Apparently Milwaukee chamber of commerce chief Tim Sheehy isn’t only forming a task force to talk about a new Milwaukee Bucks arena, he’s also floating a sales tax hike in the city and Milwaukee County to pay for it. And according to WTMJ radio — the only news station named after a debilitating jaw ailment — city and county officials are none too happy about it:
[Milwaukee Business Journal reporter Rich] Kirchen says that Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett calls the tax strictly on Milwaukee and Milwaukee County “very premature” while Milwaukee Alderman Michael Murphy says “no way” on a tax for just for the city and the county.
That’s “no way” on a sales tax that just affects the city and the county, that is, not necessarily one that would take in surrounding counties, like was used to pay for the Milwaukee Brewers‘ Miller Park. It’s still very early in this fight, but things are already veering dangerously away from “Should we pay for a new arena?” to “How should we pay for one?”
This stadium deal is dead. They need to change state law to make this happen. WI is run by Scott Walker. Tom Barrett and Scott Walker do not get along