Friday, January 26, 2018
The JanesvilleCon
1. Remember when Janesville residents voted against a property tax increase for local road maintenance? Soon afterwards, the city council thumbed their noses at the referendum results and doubled the wheel tax anyways.
2. Then the city manager mismanaged us into a $850K budget deficit and asked for immediate public discussions - only to drop the subject completely for the next six months.
3. Because at the time, the city administration and council were foisting a TIF District on downtown properties that would carve out about $1M annual from a general fund facing an immediate $850K deficit.
4. Only until after the TIF District was approved did the city manager and Janesville Gazette, after colluding to tamp down the deficit report, return with reminders about the $850K deficit which by then had grown to $950K.
5. To balance the $950K deficit, the city council then approved $2.3M in registration fees, utility rate and permit fee hikes.
6. For the next year, the city manager boasted how his policies helped double the city's tax base growth in a one year period, policies that resulted in raising the city's property tax rate even higher.
7. In the meantime, the city administration struggled to find $60K to help fund the county's animal shelter and can't manage a single softball field while they plan a $500K remodel of council chambers and consider building a new ice arena for a well-connected city hall insider's failed sports business.
That's the JanesvilleCon ...so far, in a nutshell.
1 comment:
feeling screwed in janesville- property taxes over assed and outrageous! forced to overpay? water rates up-new ordinaces designed to benefit the city and screw residents. plowed shut driveways and cant get to work because of them. Janesville not so good live in, but goood for city goverment. of course the list is herendous. tax the crape outta ya and get nothing. cant pay because of what goverment creates. oh screw u again. Janesville needs new leaders.
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