Success Story - Milwaukee

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Milwaukee Renewal Community: Successes with Partners and the Commercial Revitalization Deduction

Private Partners Become RC Sponsors

The Milwaukee Renewal Community (RC) designation provides an exciting opportunity for businesses to utilize a creative package of tax credits and deductions. Therefore, it was imperative that the Outreach Campaign begin almost immediately to provide businesses the opportunity to use these credits and deductions with their 2002 tax filing. As the outreach campaign rolled out, it became obvious that businesses in the Milwaukee RC were uncertain and, in some cases, lacked the expertise to fully utilize the RC designation benefits. Also, the RC designation is an eight-year initiative and the City of Milwaukee wanted to ensure that this initiative did not lose momentum over time. Planning became critical and, to maximize usage over the life of the initiative, the City decided to enlist partners so that all sectors could have the benefit of this initiative.

To meet that objective, the City of Milwaukee wanted a private sector-driven initiative and enlisted the Urban Economic Development Association of Wisconsin, Inc. (UEDA). UEDA created a team of for profit business advisors and key professionals were identified as ideal candidates for partners. Expertise, access and community recognition were primary considerations. After much discussion, a sponsorship fee was determined and sponsorship recruitment began.

Reilley, Penner & Benton, LLP, a longstanding CPA firm in the City of Milwaukee, became the RC's first sponsor, followed by Johnson Bank, another longstanding institution with a well-known name in Wisconsin. Both partner companies are locally owned.

The sponsorship fees assisted with the marketing material and these two sponsors have been added to all the marketing materials for this initiative. Mr. Dan Brophey, a partner with Reilley, Penner & Benton LLP, began participating in the informational seminars. His presence and expertise transformed the seminars into successful and informative venues for the RC businesses.

These private sponsors have also cultivated their peers and the RC initiative receives several calls a day from accountants, tax preparers, and business planners exploring options for their clients.

This initiative has provided a platform for a successful public-private partnership that benefits RC businesses and by extension our local economy.

For more information contact Ms. Laura Wake, City of Milwaukee, Department of City Development at (414) 286-8639.

Year One of the CRD: Simple but Successful Outreach Technique

In 2002, the City of Milwaukee, in cooperation with the State of Wisconsin, received nearly $17 million in Commercial Revitalization Deduction (CRD) applications and made $12 million in CRD allocations. The RC used a marketing technique worth sharing. The Development Center, which is Milwaukee's one-stop shop permit center, was able to query its database by census tract and identify all commercial projects by permits pulled, zoning applications submitted and other regulatory processes required by developers.

The RC sent a CRD allocation application to each person with a stamp on the envelope marked "important tax information enclosed." As a result of this strategy, the RC was able to reach developers of rehabilitation projects as small as $85,000 and those as large as $5 million. The RC knew about the larger projects, but it was able to find out about the smaller deals only after using this strategy.

For more information contact Ms. Laura Wake, City of Milwaukee, Department of City Development at (414) 286-8639.