County director outlines push in Madison for public safety building funding and other state-level items

Alec Knutson, director of government affairs in the county executive's office, briefed the intergovernmental relations committee on legislative activity in Madison, the county's advocacy for state assistance on a new Public Safety Building and several bills that could affect county revenue.

Nut graf: Knutson said the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) has met three times and reviewed 30 agencies so far, accounting for roughly $3 million in spending decisions. He described a pivot in the county's Public Safety Building strategy from seeking a single capital appropriation to isolating three state-mandated service areas that uniquely affect Milwaukee County.

On the JFC process, Knutson said the committee will meet again June 10 and is moving quickly to meet a July budget target, with members likely to meet two times per week. He told supervisors that $3,000,000 in spending has been authorized for 30 agencies so far and that he believes the comparable figure at this point last year was about $500,000,000.

War Memorial and transfer fee bills: Knutson identified AB250/SB254, a bid that would provide $9,000,000 in matching funds to the War Memorial once private receipts are submitted. He also described AB216/SB218, which would reduce the real estate transfer fee rate from $0.30 to $0.20 per $100 of value and change the revenue split to an even 50/50 between county and state; Knutson said that change could yield about $1,400,000 for Milwaukee County in 2026 if projections hold.

Public Safety Building: The county previously asked for at least $250,000,000 in capital funding as a share of construction costs. Knutson said the governor's office included a one-time $25,000,000 allocation in its materials but that legislative leaders have emphasized uniformity — noting no other county receives funding for public safety buildings — and therefore the county has reframed its ask to isolate three unique state-mandated service areas. He said the three areas (highway patrol-related costs, retention of highway citation revenue and funding for the county correctional/rehabilitation facility or CRC) amount to about $48,700,000 in annual impact to the county.

Knudson (sic) said the annual debt service required to support construction would be about $39,000,000 and that securing roughly $40,000,000 of annual state support would let the county proceed without raising local property taxes to cover debt service. He described ongoing outreach to legislative leadership, the governor's office, the Milwaukee legislative delegation and a coalition of roughly 75 organizations that have signed a letter supporting county requests.

Staffing and process notes: Knutson said his office is small and currently has a vacancy in the board-liaison position; the vacancy may affect the department's capacity but a timeline for filling the role was not provided. He also said materials on the county's requests and supporting coalition letter were sent to the committee that morning.

Ending: Knutson said the county will continue advocacy in Madison as the budget process accelerates; no committee action was required on the informational report.