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Board amends CampACT allocations and orders new funding formula after committee objections
Summary
After finding committee concerns about a "one-size-fits-all" distribution, the board adopted an amendment to CampACT arts allocations that honors promises to groups while directing the committee to develop a new funding formula with arts experts.
Milwaukee — The Milwaukee County Board on Sept. 18 adopted an amendment to the 2025 CampACT fund allocations after parks committee members objected to a distribution approach that had been promising equal checks to all qualified applicants.
Supervisor Wasserman, chair of the parks committee, described the committee's objection: staff had told applicants they were "guaranteed a check" prior to final board approval, which committee members said should not have happened. Members voted in committee to reject the formula and asked for a revised approach. The board's adopted amendment both makes the previously promised payments to groups "whole" for this cycle and directs CampACT to work with arts experts (including UPAF) to design a new funding formula that accounts for track record, organizational size and inclusiveness.
Wasserman said, "Everything equal is not everything equitable," arguing the county should move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach. The amended plan requires the parks fund committee to consult experts and return with a new proposal for approval by June 2026.
Why it matters: Hundreds of small arts groups rely on CampACT allocations for programming. The parks committee sought to avoid repeating a distribution method that treated all applicants identically regardless of performance or community reach.
What happens next: The amendment preserves payments this cycle to organizations already told they would receive money, while requiring CampACT to develop a new, equity-minded distribution model in consultation with arts-sector experts and to present that model to the board by mid-2026.
