Milwaukee County leaders frustrated with lack of COVID-19 funding

Milwaukee County leaders are frustrated with the state for not providing more funding to the county to respond to COVID-19.

Executive David Crowley said Thursday they were originally slated to get $165 million from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. But the federal government cut $103 million from the allocation and sent that funding to the state instead.

“The costs that we’re providing now already far exceeds the revenue that we currently bring in,” Crowley told reporters.

They expect to see a $100 million loss in revenue, and a $450 million total impact to the county’s budget, he said.

He said the county has also been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Milwaukee County residents make up around half of the state’s COVID-19 deaths, despite the county having only one-sixth of Wisconsin’s population.

County Board Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson said they requested “an amount that is equitable to the uniquely high costs that we have incurred.” She said if they don’t get the funding, they’ll have to cut services.

“Without these additional aids that will account for the higher cost in Milwaukee County, our residents – especially people of color – continue to suffer an unjust burden,” Nicholson said. “Racial disparities in health will continue to get worse.”

Gov. Tony Evers’ office did not return a request for comment. On Wednesday, Evers announced $200 million for local governments. Milwaukee County is set to receive

$15.4 million through that program.

Local officials also said they expect to see a rise in evictions and foreclosures with the expiration of Evers’ moratorium on Tuesday.

“This is going to be a heavy lift,” Milwaukee County Housing Administrator Jim Mathy said. “We expect thousands of evictions.”

Mayor Tom Barrett said he’ll be talking with bankers and housing counselors to work on the issues. Locally they’ve allocated $4.2 million for emergency housing, he said.

They’ve also identified $4.9 million to help with rental assistance. And they’re working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to determine if they can use disaster aid to help renters.

Evers has also announced $25 million statewide in rental assistance.

“The goal is to provide several months of support for families with a temporary reduction in income to do that through their landlord,” Barrett said. “We continue to develop that and hope to launch it soon.”

Barrett said they continue to see high demand at the city’s south side location for asymptotic COVID-19 testing. He said they hope to announce a new site on the city’s north side after they put a testing site at Midtown Center on “pause” due to challenges with getting test results quickly. They felt it put people at a disadvantage to not get their test results back fast, he said.

Other healthcare providers have announced more testing sites across the state. CVS Pharmacy plans to run seven testing sites in locations across southern and eastern Wisconsin, with a total combined daily capacity of 350 tests. Advocate Aurora Health also announced seven additional test sites.

As of Thursday, the Department of Health Services reported 550 deaths from COVID-19, an increase of 11. There were 16,974 positive cases, an increase of 512. There were 10,626 test results reported, a new single-day high.

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