The mayors of some of Wisconsin’s biggest cities are calling on Governor Walker not to use $25 million of the $31.6 million, from a federal foreclosure settlement, to fix a hole in the state budget.
Racine Mayor John Dickert, head of the Urban Alliance, says the governor is proposing yet another “budget band aid.” Dickert said in his city, foreclosures went from 35-to-415 foreclosures in one year. “We need those funds to get control of the foreclosure situation,” he said.
Joining in the call for Governor Walker to reconsider his decision are the mayors of Kenosha, Oak Creek, Saint Francis and Manitowoc and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
Walker has defended the idea saying the foreclosure crisis had a direct impact on the state economy with fewer tax dollars coming in.
Tom Karkow-WRJN