In This Issue:
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1. Trolley Troubles
2. Tax Like You
Mean It
3. Catch and Release
4. Wisconsin: 9th
Worst for Business
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Trolley Troubles
For years, advocates of using trains for public transportation have been trying to fund more rails around Southeast Wisconsin. And for years evidence has continued to accumulate showing that trains are expensive, inefficient, and will go virtually unused.
Despite a mountain of evidence against it, Democrats used the current economic downturn as an excuse to finally get the funding for a streetcar system in Milwaukee. Tucked into a pork-laden “stimulus” bill, Congress approved $100 million for this new system in downtown Milwaukee, essentially doing an end-run around local politicians who oppose the idea.
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker immediately exposed this taxpayer boondoggle, which has been pushed almost exclusively by Mayor Tom Barrett:
The City of Milwaukee asked for $100 million from the initial “stimulus” package, so we know that the true cost of the downtown streetcar system is at least that much money. So who will pay for it? The next great battle will be fought at the Milwaukee Common Council level as alderman from outside of downtown Milwaukee have to ask themselves if they (and their constituents) are willing to pay to subsidize the operations of a system that serves a three-mile loop in downtown Milwaukee.
The County Board agreed with me as they passed a resolution in the past calling for the $91.5 million to be used on improvements to the bus transit system. They voted to support Bus Rapid Transit. Even the Mayor’s plan includes a portion for Bus Rapid Transit. The Common Council did not pass a resolution supporting a downtown street car system so the Mayor is operating in a vacuum. Will the Common Council even support the Mayor’s plan?
Now Milwaukee is stuck with a streetcar system it doesn't want, heavily subsidized by city taxpayers. Apparently building a monument to government waste for future generations is considered “stimulating” the economy.
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Tax Like You Mean It
Last week, the state suffered a national embarrassment when the Wisconsin Department of Tourism unveiled a slogan - “Live Like You Mean It” - that had been copyrighted more than five times. The saying appeared to be stolen from an advertising campaign for Bacardi Rum, and the department paid $50,000 for someone to come up with it. This came after a 2005 debacle in which the Tourism Department clearly plagiarized a song from a British rock group to use as Wisconsin's state jingle.
Screwing up plans to entice tourists is one thing, but what about keeping taxpayers and job providers here in Wisconsin? Apparently the administration believes in reverse psychology. Governor Doyle’s recent budget raises taxes by $1.7 billion, on top of a $1.2 billion increase from his “budget repair” bill. Aside from raising cigarette taxes, banning smoking in taverns statewide, raising gas taxes by 7 cents per gallon, and taxing internet downloads, Doyle's plan will:
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Raise boat registration fees, based on the size of the boat, between 15 percent and 32 percent. Cost: $2.1 million.
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Make permanent increases in fees to get copies of birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates that were set to expire on July 1, 2010. Cost: $6 million
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Increase the birth certificate fee from $20 to $22. Cost: $600,000.
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Raise by 27 percent certification and licensing fees for assisted living facilities. Cost: $430,000.
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Charge a new one-time $510 certification fee for one- and two-bed assisted living adult family homes. That raises about $283,000.
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Institute a new $200 fee on certain health care providers when the state has taken an enforcement action for a violation and an inspection is done to review whether improvements have been made. Cost: $218,000.
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Increase the fee on people buying handguns from $8 to $30. Cost: $1.6 million.
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Double the application fee for bobcat hunting and trapping permits from $3 to $6 effective March 31, 2010. Cost: $100,000.
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Increase the fee for putting waste in landfills by $4.40 per ton, for $48.5 million.
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A $9 fee placed on vehicles when they are titled, to pay for a variety of environmental programs that started in 1997 and were scheduled to end this year but would become permanent. Cost: $17.5 million.
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Higher fees on generators of hazardous waste. Cost: $1 million.
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Establish a $2 fee for anyone requesting a paper copy of their driving record. That's on top of the existing $5 fee for making the request electronically, or $6 over the phone. Cost: $130,000.
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Double the fee to get a work permit, required for those under age 18, from $5 to $10. Cost: About $960,000.
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Slaughterhouses would have to pay 14 cents for each pig and cow they slaughter, 10 cents per calf and 1 cent for poultry. Cost: About $1.5 million.
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Double the fees for annual licenses that stock brokers from $30 to $60. Fees imposed on the sale of stocks sold by mutual funds to Wisconsin residents would also increase. Cost: more than $12 million per year.
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Digging a well would cost some more pennies, too. Right now any landowner who wants to build a low-capacity well has to pay a $50 well notification fee. That fee would go up 50 cents. That's only good for about $11,000 more.
These are tax and fee increases on top of the existing tax burden, which already has Wisconsin in the top 10 in the nation in taxes per capita relative to income.
Perhaps the Governor should consider a new state slogan for those of us who already live here - Tax Like You Mean It. We don’t think that one is copyrighted yet.
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Catch and Release
Two weeks ago, we detailed Governor Doyle's plan to make our state less safe by letting up to 2,500 criminals out of prison in order to save money. At the time, Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke bitterly criticized the plan, saying it was playing “Russian roulette” with our safety and pointing out that letting these offenders back into communities disproportionately affects old and minority populations.
This week, Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen expressed his opposition to the plan, stressing why he believes the plan will make the state less safe:
“This will lead to more drug dealers, repeat drunk drivers, burglars, and other offenders walking the street. By taking the “truth” out of the truth-in-sentencing law, and empowering unelected state officials to release such persons, this budget proposal takes sentencing decisions out of the hands of locally elected district attorneys and judges and retroactively extinguishes the voice of crime victims.”
Van Hollen's letter goes on to criticize Doyle's plan to eliminate parole for misdemeanor penalties, cutting shared revenue to local fire and police departments, and the reduction in GPS monitoring for certain sex offenders.
In 2002, Doyle ran as a “tough on crime” ex-Attorney General. That was then. Now he’s using the current economic crisis to implement the “catch and release” plan liberal supporters have wanted all along.
Wisconsin: 9th Worst for Business
Even before Governor Doyle's last two spending bills have proposed raising taxes on Wisconsin's working families by nearly $3 billion, national publications continue to notice our state's hostility towards jobs.
According to Chief Executive Magazine, Wisconsin was ranked the ninth-worst in the nation to do business.
From the Milwaukee Business Journal:
The magazine polls chief executives across the country and ranks the states on what it calls “a broad range of issues” including natural resources, regulation, tax policies, quality of living, education and infrastructure.
As for Wisconsin, being ninth worst was an improvement. Last year's list put the state as the eighth-worst state to do business.
The state’s worst asset this year? Its work force. Chief Executive ranked Wisconsin’s work force 47th in the nation. The state also ranked low in the cost of business and in economy, both of which ranked 36th. Business friendliness (28th) and access to capital (27th) also ranked in the lower half of the country. Education and transportation proved to be bright spots, ranking ninth and 13th, respectively.
This comes within weeks of finding out unemployment in Wisconsin has nearly reached the 9% mark. .
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