Research Reports
The Public Policy Forum publishes reports,
research briefs, and major studies across a range of topics.
Visit our Issues page to access reports
by topic; here you can access all reports by title, date,
or type (full report or research brief).
Recent Reports
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| Budget Preview: 2011 Milwaukee County Budget |
July, 2010
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| For the past several years, the Public Policy Forum has produced reports analyzing the Milwaukee County executive's recommended budget shortly after its introduction in late September. This year, we add a new research product to our analysis of Milwaukee County's fiscal condition: a budget preview report that analyzes the county's immediate fiscal challenges at the onset of its budget process.
The 2011 Milwaukee County Budget Preview not only provides perspective on the specific fiscal issues facing the county as it begins to assemble next year's budget, but also explores the consequences associated with the county's persistent budget gap. It finds that while the 2011 projected deficit of $44.9 million is considerably smaller than that faced by budget officials at a similar juncture last year, it is sizable nonetheless. Furthermore, the report illustrates how several successive years of budget-cutting have left the county with few easy options for 2011. |
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| Property Values and Taxes in Southeast Wisconsin |
July, 2010
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| For the past several years, the Public Policy Forum has produced annual reports analyzing property values and property taxes within the seven-county southeast Wisconsin region. Our purpose is to shed light on an important indicator of regional economic health and how it impacts the fiscal health and capacity of local governments and school districts.
This year’s report first examines 2009 property values, with specific consideration of multi-year trends. We then analyze 2010 budgeted tax levies and tax rates of southeast Wisconsin counties and municipalities to explore the relationship between valuations and taxes.
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| Main Street Milwaukee: Program at a crossroads |
July, 2010
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| full report
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| The Main Street Milwaukee (MSM) Program is a highly touted economic development program designed to promote economic growth and revitalization in selected city neighborhoods. Milwaukee’s Main Street program is a partnership between the City of Milwaukee Department of City Development (DCD) and the local chapter of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), who have tailored the national Main Street program for use in six local districts. Established in 2005, MSM has been cited by city officials as a key component in the city’s overall economic and community development strategy.
This research project, which was launched in September 2009, originally set out to explore the strengths and weaknesses of several MSM districts in an effort to explore why this particular economic development strategy has succeeded or failed in different Milwaukee neighborhoods. Early in the analysis, however, we recognized that sufficient performance data did not exist to adequately assess that question in depth. Our attention turned, therefore, to the broader question of whether, why, and to what extent the MSM program itself has succeeded in delivering its anticipated results.
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| The People Speak Poll: Region’s residents give transportation infrastructure average grades |
June 25, 2010
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| research brief
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| Metro Milwaukee’s drivers and bus riders give the region average grades when it comes to transportation infrastructure. The condition of the region’s freeways gets the highest grade, a C+, while local streets and roads garner a
C-. The findings come from the latest People Speak poll of 386 residents in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee counties conducted in early June.
Ozaukee County residents give the most generous grades, while Waukesha County residents give the lowest. The broadest range of grades is given to local bus service, which rates Cs among Ozaukee and Milwaukee residents, but Ds among Washington and Waukesha residents. Survey respondents who ride the bus at least occasionally give their local bus service a higher grade than those who say they drive their car every day. Freeways rate highest among Ozaukee County residents and those respondents who work outside the home (commuters).
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| Assessing the workforce development needs of healthcare employers in Southeastern Wisconsin |
April 29, 2010
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| Despite the region's high unemployment rates, a recent survey of health care employers in Southeast Wisconsin indicates that a limited supply of qualified healthcare workers is harming efforts to fill current job openings. Respondents say applicant quality (60.7%) and retaining qualified workers (30.2%) are the biggest challenges they face in meeting their organizations' workforce needs. Gaps in applicants' basic skills, especially soft skills such as professionalism, team skills and verbal communication, also make it harder for healthcare employers to recruit and hire competent job candidates.
The recent survey of 28 healthcare facilities included the four largest hospital systems in southeast Wisconsin, as well as nursing and residential care facilities such as doctors' offices and diagnostics labs.
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| Pursuing Innovation: Benchmarking Milwaukee's Transition to a Knowledge-based Economy |
March, 2010
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| While the Milwaukee region's economic base is rooted in its manufacturing history, many believe that the region's future prosperity will be tied to its ability to successfully transition its economy into one that is based on knowledge and innovation. The Innovation Index presents baseline data for measures that have been closely linked to the 21st century economy: idea development and commercialization; entrepreneurship; and the availability of knowledgeable and skilled workers.
The Milwaukee region's transition to the knowledge-based economy may best be described as a work in progress. With regard to innovation inputs, many regional trends are positive, including growing university research and development spending, higher educational attainment levels, more jobs created by small firms, and more Small Business Innovation Research-Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR-STTR) awards. Far less promising, however, are the region's negative or flat trends in patent activity, number of scientists and engineers, and knowledge workers per capita.
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| The People Speak Poll: Region's residents favor subsidies for water industry |
March 12, 2010
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| research brief
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| Greater Milwaukee residents show solid support for efforts to use the region's abundance of fresh water as an economic development tool, even if it means paying slightly more for their own water or using public subsidies to do so. That's according to the latest People Speak Poll of 429 residents in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee counties conducted in mid-February.
Nearly 70% of municipal water users participating in the poll would be willing to pay a small surcharge on their water bill "to fund economic development activities promoting southeast Wisconsin as a place for water-related research and economic growth." In addition, 65% of all respondents agree that government subsidies are "desirable to attract new or expanded water industries to southeast Wisconsin." More than 80% of respondents agree the region has the potential to become a global leader in the water technology industry.
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| New regulations impacting school choice program: School closures up, number of new schools down |
February 19, 2010
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| Between the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years, fewer new schools joined the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) than ever before. In addition, 13 MPCP schools closed and another three schools merged - the most year-over-year closures the program has seen. In this 12th edition of the Public Policy Forum's annual census of MPCP schools, we find 112 schools are participating in the choice program, enrolling 21,062 students using taxpayer-funded tuition vouchers. The number of full-time equivalent students using vouchers is greater than in any other year of the program's 19-year history; however, there are fewer schools participating today than earlier this decade. |
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| Milwaukee Voucher Schools - 2010 |
February, 2010
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| full report
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| 2010 directory of schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. |
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| Should It Stay or Should It Go? |
January, 2010
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| full report
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| Milwaukee County government faces immediate and substantial fiscal and programmatic challenges. The county’s structural deficit – defined as the gap between expenditure needs and anticipated revenues – is projected to grow from $48 million in 2011 to more than $106 million by 2014, despite several successive years of significant expenditure and staff reductions and anticipation of significant wage and benefit concessions in 2010. This projection is the clearest indication yet that the county’s finances are crumbling and that valued services in areas like parks, transit, mental health and public safety face severe degradation without prompt and concerted action. This action could take any of several forms, including the complete elimination of Milwaukee County government. This report, commissioned by the Greater Milwaukee Committee, provides detailed analysis and perspective on the complex issues surrounding that option, as well as other potential structural changes. |
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