May 16, 2004

GUEST COLUMN

Let’s Not 'Californicate' Wisconsin

By Scott D. Anderson 

I am a newcomer to Wisconsin, a refugee from California.

In the 1960’s, California was a jewel: top-notch public schools, high quality highways, abundant water, and a constellation of critical public services that made California the envy of the nation.

The "Golden State" on the shores of the Pacific Ocean is a lot less golden these days: a public school system that is one of the worst in the nation, crumbling highways, inadequate public utilities, a rapidly deteriorating system of human services, and billions in red ink.

In the late 1970’s, voters in California, wanting to cut rapidly rising property taxes, passed Proposition 13, which placed in the state constitution a set of arbitrary formulas curbing property tax rates.

At the time, it sounded almost too good to be true: reduce taxes, reduce the size of government, we were told, and California would still be able to maintain its "Golden State" status.

Over the last few months, I’ve been hearing a similar message from a number of Wisconsin state legislators.

It goes something like this: "Let’s put our faith in a set of formulas about how much we can raise taxes each year and enshrine them in the state constitution. Then government spending will be curbed, and all will be right with the world."

As a Golden State refugee, it feels like déjà vu.

Proposition 13 was too good to be true. The fiscal catastrophe in California offers an important lesson for Wisconsinites: we taxpayers can’t have our cake and eat it, too.

The things that I value as a taxpayer, such as good schools, good roads, services for the elderly and special needs families, good police and fire protection, and much more, cost money.

The old adage that applies to family budgeting decisions also applies to government services: you get what you pay for.

There’s another hard lesson from California that we should carefully consider. By removing the ability of local governments such as cities, counties and school districts to determine their own revenue based on local needs and priorities, critical policy making authority was centralized in the hands of state government. So much for "local control."

We elect public officials –both Republicans and Democrats--to make the hard decisions about taxes and spending. These are complex decisions that involve a host of interests and concerns, a delicate balancing act between what the public needs and what the public is willing to pay for.

And we have a system of government—a truly remarkable system—that requires negotiation and compromise in order to succeed.

Arbitrary formulas remove the responsibility we have entrusted to our elected leaders and subvert our democratic system. They simply can’t do the job we elect state legislators and the Governor to do for us. Just look at my former home, California. What a mess.

As a newcomer to this state, with its wonderful resources and quality of life, I have come to consider Wisconsin a true "Golden State." Here’s a message for my new friends and neighbors: Let’s not "Californiacate" Wisconsin.

Anderson is executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches.

(Reprinted with permission.)