Applications now accepted for Norman N. Gill Civic Engagement Fellowship

The Public Policy Forum is pleased to announce a new initiative to promote civic engagement and local policy analysis, the Norman N. Gill Civic Engagement Fellowship. The goal of the fellowship is to encourage research leading to increased understanding of the functioning of local governments or leading to the development of programs or policies that assist a local government in addressing a critical issue or problem.

Norman N. Gill served as executive director of the Citizens' Governmental Research Bureau (now the Public Policy Forum) for over 40 years and maintained a life-long commitment to the greater Milwaukee community.

The fellowship will be granted annually on a competitive basis to a current student or recent graduate of any Wisconsin graduate degree program in law, economics, political science, public policy, public administration, urban planning, or a related field. The fellow will engage in a research project focusing on a timely and topical local, regional or state policy or governance issue of importance to Milwaukee and southeast Wisconsin.

The application, due July 21, is now available on the Forum website.

Election Issues '08: Revenue challenges for city and county

On April Fools' Day 2008, Milwaukee citizens will elect people to four-year terms in city and county public offices. Candidates for those offices have an obligation not to fool voters with shallow promises but rather to provide answers to critical questions facing local government. Among those questions, none is more important - and more rarely addressed - than this one: How do you plan to ensure the long-term financial stability of the government with which you will be entrusted?

The Forum releases today the first of a series of reports highlighting government finance issues vital for local voters to understand. A challenging revenue picture for Milwaukee local government lays out the recent trends in municipal and county general purpose revenue and concludes stable long-term financing is in jeopardy for both the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County governments.

The key findings:
- Intergovernmental support – mostly in the form of state shared revenue – for both the city and the county has declined sharply in real terms over the past 10 years.
- Both the city and the county have relied most heavily on service fees to fill the gap, although in the county’s case that is primarily due to an accounting change.
- Property tax revenue to support both governments has outpaced inflation even though the taxpayers’ resources to pay have not.
- Spending for city government has kept pace with inflation whereas county spending has exceeded it.

The city and county governments of Milwaukee are the two largest governments in Wisconsin other than the state itself. Their financial viability affects the surrounding region and the state as a whole. Candidates for mayor, county executive and the legislative bodies of county and city governments need to address this fundamental issue. Where are they going to get the revenue to run local government?

Note: Future reports in this series, covering capital expenditures and employees benefits, will be released over the next two months.

Public Policy Forum names new president

The executive committee of the Public Policy Forum’s board of trustees has selected Rob Henken, the top administrative official in Milwaukee County government, as its next president. He will succeed Jeff Browne at the Forum’s annual meeting in early March.

Henken has served in several high-level research and administrative positions in Milwaukee County government and has extensive experience in policy research. Since early 2007, he has been director of the Milwaukee County Department of Administrative Services. Before that, he was director of the county’s Health and Human Services Department for almost three years. He also has been research director and budget analyst for the county board.

“Rob’s background, experience, and standing in the community will serve the Forum well,” says F. William Haberman, Forum chairman and a member of the search committee that selected Henken. “His work in the public policy and nonprofit sectors will enhance the Forum’s almost 100-year tradition of solid, nonpartisan research on issues affecting all of southeastern Wisconsin.”

Before joining the county in 1998, Henken was executive director of the Milwaukee Jobs Initiative and the Alliance for Future Transit, both nonprofits. Prior to that, he worked in Washington, D.C., as staff director for the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs, and as a legislative aide for two U.S. Congressmen. Henken has a bachelor’s degree in history from Brown University (Providence, R.I.) and a master’s in journalism and public affairs from The American University (Washington, D.C.).

PPF Viewpoint luncheon: Workforce Development

Workforce for the 21st Century
The force behind economic development

Southeastern Wisconsin’s economy will come to a standstill without trained and capable workers. How will the new Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board grow a workforce in the hope of attracting jobs to our region? And what role will our technical colleges play?

Speakers:
Donald Sykes, president,
Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board
Dr. Darnell Cole, president,
Milwaukee Area Technical College

Wednesday, October 31, 2007
11:45 – 1:30
Hilton Milwaukee City Center
Monarch Ballroom
509 West Wisconsin Avenue

Forum members: $40
Non-members: $50

Reserve your place now by clicking here

Changes or cancellations will be accepted until Monday, October 29.
No refunds will be given after that date.

