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Alliance 2001 Meeting Schedule
In this issue:
| Update: Kettl Hits Rough Road WMC, GOP Leaders Moving to End |
DNR Launches Public Land
Study DOT Gets Mostly 'A's in Our Survey |
But it isn't over yet
Kettl Commission Dumps Regional Sales Tax
By Rich Eggleston
The Governor's Blue Ribbon Commission on State-Local Partnership will get another chance Dec. 14 to tackle regional growth sharing, chair Don Kettl said Dec. 5, as the ashes of a subcommittee's regional sales tax proposal still were smoking.
It's uncertain what form a resurrected package will take. The municipal workgroup's plan for a half-cent sales tax, collected by the state but distributed regionally on a per-capita basis, collided with the fears of commission members that a sales tax would be viewed as a new tax rather than a property-tax replacement; and that it would be too hard to define regions and administer the tax. Members of the municipal workgroup and others are getting together Tuesday.
The commission cobbled together an alternative that (like the regional sales tax) would eliminate shared revenue's $142 million per-capita component, but provide no per-capita replacement revenue. Half the money, $142 million, would go to encourage consolidation of services among cities, villages and towns and the other half would go into the Expenditure Restraint Program.
The Journal Sentinel described the plan here:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/dec00/kettl06120500a.asp
The Waukesha Freeman captured the commission's floundering here:
http://www.freemanol.com/topnews03.htm
At the Dec. 5 meeting, the commission continued to pay lip service to the notion that state policy should reduce tax disparities, but rejected strategies for reaching that goal. Commission members Jean Jacobson, the Racine County executive, and Marv Schuster of Washburn County were particularly hostile toward ending double-whammy taxation by counties. In other words, they and other commissioners paid scant heed to the advice of Green Bay Mayor Paul Jadin, Alliance of Cities President:
"The current playing field is not level. We don't want you to exacerbate that, we want you to reduce it."
To e-mail the Kettl Commission, click here.
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the 1,000-pound gorilla among business lobbying groups, has elimination of the personal property tax squarely in its sights. So does Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen.
In a white paper for the UW's Nov. 29-Dec. 1 Economic Summit, WMC president Jim Haney suggested 32 steps the Legislature could take to improve Wisconsin's business climate. The issue that jumped out to local government advocates was the personal property tax.
Elimination of the tax also is on Jensen's "to-do list" for preparing Wisconsin for the New Economy.
In 2000, the equalized value of personal property (excluding computers & related equipment) in Wisconsin totaled $9,107,785,000. The statewide average net tax rate in 2000 was $21.46 per $1,000 of value. If the remaining taxable personal property were taken off the tax rolls, it would cost local governments (municipalities, counties & school districts) $195.5 million annually.
Keep in mind, this amount would increase in the future. Personal property value increased by 7% statewide from 1999 to 2000.
To see Haney's white paper to the Economic Summit, look here:
http://www.wmc.org/summitwhitepaper.htm
For Jensen's "to-do list," go here:
http://wispolitics.com/freeser/pr/pr0012/pr00120108.html
To e-mail Jensen, click here. To e-mail Haney, click here.
The Voters First coalition met Dec. 6, and the first order of business was to figure out how to assist in the passage of legislation to regulate phony issue ads by independent groups.
Due to laws regulating review of administrative rules -- and legislative unhappiness with the way the State Elections Board skirted the issue-ad problem last session -- a bill to require disclosure of who is behind so-called "issue ads" and regulate the money that flows into independent issue-ad groups will be one of the first measures introduced in the Legislature next year.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala (D-Madison) has promised to make the measure one of the first bills the Senate considers. Voters First folks are less sure of the intentions of majority Republicans in the Assembly. They ask that we help build support for the issue-ad bill and the broader Voters First bill. In particular, they ask campaign-finance-reform supporters with close ties to Republicans in the Assembly to take our message to those lawmakers. For help in doing so, please contact Paul Uebelher of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign here.
For an explanation of the issue-ad bill and how it got to the head of the line for legislative consideration next year, see the analysis by Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, here.
At the general membership meeting in Janesville, Alliance members endorsed the Voters First campaign finance reform package, plus a ban on soft money expenditures independent of a candidate. For details of Voters First, look here.
Racine Tallies Subsidy to Surrounding Communities
The City of Racine subsidizes residents of other communities in eastern Racine County to the tune of more than $1 million a year, according to a three-year study unveiled Nov. 30.
Racine's neighbors aren't pulling their weight in shouldering costs associated with operation of the city library, the Racine Zoo, Wustum Museum and the Belle Urban Transit System, the Ruekert-Mielke consulting firm found.
The study found that the biggest subsidy was more than $450,000 a year in unreimbursed library expenses (after factoring in state and county aid) for borrowing by non-city residents, and nearly $240,000 a year in capital costs for a library expansion.
Ruekert-Mielke recommended not only redress of these inequities, but a property tax sharing mechanism for eastern Racine County communities to reduce -- but not eliminate -- effective tax rate disparities.
Racine County Executive Jean Jacobson, a member of the Kettl Commission, made no recommendations at the Dec. 5 commission meeting on how to eliminate on a statewide basis the kinds of disparities the Ruekert-Mielke study uncovered.
The state Department of Natural Resources is launching a study to assess the state's long-term land ownership needs. The stated aim is to protect Wisconsin's natural resources and to provide meaningful outdoor recreation opportunities, and the DNR is seeking public input
The first open-house meeting to get that input will be Feb. 26 in Waukesha. Other meetings are planned in Fitchburg, Eau Claire, Onalaska, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Green Bay, Sheboygan, Platteville, Stevens Point, Rhinelander and Ashland through the end of March. A schedule will be on the project's web site soon, and we'll keep you informed.
