City updates: Joint Review Board approves TID 9, absentee voting numbers, yard-waste changes and MMSD funding concerns

The council heard several administrative updates from city staff covering a tax-increment district approval, election turnout, yard-waste collection changes and potential federal-funding pauses at the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD).

City Administrator Carl said the Joint Review Board finalized approval of Tax Increment District (TID) No. 9 for a project at 2510 Good Hope Road. Staff will start preconstruction meetings with the developer; Carl said construction is hoped to start in April with completion targeted for October 2026.

On election administration, staff reported 749 total in-person absentee and mailed ballots returned so far, and that in-person absentee voting is open through the close of business the Friday prior to the April 1 election (staff noted extended hours on the last Friday).

On solid-waste services, city staff announced changes to yard-waste collection for the season: yard waste will be collected on the opposite week from recycling (residents should not place yard waste out the same week as recycling), there is unlimited yard-waste collection (no limit on number of containers), and grass will now be collected as yard waste. Staff warned residents that the 50-pound bag-weight limit still applies and that very full grass bags may exceed that limit.

In brief reports following the meeting, staff also relayed information from today's MMSD meeting: MMSD receives about $45 million per year in federal funding for various projects, and roughly $14.5 million of that amount is on pause because of federal-level delays. Staff noted the pause could affect programs such as municipal agreements with MMSD to purchase and demolish homes located in floodways, and said the city would coordinate with MMSD to protect projects already underway.

Why it matters: The TID approval moves a local development project into preconstruction; the yard-waste changes directly affect residential collection practices; and the MMSD federal funding pause could affect flood-mitigation buyouts and other regional projects.

Next steps: Staff will proceed with preconstruction meetings for TID No. 9, maintain ballot-processing through April 1, issue public information about yard-waste rules, and coordinate with MMSD on projects impacted by paused federal grants.