Budget Explorer · City of Milwaukee
Comparable revenue, spending, and debt for City of Milwaukee, on the same Census classification used for every city, county, and state in the Library — so the figures line up with peers rather than with the government's own budget book. Latest year: FY ending Dec 31, 2023. City of Milwaukee's 2027 proposed budget follows below, with every figure linked to the page of the budget book it came from.
Census actuals
Not yet available
City's own budget book
FY ending Dec 31, 2023 · audited actuals · Census classification · 563K residents
Why the gap: the Census Bureau publishes each year's government finances about two years after the year ends, so 2024 is not out yet. The budget-book years come from the city's own documents, on a different basis.
Total revenue
$1.46B
$2,595 per resident
Total spending
$1.37B
$2,426 per resident
Spending per resident
$2,426
20th percentile of 71
Debt outstanding
$1.57B
$2,780 per resident · 26th percentile of 70
Own-source share
57%
6th percentile of 71
Capital share
9%
16th percentile of 71
Own-source revenue (taxes, charges, interest) versus aid from other governments. Utility and trust revenue are shown alongside general revenue but run on their own books.
Own-source share of general revenue 57% · federal aid 15% · property tax is 93% of taxes
Current operations plus capital outlay, grouped by Census function. Interest on debt and transfers to other governments are broken out so they are not hidden inside services.
| Function | Category | Operating | Capital | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Police protection | Public safety | $336M | $11M | $347M |
| Highways | Transportation | $116M | $56M | $172M |
| Fire protection | Public safety | $136M | $2.2M | $138M |
| General (unallocable) | General government | $86M | $35M | $121M |
| Water utility | Utilities (water, power, gas) | $91M | — | $91M |
| Sewerage | Environment & housing | $70M | — | $70M |
| Central staff services | General government | $62M | — | $62M |
| Solid waste management | Environment & housing | $52M | — | $52M |
| Libraries | Culture & recreation | $40M | $1.8M | $42M |
| Health | Health & hospitals | $42M | — | $42M |
| Housing & community development | Environment & housing | $34M | $3.5M | $37M |
| Protective inspection & regulation | Public safety | $25M | — | $25M |
| Parking | Transportation | $24M | — | $24M |
| General public buildings | General government | $10M | $13M | $23M |
Two different measures on one time axis. The solid line is the Census series (audited actuals, Census classification). The dashed line is the city's own all-funds budget as printed in its budget book — adopted, then proposed. The budget book counts transfers between funds, debt principal and pension contributions that the Census nets out, so the lines are not one series and the gap between them is scope, not change.
Revenue (Census only)
+11% over 2 yrs
$1.32B → $1.46B
Spending
Census: $1.37B (FY23 actual)
City budget: $2.08B (FY26 adopted) → $2.26B (FY27 proposed)
Debt outstanding (Census only)
+1% over 2 yrs
$1.55B → $1.57B
City of Milwaukee budget, all funds, from the 2027 Proposed Plan and Executive Budget Summary. Debt is Census-only because the budget book reports debt on a different basis. Sources: 2027 Proposed Plan and Executive Budget Summary · budget and tax rate by section, p.7 · 2027 Proposed Plan and Executive Budget Summary · change in positions, p.13.
Percentile within the cohort on each place's latest Census year. Higher is not better — the last column says what a high reading means so you can decide whether it matters here.
| Measure | City of Milwaukee | Cohort median | Percentile | Higher means |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spending per resident | $2,426 | $3,741 | 20th | more spent per resident |
| Revenue per resident | $2,595 | $3,548 | 23rd | more raised per resident |
| Taxes per resident | $698 | $1,328 | 9th | heavier own-tax load |
| Debt per resident | $2,780 | $3,865 | 26th | more borrowed per resident |
| Own-source share of revenue | 57% | 81% | 6th | less dependent on aid |
| Federal aid share of revenue | 15% | 7% | 91st | more exposed to federal cuts |
| Capital share of spending | 9% | 18% | 16th | more building, less operating |
| Interest share of spending | 4% | 4% | 58th | more spend servicing debt |
| Debt ÷ annual revenue | 1.07× | 1.05× | 52nd | more leveraged |
Spot an error, or know a better source for this place's adopted budget? Suggest an edit on the assessment.
