AFTER THEY'VE TRIED EVERYTHING ELSE.

Regular readers have known since at least 2020 that parking lots are productive assets and pricing them as such makes economic sense.  Maybe, rather than assessing homeowners and hoteliers for street repairs, ask the beneficiary to bear the burden.  "Milwaukee drivers could pay more to park under proposed 2027 budget to help fund road repairs."

Well, why not?  It was Milwaukee's sewer socialists who came up with metering water use and selling the sewage sludge as fertilizer.

To help fund the work, the city is proposing higher parking meter rates, parking permits, and citations. Downtown parking meters would increase to $3 an hour, up from $2.25 or $2.50 depending on the location.

Parking citations would increase by $10 across the board. Overnight parking permits would also double.

An annual permit would increase from $55 to $110, while a monthly permit would go from $10 to $20. The city said those changes would provide an additional $6 million for high-impact paving.

For Tyler Glor, who regularly parks downtown, parking costs are already something he notices.

“As someone who’s gotten parking tickets once or twice already, pretty expensive,” Glor said. "If it helps them fix roads faster, I get it."

Then there are people who don't get it.

Raaziq Asaleh said finding a parking spot downtown can already be difficult.

“It’s already chaotic. It’s a fight for parking spots as is,” Asaleh said. “I don’t think that’s the right direction.”

Asaleh said he does think the roads need work, but is skeptical about how it would happen.

"It sounds good, it sounds amazing. We just don't want more Oreo crumbs and more projects that we're waiting on to be finished," Asaleh said.

The budget proposal comes as Milwaukee works to close a nearly $100 million gap between the cost of maintaining current services and the city's available revenue.

Prices function to allocate demand.  I wonder if Mr Asaleh's failure to understand that fundamental point says something about the quality of the current service known as the Milwaukee Public Schools.  The special pleading continues in the report.  "What are we doing for unhoused people? For people who need entry-level jobs? I’m concerned about people who don’t have cars — is busing affordable?"

Reap what you sow.