PPF Viewpoint luncheon: Infrastructure

Cracked

Infrastructure makes the world go round.
Are our roads, bridges, sewers, dams, transit systems, utilities, etc. being ignored, endangering our ability to compete? What needs to happen to make sure southeastern Wisconsin is ready for the 21st century?

Panel:
John Goetter, chairman, American Society of Civil Engineers-Wisconsin Section
committee on Wisconsin infrastructure report card
Marc Levine, director, UWM Center for Economic Development
W. Martin "Wally" Morics, comptroller, City of Milwaukee

Wednesday, September 26, 2007
11:45 – 1:30
Italian Community Center
Festa Hall
631 East Chicago Street
Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward

Reserve your place now by clicking here

Changes or cancellations will be accepted until Monday, September 24.
No refunds will be given after that date.

Press release: Public Policy Forum Wins GRA Research Award

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – August 15, 2007 – At the 94th annual conference of the Governmental Research Association (GRA) in Denver last week, the Milwaukee-based Public Policy Forum won a first place award in the Outstanding Policy Achievement category for its research on economic development in the Milwaukee region.

The research included studies that were part of the Forum’s “One Region, One Future” campaign that ran for three years and emphasized the need for cooperation among the seven counties of southeastern Wisconsin. Two years after launching the campaign, the Milwaukee 7 (M7) was created by area businesses partnering with southeastern Wisconsin governments to present a unified economic development approach to businesses looking to expand in the region.

Included in the winning entry were the following studies: the use of tax increment financing (TIF) by the city of Milwaukee that subsequently resulted in Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett issuing a directive to double TIF authorizations, and a controversial evaluation of economic development expenditures, particularly for workforce development, by the city of Milwaukee that helped facilitate the creation of a citywide economic development plan – a major recommendation in the Forum’s report.

“Receiving this award was extremely gratifying because it comes from peer organizations around the country which are engaged in the same kinds of work as the Forum,” says Forum President Jeff Browne. “It was also exciting because the research that led to the award resulted in substantive change. Action was taken in the region because of the Forum’s work.”

The GRA was established in 1914 and is the national organization of individuals professionally engaged in governmental research.

The Public Policy Forum (www.publicpolicyforum.org) – which was established in 1913 as a local government watchdog – is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the effectiveness of government and the development of southeastern Wisconsin through objective research of regional public policy issues.

Taxing work: How does your municipality rank?

This year, for the first time, the Public Policy Forum has created a poster ranking all 147 municipalities in southeastern Wisconsin on the basis of the following information: property values, per capita property value, 5 year change in property values, gross tax levy*, 5 year change in the tax levy, and net tax rate**.

Of the ten municipalities with the highest tax rates in southeastern Wisconsin, all but two - the villages of Darien and Sharon in Walworth County - were located in Milwaukee County. The village of West Milwaukee (Milwaukee County) topped the list with a net tax rate of $25.55 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

Not surprisingly the city of Milwaukee had the largest overall tax base (or property value) in the region. But, surprisingly, the city of Brookfield (Waukesha County) came in second, larger than even the cities of Kenosha (Kenosha County), which was third, and Racine (Racine County), which was 10th! The largest property value increase in the region occurred in the village of Merton (Waukesha County), where it more than doubled over the last five years.

Southeastern Wisconsin had $178 billion in property value in 2006, a 44% increase from five years ago. Its per-capita property value was $89,844. The region’s gross tax levy in 2007 was $3 billion, an increase of 18% from five years ago, and the net tax rate was $17.52.

The poster, Southeastern Wisconsin Property Taxes 2007, was funded by Cook & Franke S.C., Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., and the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors, and was done as a part of the Forum’s property values and property tax reports.

*Gross tax levy is the amount of money that each taxing jurisdiction budgets to receive from property taxes.
**Net tax rate is determined by dividing the amount of the gross tax levy minus the state tax credits by the total equalized value.

