April 19, 2002 e-update
In this issue:
| Sprawl Solution Eyed | |
| Alliance cancels April 26 meeting | |
| Metropolitan Municipalities: Key to Cost Savings? |
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Citizens Support Revenue Sharing, Sales Tax Reform
By a 2-1 margin, Wisconsin residents oppose a cut in state aid to local governments, a St. Norbert College-Wisconsin Public Radio public opinion poll shows.
"This shows that city leaders are on the right track in representing the interests of their constituents," said Edward J. Huck, Alliance executive director.
Although the budget problems were prominent in the minds of state residents, 62% opposed cutting shared revenue payments to local communities as a way to balance the budget. Only 31% favored local aid cuts.
In contrast, cutting state programs other than state revenue sharing won narrow support. Those cuts were favored by 45% of respondents, while 42% opposed them.
Consolidation and coordination of government services between neighboring communities had overwhelming suppport: 77% in favor and just 18% opposed. The Alliance of Cities has long supported regional solutions to metropolitan problems.
The Wisconsin Counties Association also was heartened by the poll.
A solid preponderance of respondents (54% to 36%) supported eliminating sales tax exemptions for many goods and services, coupled with a sales tax reduction to 3.5% from the current 5%.
"The public recognizes the unfairness of the sales tax system," said Mark O'Connell, executive director of the group. "We're not the least surprised at the results."
The WCA proposal would remove sales tax exemptions for all items currently tax exempt except for food, water sold through mains, prescription drugs, medical equipment, fuel and electricity for residential use, farm machinery and repair, electricity used in farming, fuel used in farming, motor fuel, milkhouse supplies, newspapers, periodicals, and shoppers guides, sales to state and local governments and schools.
To see details of the WCA plan, look here.
For more on the poll, go to the Wisconsin Public Radio summary here. Or see the Journal Sentinel story here.
Alliance Meeting Cancelled
Mayor Paul Jadin, Alliance president, has cancelled an April 26 meeting at which we hoped to hammer out a long-term vision of what should be done in terms of Wisconsin's governmental structure and state support.
In the Assembly Republican caucus during debate on the budget deficit bill, the “Let’s cut shared revenue” speeches all related to “there will be no reason for local governments to come to the table unless there are cuts in shared revenue.”
We must prove them wrong, and we'll start with a letter from Mayor Jadin to the governor and conference committee members reaffirming our commitment to provide quality-of-life services to our communities; our dedication to holding down property taxes; and our pledge to lead the discussion of reform.
Alliance Improves Its Image
Note the neat background image of the Capitol Rich took yesterday.
From the April 15 newsletter:
Budget conference committee
may take a while
There hasn't been a lot of common ground between the Republican-controlled Assembly and the Democratic-controlled Senate on the state budget bill. Including their differences on the shared revenue, the two houses differed on 320 individual budget items, and agreed on just 124 when they met this week, according to a Legislative Fiscal Bureau summary.
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While shared revenues remain our major priority, there are a host of other issues in the budget bill that we've been working on — either for or against. Here's a memo we sent to legislators summarizing our positions: |
Conference Explores Sprawl Solution
"Regional Government: The solution to sprawl?" is the title of a conference in Madison April 20 that argues, in effect, "If the problems caused by sprawl are regional in nature, of necessity the solution should be regional too.
"Build a Wal-Mart on the edge of town and your municipal neighbors will share the traffic, if not the tax base," say 1000 Friends of Wisconsin and the Land Use Institute, in their invitation to their 2002 annual meeting and conference at Edgewood College in Madison.
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The groups have invited Carl Hosticka, the
president of Metro,
Portland, Oregon's, metropolitan government, to discuss how regionalism works in Oregon. "We have also invited some of Wisconsin's best thinkers to mix it up with Carl -- former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, Alliance of Cities Director Ed Huck, Greater Milwaukee Committee Director Bob Milbourne -- and you," the groups add. Aren't they wonderfully perceptive, especially about Ed? |
The fee for the conference, which covers materials and lunch, is $45. Register as soon as poossible. Sponsors are accepting late registrations, but they need to know how much food to order. For more information, look here.
If you can't make the conference, we'll follow up. Also, there's a considerable body of material on the Internet indicating that regionalism is a solution to sprawl. Start by following the links on the Panning Commissioners Journal's sprawl solutions page.
For Wisconsin, there's Myron Orfield and Tom Luce's Wisconsin Metropatterns, commissioned by the Alliance's educational and research arm, Wisconsin Sustainable Cities Inc., and funded by the Joyce Foundation. See a summary of the study here. Also, see our initial proposal that grew out of the study, here.
Protesters Could Outnumber Mayors
Folks protecting the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Madison June 14-18 could outnumber the mayors in attendance, if protest organizers have their way. We're not sure what exactly they're protesting, but they say there was too little community involvement in setting up the event, and they're hoping for thousands of protesters. For the AP story on the planned protest, look here. Protests seem to happen at every U.S. Conference of Mayors event, and if this year's fizzles, Madison's claim to the title of Protest Town, U.S.A. will really be in jeopardy.
How Shared Revenue Fight Plays Out
We'll fill in the blanks as the process continues.
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | |
| Current Law | $1,029.4 | $1,039.7 | $1,039.7 |
| Governor | 679.4 | 679.4 | 0.0 |
| Joint Finance* | 1,029.4 | 750.0 | 515.0 |
| Assembly* | 1,029.4 | 750.0 |
515.0 |
| Senate | 1,029.4 | 1,039.7 | 1,039.7 |
| Conference Committee | __________ | __________ | __________ |
| Governor's vetoes | __________ | __________ | __________ |
(in millions of
dollars) |
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Alliance Board elections coming up
Alliance President Paul Jadin is prohibited by our bylaws from seeking re-election. Other board members whose terms are expiring in September: vice president Jane Wood of Beloit; secretary-treasurer Joe Laux of Menasha and Mayors Jim Schramm of Sheboygan and Michael Miller of West Bend.
These slots will be filled by mail ballot. Nominations are due by May 1. All who are interested, indicate whether you are interested in the presidency, vice-presidency, secretary-treasurership or one of the regular board slots, and send your name to City Manager Jane Wood at woodj@ci.beloit.wi.us
The successful candidates will be announced at the Alliance's June 13 meeting in Madison.
