Mayor Fred Schnook of Ashland today soundly criticized the shared revenue distribution formula and a property tax freeze added by Republicans to the State budget as a time bomb that threatens to destroy economic development in Ashland, cut services to Northern Wisconsin citizens and dramatically harm the quality of life of families throughout the region.

That’s because a property tax freeze would rob communities and school systems across the state of the normal growth in property value that enables local officials to deal with double-digit increases in health insurance costs and other skyrocketing costs. This would be at the same time that the State would cut aid to the City of Ashland by $380,000 – more than the $330,000 cut that the City of Madison would experience under the Republican plan.

"I can’t grow Ashland’s economy wearing handcuffs, shackles and a straitjacket," Schnook said. "That’s what the double-whammy of a crippling cut to state aid and a property tax freeze would do to our efforts to bring good-paying jobs to the City of Ashland."

The proposed property tax freeze would cost Ashland about $115,046 a year on top of a $379,158 reduction in shared revenues under the finance committee plan, according to figures provided by the State. In addition, the committee’s budget would cut $70,000 from the transportation aids that the City of Ashland will receive to help maintain local streets over the next two years.

Mayor Schnook pointed to Saturday’s "Growing Ashland’s Economy" City Council retreat as evidence that, in Wisconsin, local governments partnering with local organizations are just about the only economic development show in town. The City of Ashland, Ashland Chamber of Commerce and Ashland Area Development Corporation have been working together closely over the past year to coordinate economic development efforts, identify key roles for each entity, and position the City for success in the years to come. In the course of just a few weeks, the Republican-controlled Legislature could severely impair the City’s ability to take the steps necessary to implement those plans, once they become finalized.

"We’re caught between a State budget deficit that was not of our making and the desire of one political party to score points against the other," Mayor Schnook stated. He said the shared revenue package developed behind closed doors by legislators in Madison would send money directly from Ashland and similarly situated communities to wealthy suburbs of Milwaukee and Madison. And, of course, once the politicians in Madison have wreaked havoc with the City of Ashland’s financial future, they will be nowhere in sight as local officials attempt to grow the local economy.

The crippling effects of this budget proposal on the City of Ashland are unbelievable, according to Schnook, when reports from nonpartisan budget analysts in Madison show that the Joint Finance Committee’s budget continues to pad the State bureaucracy. Last Thursday, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau revealed that the finance committee’s budget would continue deficit spending at the State level, add nearly 650 new full-time workers to the State payroll, and increase State spending by $1 billion in the second year of the budget. All this at a time that the State would be imposing a massive cut on the City of Ashland’s largest revenue item (shared revenues) and a freeze on the City’s second largest revenue item (tax levy).

"The Senate should step in now to reject the most monumental double standard in the history of Wisconsin government," Schnook said.  

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