DNR hopes the study will examine what types of land ownership rights the state should seek (i.e., fee title, development rights, access rights, etc.) The study is intended to identify areas for more detailed evaluation but will not identify specific parcels of land that the agency wants. For more information, go to: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/master_planning/land_legacy/index.html
Alliance members who have responded so far to an Alliance survey on the agency's interaction with local government -- the good, the bad and the ugly -- have had mostly good things to say about the agency.
The relationship between the City of Ashland and DOT has been excellent, City Administrator Tony Murphy reported. Mayor Vernon Verjinski says Wisconsin Rapids' staff is on a first-name basis with staff at DOT's District 4. And Monroe says District 1 employees Jay Niedler and Mark Vesperman have been exemplary in their sensitivity to local concerns and willingness to address them.
Marshfield and Beaver Dam reported similarly good relationships. But several of our members reported problems too.
The survey seeks examples of DOT bureaucratic hubris as well as examples of exemplary DOT conduct in its relations with local government. If you haven't yet responded, get a copy of the survey by clicking here. You can also comment by e-mailing Alliance surveymeister Rich Eggleston by clicking here.
Local Govt. Input Sought on Navigable Waters Law
As Gail told city leaders in an e-mail, we've received a request for information from the staff of the Legislative Council's Special Committee on Navigable Waters, which is charged with recodifying Chapter 30 of the Wisconsin statutes. If you didn't receive the e-mail or haven't responded, please do so now, to gail@wiscities.org
The study committee's staff seeks answers to the following questions:
1) Sec. 30.77, Stats., prescribes the scope of local boating regulation and provides for shared jurisdiction when a body of water crosses municipal boundaries. How could the statute be fine-tuned to better sort out those shared responsibilities and provide more effective regulation?
2) Are there local irritants or needs (e.g., the regulation of jet skis) that are currently inadequately regulated. Please list irritants and possible solutions.
3) Sec. 30.37, Stats, provides for Harbor Commissions to plan and undertake harbor improvements.
a) Do you have a harbor commission?
b) Are there problems with coordinating the work of the harbor commission with city government? Please elaborate.
c) Are there technical changes to the structure and operations of the harbor commission that you would like to see considered by the special committee?
Alone among Alliance members, Oshkosh has a council-manager form of government and a mayor, elected by the Common Council.
The mayor's traditional role has been that of chief-ribbon cutter and greeter, but Mayor Jon Dell'Antonia already has remolded the job in his first eight months in office, the Oshkosh Northwestern's Karl Ebert reported Dec. 4.
Dell'Antonia has become the point-man for downtown redevelopment. For more, see Ebert's story here.
Help Ed and Gail Lobby Alliance Issues
Ed and Gail are making appointments daily to talk to legislators about the Alliance's 2001 proactive agenda.
When you see some of your legislators on the list that follows, please click on their highlighted name and send them an e-mail urging support for our agenda. (To review the agenda, go here. Feel free to cut and paste!)
Gail met with Sens. Fred Risser (D-Madison) and Rod Moen (D-Whitehall); and Reps. Mark Gundrum (R-New Berlin); Lee Meyerhofer (D-Kaukauna); Dan Schooff (D-Beloit); Joan Wade (R-Montello); Peter Bock (D-Milwaukee) and Marlin Schneider (D-Wisconsin Rapids).Ed met with Sens. Judith Robson (D-Beloit); Peggy Rosenzweig (R-Wauwatosa); Rep. Carol Owens (R-Oshkosh); and the staffs of Sen. David Zien (R-Eau Claire) and Scott Walker (R-Wauwatosa). Both Ed and Gail met with Rep. Frank Boyle (D-Superior).
An e-mail from one of their city leaders helps show them that you're watching, and appreciate results on the issues that we share.
Business Leaders Thirst for Regional Cooperation
The chief message to local government officials from participants in the Wisconsin Economic Summit Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 in Milwaukee was that collaboration between local governments, and the reduction of intergovernmental competition will greatly assist future economic development efforts in the state.
The thousand or so business, academic and government leaders who gathered for the summit were told that the New Economy can blossom anywhere. But Wisconsin is well suited as a host for the new economy because it has so much infrastructure of the Old Economy -- the established manufacturing industries with which high technology firms thrive in economic symbiosis.
There was good news for Alliance members in the discussion of the New Economy: The shock troops for the high-tech half of the economic partnerships that comprise the New Economy are people who thrive in vibrant communities with cultural amentities and social resources.
Dec. 11
Leg. Cncl Labor Shortage
Committee
Dec. 11
Tobacco Control Bd subcmte, on pre-emption, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Fond du Lac
Dec. 14
Kettl
Commission, Madison
Dec. 18
Municipal lobbyists, 9 a.m., League office
Dec. 18
Partners in Local Govt., 10 a.m., Pyle Center
Dec. 19
Fair Property Tax Coalition (anti-tax exemptions)
Dec. 21
Leg. Cncl Navigable Waters
Committee
Jan. 2
Energy Lifeline Coaltion press conf., 1 p.m., Assly Parlor
Jan. 3
Inauguration, 1 p.m., Assembly Chambers
Jan. 4
Kettl
Commission, Madison
Edward J. Huck |
Gail E. Sumi |
Richard A. Eggleston |
