Milwaukee County Can Save An Easy $800,000+ - - Drop The SEWRPC Funding

Every year, without standards, a contract, a performance review, or frankly any expectations or follow-up, Milwaukee County government (I'm looking at you, Scott Walker) ships off a truckload of property tax dollars  - - $837,000 for 2010 - - to the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (See its budget, here).

And in the last few years  SEWRPC took another $250,000 from the County in a back-door transfer of deed registration fees to help pay for a regional water supply plan that will end up green-lighting Waukesha's daily wastewater discharge into Milwaukee County via Underwood Creek in Wauwatosa and down into the Menomonee River if the return flow scheme in Waukesha's Lake Michigan water application wins approval.

SEWRPC also created a regional, $6.5 billion freeway expansion and reconstruction plan that took millions of dollars of land off the tax rolls for  new freeway lanes in the County to benefit Waukesha residents looking to cut four minutes off their automobile commutes.

SEWRPC can't even muster the expertise to win a Federal grant to help with housing planning - - underway after a 35-year, suburbanist-inspired absence - - though regional planners in Lac du Flambeau, Platteville, Madison, Chicago, Cleveland, the Twin Cities and dozens of other regions nationally figured it out.

If Milwaukee County is cash-strapped, and is on record opposing the Waukesha wastewater discharge plan, then why not pull the pin on SEWRPC's annual freebie and either put that funding back into tazpayers' pockets, towards actions that will truly help the County and its urbanized majority, or to reduce the County's debt.

This is an argument I have made often on this blog and in the Journal Sentinel Crossroads section.

And remember, roughly half that Milwaukee County payment to SEWRPC comes from Milwaukee city taxpayers - -  since its inception, SEWRPC has received more than $22 million from Milwaukee County - - so that money is transferred with zero city budgetary input to a 21-member planning commission and board where the city has zero votes.

A perfect convergence of arrogant governance, wasteful spending, and taxation without representation.