Wisconsin governor to cut Milwaukee sewer projects budget

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has proposed a 2011-13 state budget that would result in cuts of up to $165 million over the next several years from planned sewer construction, flood management, and sewage treatment projects for the city of Milwaukee. The budget would bar local governments from increasing annual property tax levies and reduce the state subsidy to a low-interest Clean Water Fund for sewer and stormwater management, thereby reducing funding for planned sewer and stormwater projects, according to a report in the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal on March 15. The budget proposal would be particularly hard on the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewer District’s (MMSD) 10-year, $156 million program for leak repairs to reduce stormwater flows to municipal sewers. The budget proposal will also result in a decrease in jobs, MMSD Commissioner Lyle Balisteri told the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal.