Here a Loophole, There a Loophole...
...everywhere a loophole.
We wanted to pass a property tax freeze, badly. And that’s what we did: we passed a property tax freeze, badly. Perhaps it’s Governor Doyle’s fault – the freeze that finally became law was his, after all the changes he made. But things wouldn’t have been much different, had the Republican freeze passed instead.
The problem with a property tax freeze is that it freezes property taxes (with some loopholes), and not other sources of revenue. As a colleague of mine put it, this is like squeezing a balloon. You make one part of the balloon smaller, and another part gets bigger.
If it gets too big, it pops.
All over the state, governments are creating new fees and increasing existing ones, often shifting existing costs to the new fee revenue. Why? Because fees aren’t affected by the freeze. Taxpayers are paying for things like snow removal, trash pickup, leaf pickup, water hydrant maintenance, and recycling (and the list grows), which once were funded through the property tax.
Have property taxes gone down, because that funding has moved to a fee? Nope.
And new fees are popping up. One favorite, the “stormwater runoff” fee, popularly known as the Rain Tax. Communities are putting new fees for fire hydrants on your water bills.
The state isn’t innocent of this, either. Governor Doyle was elected in part on his promise not to raise taxes, so he squeezed the balloon and found other ways: shift, borrow, and fee. In two budgets, the state (Governor Doyle and the Legislature) increased fees by nearly $500 million.
People are frustrated. Taxpayers have had enough. Just read through this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story – the frustration seeps through. Can’t ignore it.
This is why the drive for a Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) continues to grow. The promises are wearing thin faster than taxpayers’ wallets. People want a change.
Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) is expected to release his new version of TABOR anytime now. He’s actually calling it the Taxpayer Protection Amendment (TPA). Okay by me. As long as it works, call it whatever you want.
As long as it works – that’s the key. It has to actually restrain the growth of government. Keep it within the taxpayers’ ability to pay. Give the voters the right to decide how much they’re willing to pay for their government.
Back to the Property Tax Freeze: it had loopholes, which local governments have used to continue spending more. If there are loopholes in the TPA, there’s no doubt government will use them.
Leadership in both houses of the Legislature have promised a vote. Tax and spending limits – the TPA – were front and center at this week’s announcements about the Assembly agenda. We have an opportunity now.
There are lessons to be learned from the property tax freeze, from other states, and from Wisconsin’s experience with K-12 revenue limits and referendum requirements. Hopefully we will be wise enough to use them in our TABOR, or TPA, or TASC (as it is known in Arizona).
I will let you know how close to a winner for the taxpayers we have.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lasee’s Notes is a weekly column by Representative Frank Lasee, 2nd Assembly District, covering events in the Legislature and statewide.
We wanted to pass a property tax freeze, badly. And that’s what we did: we passed a property tax freeze, badly. Perhaps it’s Governor Doyle’s fault – the freeze that finally became law was his, after all the changes he made. But things wouldn’t have been much different, had the Republican freeze passed instead.
The problem with a property tax freeze is that it freezes property taxes (with some loopholes), and not other sources of revenue. As a colleague of mine put it, this is like squeezing a balloon. You make one part of the balloon smaller, and another part gets bigger.
If it gets too big, it pops.
All over the state, governments are creating new fees and increasing existing ones, often shifting existing costs to the new fee revenue. Why? Because fees aren’t affected by the freeze. Taxpayers are paying for things like snow removal, trash pickup, leaf pickup, water hydrant maintenance, and recycling (and the list grows), which once were funded through the property tax.
Have property taxes gone down, because that funding has moved to a fee? Nope.
And new fees are popping up. One favorite, the “stormwater runoff” fee, popularly known as the Rain Tax. Communities are putting new fees for fire hydrants on your water bills.
The state isn’t innocent of this, either. Governor Doyle was elected in part on his promise not to raise taxes, so he squeezed the balloon and found other ways: shift, borrow, and fee. In two budgets, the state (Governor Doyle and the Legislature) increased fees by nearly $500 million.
People are frustrated. Taxpayers have had enough. Just read through this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story – the frustration seeps through. Can’t ignore it.
This is why the drive for a Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) continues to grow. The promises are wearing thin faster than taxpayers’ wallets. People want a change.
Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) is expected to release his new version of TABOR anytime now. He’s actually calling it the Taxpayer Protection Amendment (TPA). Okay by me. As long as it works, call it whatever you want.
As long as it works – that’s the key. It has to actually restrain the growth of government. Keep it within the taxpayers’ ability to pay. Give the voters the right to decide how much they’re willing to pay for their government.
Back to the Property Tax Freeze: it had loopholes, which local governments have used to continue spending more. If there are loopholes in the TPA, there’s no doubt government will use them.
Leadership in both houses of the Legislature have promised a vote. Tax and spending limits – the TPA – were front and center at this week’s announcements about the Assembly agenda. We have an opportunity now.
There are lessons to be learned from the property tax freeze, from other states, and from Wisconsin’s experience with K-12 revenue limits and referendum requirements. Hopefully we will be wise enough to use them in our TABOR, or TPA, or TASC (as it is known in Arizona).
I will let you know how close to a winner for the taxpayers we have.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lasee’s Notes is a weekly column by Representative Frank Lasee, 2nd Assembly District, covering events in the Legislature and statewide.
posted by John Q Cheesehead | 4:47 PM
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