Milwaukee County Board amendment calls for reinstating bus services

Alison Dirr | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Milwaukee County Board budget amendment restores or reconfigures bus routes to maintain much of the service that had been targeted for cuts — a key issue for residents concerned about transit reductions that were proposed during the budget process.

Facing a budget crunch, Milwaukee County Transit System leaders had proposed cutting 16 routes and ending parts of other routes. The company also said special service lines could be affected.

County Executive Chris Abele partially restored the routes in his recommended budget but still called for the elimination of six lines and the discontinuation of special service routes to Miller Park and festivals.

"There are a series of changes in the budget on transit," County Board Chairman Theodore Lipscomb Sr. said in presenting the amendment at Thursday's meeting of the Finance and Audit Committee. "There is some acceptance of a few of the route eliminations, particularly where there are the lowest bus passengers per hour or where there are alternatives delineated."

The amendment comes ahead of a public hearing on the county budget Monday night.

The budget amendment restores Route 49U and special service routes. Through other means, including route reconfigurations, the amendment also maintains service in many areas.

For example, two existing routes (12 and 15) are being adjusted to account for Route 276, known as the Brown Deer Shuttle, and maintain service in the area after the 276 ends.

"This alternative that's presented, which is a modification of routes 12 and 35, is actually what I wanted to do from the beginning, which was not to create a standalone shuttle that would require a transfer but to append that service to an adjacent route," he said.

According to a statement from the County Board, the amendment would keep transit service for 75% of the riders affected by the cuts proposed in Abele's recommended budget.

The amendment also included a number of other measures:

$100,000 to develop a plan to help homeless victims of domestic violence with emergency shelter options.

$95,400 for operations and maintenance to re-open Grobschmidt Pool in South Milwaukee, which had been closed because of a water main break.

$445,691 to replace the roofs on the Trimborn Farm Stone Barn and its south addition.

$300,000 to recruit and retain correctional officers, a persistent challenge particularly in the Milwaukee County Jail.

The amendment sponsored by Lipscomb and supervisors James "Luigi" Schmitt, Sequanna Taylor, Steven Shea, Willie Johnson Jr. and Eddie Cullen was unanimously recommended by the committee.

The amendment and others came ahead of a public hearing on the county's proposed budget. County residents will be able to weigh in on the recommended 2020 budget during an annual public hearing at 6 p.m. Monday at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, 929 N. Water St.

Supervisors can propose additional amendments resulting from the public hearing during a meeting Wednesday.

The County Board will meet Nov. 12 to adopt the 2020 budget.

Contact Alison Dirr at 414-224-2383 or adirr@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisonDirr.