the bucks for a dollar. Taxpayers also subsidized the Bucks to stay in our city. We continually privatize the gains and subsidize the losses. Highways have cut through every neighborhood of our city. It is time that one gave back to every corner of the city. We urge you to talk with Rethink 794 resident volunteers and advance this once in a generation opportunity to better Milwaukees future Thank you for your time
