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Would the four suburban counties taxed to build the Milwaukee Brewers stadium provide local tax money for stadium improvements?

By Tom Kertscher
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NO

Legislation to provide $546 million in public funds for American Family Field improvements would not require contributions from the suburban Milwaukee counties of Ozaukee, Racine, Washington and Waukesha.

The Republican-led bill is scheduled for an Assembly vote Oct. 17, 2023.

The state would contribute $411 million and the city and county of Milwaukee a total of $135 million. The Milwaukee Brewers would contribute $100 million.

Exempting the suburban counties would be a change from the funding formula that built the stadium.

A 0.1% sales tax imposed in the five counties raised $609 million over 24 years for construction of what was originally known as Miller Park, which opened in 2001. The tax ended in 2020.

The board of the state-created Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District, which enacted the sales tax, has members from the five counties.

The district owns 64% and the Brewers own the rest of the stadium.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Wisconsin State Legislature AB438: Bill Text
Wisconsin State Legislature Assembly Calendar
AP News Republicans tweak Brewers stadium repair plan to cut the total public contribution by $54 million
Wisconsin State Legislature Local Professional Sports Facilities Financing
wibaseballdistrict.com Financial statements
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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.