Search Results for: Property tax

Madison’s Spending Challenge

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Phil Brinkman summarizes the implications of the recently signed State budget on the City of Madison:

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk said the limit on counties is “very comparable” to one she has insisted Dane County abide by in its budget. She predicted it wouldn’t affect county operations.
But Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said the budget will force hard choices in Madison, which will be limited to increasing its levy to no more than 4 percent next year, below the 5.7 percent average of the last 15 years (emphasis added).
The city faces $9.5 million in increased costs to continue existing services next year, Cieslewicz said, but will be limited under the cap to collecting about $6 million more in property taxes.
Although the city is growing, police, fire, streets and other agencies would have to cut their budgets 2.1 percent from what it would cost to maintain the same level of services, Cieslewicz spokesman George Twigg said. The city could also raise fees and fines, as it has done before, or dip more deeply than usual into its “rainy day fund” to help cover the gap.

Madison’s 5.7% average levy increase over the past 15 years is not sustainable, given the State’s generally slow economy. City leaders need to start thinking different, rather than continuing with a “same service” approach.

Mayor Cieslewicz Comments on Doyle’s State Budget Signing

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Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz:

“Contrary to what some have claimed, this is not a ‘fully-funded freeze’. Such a freeze would have increased shared revenues to reflect the rising costs for providing basic services, and account for inflation in the freeze formula itself. This budget does neither. Adjusting for inflation, this year’s budget effectively cuts our shared revenue payment by 6%, on the heels of a 16% shared revenue cut in the prior budget.
“While city government continues to tighten its belt, property taxes rise faster than inflation because more of our budget must be borne by the property tax. Fifteen years ago property taxes made up 54% of Madison’s budget. Today, thanks to continually eroding state aids, property taxes make up almost 70% of our budget. In other words, what is truly driving property taxes is not increased spending, but cuts in state aids.

Schools, Quality of Life, Jobs, Economic Growth and Globalization

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Yesterday’s property tax bill (including not small increases in local and school taxes) along with recent articles on the China Price and Milwaukee’s loss of unskilled labor jobs serve to remind Wisconsin residents of the real issues facing our state:

  • Encouraging the formation of more new businesses. I don’t believe the formation of yet another quasi-government organization is the answer. Rather, let’s simplify (and reduce) the paperwork that any organization must support to operate in Wisconsin.
  • Broadband: Wisconsin is stuck with SBC, a telco that has done nothing to offer true, 2 way broadband (100X the speed of today’s rather slow DSL/cable services) to Wisconsin residents. I have not seen any indication that our state’s political leadership has boarded the cluetrain on this one.
  • Biotech certainly has great promise for Wisconsin, however, historically the benefits have generally gone to out of state firms. Perhaps this will change somewhat over time.

Without a strong, growing tax base, we’ll continue to see substantial increases in local property taxes. I don’t believe this is a sustainable strategy.

Bear Creek’s Bill Lorge on Campaign & Media Reform

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Bill Lorge (LorgeforSenate@aol.com) email his list of Political & Media Reforms (a very useful list it is):

  • Campaign Reforms
    • $100 Limit
    • Eliminate $1 Check-Off
    • Matching Grant Money
    • State Contractors Cannot Donate
    • Eliminate PAC’s
    • Ballots mailed out with Tax Forms (timing challenge, I think)
    • Online Voting (more challenges)
    • Term Limits
    • High School Seniors can vote
    • Eliminate the State Elections Board
  • Media Reform
    • Balanced Print Media Reporting (! – I like this: “A better solution would be to have the State put legal ads on the Internet and avoid putting them in the papers altogether. This would save a ton of taxpayer money and lower our local property taxes; As one Town Board Chair once told me his biggest expense is paying the local weekly paper for legal ads.)”
    • We (the public) own the airwaves and should be free to use it.