2027 Proposed · traced to the page
Not yet adoptedThe Mayor's proposed budget, submitted to the Common Council. The Council holds hearings and can amend it before adopting it. The Council must act by November 14. Every figure below was read from City of Milwaukee's 2027 Proposed Plan and Executive Budget Summary and carries a page markp.7that opens that page.
The city budgets in lettered sections. Sections A, B, C, D, F are paid for partly by the property tax levy ($1.77B in 2027); the others run on their own fees and grants. p.7
Each department sends a request; the proposal is what the Mayor sends to the Council. Across these 27 operating budgets, departments asked for $958M and the proposal gives $936M. 18 were trimmed below their request. Operating budgets only; capital and grants are separate.
| Department | 2026 adopted | 2027 requested | 2027 proposed | vs request | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Police Department | $310M | $346M | $344M | −$1.9M | p.116 |
| Fire Department | $165M | $179M | $173M | −$5.9M | p.91 |
| Public Works · Operations | $108M | $116M | $114M | −$2.3M | p.137 |
| Public Works · Infrastructure Services | $52M | $58M | $54M | −$3.2M | p.127 |
| Library | $34M | $36M | $35M | −$1.1M | p.100 |
| Employes’ Retirement System | $25M | $26M | $26M | +$348K | p.165 |
| Neighborhood Services | $26M | $27M | $26M | −$1.2M | p.112 |
| Emergency Communications | $27M | $27M | $26M | −$1.4M | p.77 |
| Administration | $23M | $26M | $25M | −$1.1M | p.29 |
| Health Department | $23M | $26M | $23M | −$2.8M | p.95 |
| Common Council – City Clerk | $13M | $14M | $13M | −$755K | p.60 |
| City Attorney | $9.4M | $9.9M | $9.8M | −$142K | p.43 |
“vs request” is the proposal minus the department's own request: negative means the Mayor proposed less than was asked. Positions are total authorized positions, 2027 proposed (change from 2026).
The $847M general city purposes budget (section A) is funded by these sources. The property tax levy covers 17% of it; the largest single source is state shared revenue ($260M). p.162
The city's own 2026 and proposed 2027 rates, applied to a home you describe. Enter the assessed value from your tax bill (the $200,000 default is only an example). Frontage defaults to the budget's own “typical property” p.141.
| Charge | 2026 | 2027 Proposed | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City property tax$7.61 → $7.29 per $1,000 of assessed value | $1,522.00 | $1,458.00 | −$64.00 | p.7 |
| Solid waste (garbage) feeper residential unit per year | $271.80 | $280.00 | +$8.20 | p.159 |
| Snow and ice control fee40 ft × $1.19 → $1.23 per foot | $47.60 | $49.20 | +$1.60 | p.159 |
| Street lighting fee40 ft × $1.12 → $1.16 per foot | $44.80 | $46.40 | +$1.60 | p.159 |
| Sewer and stormwater feesaverage residential household per year | $241.88 | $247.02 | +$5.14 | p.203 |
| City total | $2,128.08 | $2,080.62 | −$47.46 |
| General City Purposes | $3.33 | $3.05 | $610.00 |
| Employee Retirement | $1.74 | $1.80 | $360.00 |
| Capital Improvements | $0.02 | $0.02 | $4.00 |
| City Debt | $2.41 | $2.31 | $462.00 |
| Contingent Fund | $0.11 | $0.11 | $22.00 |
Per $1,000 of assessed value, 2026 then 2027, and this home's 2027 share. Components are printed rounded to the cent, so they can differ from the total rate by a cent or two. p.7
Legal deadlines: submitted to the Council by September 28; Council action by November 14. PDF p.4 Hearing dates and times are posted by the Common Council.
Adopted budget · 2026
City of Milwaukee's own budget, in its own structure, read from its published budget book and checked against the total the document itself prints. This is the current year — more recent than the Census series above, but only comparable to this city's own history. Totals cover 28 departments.
Looking for how this fits City of Milwaukee's capacity to deliver? The fiscal dimension, binding constraint, and pathways live in the City of Milwaukee capacity assessment.
The Civic Infrastructure Diagnostic Framework’s structural elements — the four cluster labels, the six capacity dimensions, and the binding-constraint framing — are licensed under CC BY 4.0. Anyone may use or adapt them with attribution. Tool implementation and full article text © 2026 JTV Advisory LLC.