Just released - Early childhood education reseach

The Public Policy Forum has embarked on a ground-breaking project to establish the costs and benefits of high quality early childhood education in southeast Wisconsin. As part of the project's first phase, the Forum has produced a map of existing research on early childhood education. The information is presented in matrix format so that outcomes can be easily compared across studies.

Overall, existing research largely supports the connection between higher quality early childhood programs and long-term benefits including improved school-readiness, improved social skills, higher IQ scores, higher standardized test scores, decreased crime and delinquency, and greater earning capacity. Parents of children in high quality child care also benefit as they are better able to find and keep work. Societal benefits from higher quality child care include reduced crime costs and reduced welfare use. Further, increased earnings by early childhood program participants once they reach adulthood will result in increased income tax revenue.

Given the benefits of early childhood care and the size of the industry, region-wide economic development is a likely result of greater public investment in high quality care.

The Public Policy Forum intends to change the way policymakers view early childhood programs by clearly showing that the benefits of quality early childhood education reach beyond the program participants to benefit all of society through economic development. Future project activities will include: surveys of parents and care providers designed to assess current child care use and quality of care, a cost-benefit analysis of an optimum early childhood education system in southeast Wisconsin, and measurement of regional benefits of the current early childhood education system in three components: (1) economic, (2) educational, and (3) societal.

Public Policy Forum begins search for new president

The Public Policy Forum is accepting applications for the position of President. The President serves as Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer of this Milwaukee, WI based nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research organization. Qualified candidates will be well versed in policy research and have the ability to manage a nonprofit organization and conduct development activities. The forum currently has a full-time professional staff of 6.

Click here for responsibilities and challenges of the new Public Policy Forum President.
Click here for the formal job description.
Click here for the Public Policy Forum's strategic plan.

Interested candidates should submit a resume and a cover letter outlining their qualifications and interest to Bill Haberman, chairman of the Public Policy Forum Board of Trustees. Application materials should be submitted to the search committee via e-mail at president@publicpolicyforum.org. Applications will be accepted through September 4th. The search committee will interview selected candidates and make a recommendation to the full board by the end of the year. The new president will assume the office on or about April 1, 2008 upon the departure of current president Jeff Browne.

The Public Policy Forum is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Compensation will include a salary based on background and experience and includes a generous benefit package.

Founded in 1913, the Public Policy Forum was established as a local good government watchdog. The Forum prides itself on producing nonpartisan, credible and accurate information on public policy issues that impact the local community, the state, and nation. The Forum does not advocate on behalf of specific policies.

Transition and momentum at the Forum

An item in the Journal Sentinel this morning noted the Public Policy Forum is in the market for a new president. That's because I notified the Forum's Board of Trustees that I will be stepping down as president early next year. I wanted the board to have time to make this a smooth transition. The board has formed a transition committee headed by Bill Haberman, the board chairman. The board and its committee will identify my successor over the next few months.

As for me, I intend to stay active in the Forum and do what I can to help honor the Forum's 94-year civic tradition of non-partisan policy analysis. I also want to help keep up the momentum we started a few years ago -- concentrating on regional competitiveness, workforce development, race relations, environmental concerns (especially water resource management) and other public policy issues that are central to southeastern Wisconsin's future.

What the Journal Sentinel's online story mentioned, but the printed version didn't, is the reason for my decision to make this transition. Last month, I led a delegation of 18 Milwaukeeans to Hanoi, Vietnam, to explore the possibilities for cultural, humanitarian and business relationships between Milwaukee and Hanoi. It was what you might call a life-changing adventure for me, and starting next year I intend to focus much of my energy on building those relationships -- and at the same time helping connect my adopted 6-year-old Vietnamese sons to their native culture.

"Salute" nominations now being accepted

The Forum's "Salute to Local Government" which honors cooperation and teamwork in local government throughout the seven counties* of southeastern Wisconsin is now accepting nominations. If you know of a government program that might qualify, please vist this page and submit the form. There are five categories from which to choose. The deadline for nominations is Friday, May 11.

The "Salute" breakfast will be held on Wednesday, June 20 at the Italian Community Center.

*Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington, and Waukesha counties