I’m not sure my synopsis did justice to Lorge’s document. Print and read it yourself here: 155K PDF. Or read it by clicking below…

(more…)

Paradise off Highway 10

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The Hertz airport shuttle brought a must unexpected surprise today. The inquisitive driver asked if I was flying to Denver. No, I said, San Francisco was my destination. “It will be 40 degrees cooler there than it is here in Phoenix.” I replied that it was 107 last night, when I landed.
“My place is wonderful, and cool. I have cottonwoods on my property which provide a very pleasant shade. In fact, during June, I put up a hammock under the cottonwoods, setup a fan and slept outside at night with my three golden retrievers. Beautiful.”
Where might this paradise be?
“50 miles west of Phoenix, 2 miles north of I-10, the other side of the White Mountains. I bought the 10 acres 50 years ago for $250.00 (!). I bought it and planted those cottonwoods.” My annual property tax bill is $60.00. Those golden retrievers keep an eye on the property during the day.
How’s the commute?
“I drive 65 (the I-10 speed limit is 75). I arrive before all those people flying past me.”
I asked if civilization has encroached on his paradise?
“There’s no one within 5 miles.”
With that, I continued my journey to San Francisco.

Wisconsin School Finance Reform Proposal

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The Governor’s Task Force on Educational Excellence is evidently poised to suggest that the state fund schools by:

  • Increase the state sales tax to 6% (from 5%) and reduce property taxes by 20% (I’ll believe that when I see it)
  • Eliminate the QEO (Qualified Economic Offer)
  • Increase Class size reduction funding to $2,500 per child
  • Reimburse school districts at a higher rate for educating high-cost special education students.

Amy Hetzner summarizes the proposal.
I think that school funding should include:

  • Sales tax reform (newspapers, advertising – are currently not taxed)
  • Increase in annual vehicle fees, reflecting the cost of a auto and the fuel efficiency
  • Increased Federal Funding via reform of the Social Security tax so that all wage income is taxed, not just the first $87,600.

Paying to Keep Green Space

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Peter Maller writes about P. Richard Schumann’s efforts to purchase farmer’s development rights while they continue farming:

Schumann is preparing an advisory referendum for the November ballot asking residents in the Town of Hartford if they are willing to pay higher property taxes to fund such purchases of development rights.
The goal is for the land to remain undeveloped.
“I think we have very strong support,” said Schumann, founder and president of the community’s newly organized Town Preservation Committee. “Keeping the style of life we have, preserving farmland and green space, is very near and dear to people’s hearts.”

Milwaukee’s School Budget

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Raquel Rutledge writes:

Its name remains unchanged: Elm Creative Arts Elementary School. Young students still walk the halls, with violins and saxophones swinging at their sides.
At first glance, it looks very much the art school its name reflects. Colorful papier-mache and art projects of all kinds decorate the hallway walls and dangle from the ceilings.
But ask the principal and parents what’s going on here, and the story is anything but joyous. Some parents cry as they talk about it.
Students at this specialty art school on Walnut St. risk losing their art teachers. Budgetary woes have already claimed three art specialists in the last few years. The remaining four are in jeopardy.

Interestingly, she includes some other viewpoints on school spending:
Rep. Luther Olsen (R-Berlin): “Look at the amount of money spent per student. “Wisconsin is number eight in the country. . . . The answer is not dumping more money in because we don’t have the money.”
Mike Birkley, of the lobbying group Wisconsin Property Taxpayers Inc.: “Our tests scores are going up. Our SAT scores continue to be among the highest in the nation. Our dropout rates are down. The quality of education has not suffered.”

Madison Schools Budget – 10m Gap

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Lee Sensenbrenner writes:
“The shortfall is caused by costs – mostly tied to staff contracts – that have increased faster than state law allows school districts to tax, officials said. It’s a phenomenon that’s been repeated since 1994, and assistant superintendent Roger Price predicted that the district will face $6 million to $7 million shortfalls every year.”
Great to see this article online; this morning’s Wisconsin State Journal interview with School Board Candidates Shwaw Vang & Sam Johnson is not…. [Ed: it’s 2004, is it not?]
This is a real opportunity for the board & community to start developing alternative sources of revenue – other than the property tax.
Learn more about the April 6, 2004 election & school board candidates here.
Vote!