Milwaukee Mayor Says Some Funding For Bucks Arena Could Come From City

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said the city is, in fact, discussing potential assistance for a proposed downtown basketball arena.

Some Republican state lawmakers have said that Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to have the state borrow $220 million to help with a new venue for the Milwaukee Bucks won’t get very far without money from Milwaukee. Barrett said he wants GOP legislators to know discussions with the Bucks are underway.

“Well I’m going to quote the great sports advocate Aaron Rodgers and say ‘Relax,’” Barrett said. “What’s going to happen now, is now that we’ve got the leadership that’s been shown by the state, and I appreciate that very, very much, the next step is to really finalize the site. And once the site is finalized, a lot more of the pieces are going to fall into place.”

Barrett said Milwaukee will not raise property taxes or create any new taxes for a new basketball arena. Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said he’s excited about the idea of a new basketball venue and is working with the city on creative ways to get to a local financing solution.