Friday, July 15, 2011

The Walker Chokehold Hits Milwaukee County, But Give Tom Ament & Co. A Tag-Team Assist

Milwaukee County is facing major cuts in public services, says new Executive Chris Abele, as the state budget inspired by Scott Walker, burnished by Alberta Darling and foisted on local taxpayers by the Republican legislature will remove significant value from southeastern Wisconsin.

So while we're assessing the Walker & Co. chokehold, let's give credit where credit is due: the greedmeisters from the Tom Ament era who grabbed bigger pension benefits share much of the blame.
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5 comments:

  1. John KaufmanJuly 16, 2011 at 2:07 PM

    James,

    I think County Exec. Abele also deserves blame here. He could be the Un-Walker and propose some tax increases on the richer people and corporate persons in the County. Or support any number of progressive-minded tax increases. But having campaigned on a no- new-taxes pledge, he is doing what he was elected to do: be a fiscal conservative, or a liberal millionaire.

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  2. James RowenJuly 16, 2011 at 7:45 PM

    Under state law, here are no selective taxes that a county can levy, with the exception of a partial sales tax Milwaukee County already levies.

    That was always a problem in WI, now exacerbated by new, further restrictions laid down by Walker and the legislature.

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  3. James RowenJuly 16, 2011 at 7:46 PM

    I meant to write "there are no selective taxes..."

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  4. John KaufmanJuly 16, 2011 at 9:54 PM

    Thanks, James. I was not aware of the rotten state law you mention.

    In which case Abele could a) call for a change in the law b) consider some creative "fees" c) not balance the budget d)raise everyone's taxes and invest in the poor.

    In short, do anything but nothing.

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  5. James RowenJuly 16, 2011 at 10:37 PM

    The state mandates a balanced budget for municipalities, so that's out.

    In the past, the County has 'balanced' the budget with unrealistic revenue projections, necessitating service cuts or other actions mid-year.

    The County collects some fees - - like what it costs to play a round of golf (those fees go for parks maintenance, etc.), but has fewer alternatives than a city, which can levy a fee on garbage collection, snow removal and other services the County does not perform.

    Many County services provide for the poor, so adding fees is a bad idea, socially and economically.

    Without state authority, municipalities have very limited revenue options - - hence the problem funding the bus system, for example.

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