Walworth County, much like many counties throughout the state of Wisconsin if not the entire country is proposing a 10% hike in local taxes for 2007. Whether it is in LaCrosse, Elkhorn, Whitewater or Janesville, people are beginning to realize that if they support Federal taxcuts and simultaneously demand lower taxing requests from the state, they will be left to pay for goods and services including education and roads all on their own. Those promoting tax hikes on local payers insist it’s always been like this, but that is not entirely true. Rising property taxes in the current period have increased pressure on lawmakers to find new ways to limit tax increases. Republicans however have taken a different direction to the problem. Since they have no idea how to curb spending or keep taxes down, they’ve figured out a way to ensure they are not blamed for the higher taxes.
They have decided long ago as part of their “responsibility” platform to give people what they think they want and encourage more local control, not as a way to keep costs down, but as a way to disconnect themselves (republicans) from their primary duty of fiscal management. You see, why should they (Republicans) raise your taxes, when they can legislate taxing responsibilities onto the taxpayer themselves. Either you will vote the tax increase onto yourself or get used to potholes, decaying schools, poor police and fire protection. Instead of citizens charging the elected politicians to do the research, study and math necessary to form a solid basis for a good decision, the politicians have turned the tables and are now encouraging more public participation, telling voters to do the research and get involved. Under these terms, whichever way the taxpayer goes, they have nobody to blame but themselves, all the while the GOP comes out smelling like the good guys. This way too, only the Democrats then can be viewed as the tax and spend party, when in all actuality they are the responsible party.
In Wisconsin, this idea has been proposed as a Constitutional amendment by the republican legislature earlier this year. Republican lawmakers have pushed to put state-imposed clamps on spending by schools and local government while simultaneously forcing taxpayers to vote tax increases onto themselves.
As I’ve mentioned, at the heart of the “vote yourselves taxes” referendum explosion is the GOP platform. But they could not pull this off without the full support and influence from the White House. Here, President Bush has diverted over $318 billion dollars during the past three years from our domestic programs to the debacle in Iraq. Spread out over the population and divided by the fifty states, Wisconsin has been shortchanged almost $6 billion dollars in Federal aid to schools, roads and job creation. This shortage of Federal money is also fueled by taxcuts to select (wealthy) individuals.
Unfortunately, the nature of the GOP's federal domestic program assistance is so severe that none exist, unless you happen to be a corporation. Had we had not invaded Iraq, Republicans would have used the national deficit as a good reason to withhold hundreds of billions from the American economy. We would probably be where we are today regardless, afterall the Republicans are in charge in Washington and the Wisconsin legislature.
Wisconsin residents have no one to blame for high property taxes but themselves when they vote Republican.
5 comments:
I think it has a lot to do with the new schools being built adn upgraded. This is why the property taxes have been going up. I would much rather have the local government be in control of local money than the federal government being in control of what goes on locally.
The people in Walworth county pay a ton of property taxes. It sounds like the county board can't seem to control spending.
On one hand I strongly believe in referendums and local people should have control of their own money. But if a few referendums are good, than more should be great? My point here is that locals are given more control at the loss of millions in federal money, again they call it fiscal resposibility. Its not in written law but its happening everyday.
The real kicker is that Republicans have actually called Doyle's property tax freeze a failure because taxpayers are voting themselves property tax increases.
My property taxes went up 3% under Doyle's tax freeze. And the referendum hasn't even been voted on yet. I'm not exactly sure what a freeze means to the govenor.
I know I've said Doyle's tax freeze, but I really meant that Doyle's property tax plan is to hold the line as much as possible on property tax increases. It's the Republicans who have pushed for a 3 year? freeze that in our inflationary climate is suicide.
I think our property taxes are too high, but my answer to lowering them revolves around changing the assessment system, creating another source of revenue for schools, closing some exemptions, but giving discounts to senior 30-year same home owners as an incentive to stay in Wisconsin. I am not a senior - yet!
Your 3% increase for one year is not outrageous, but compounded annually over several years, it gets out of hand. I do recall increases of 15 and 20 percent in 97 and 98 on my Fulton Township property tax bills.
Post a Comment