| Arbitration Law Broken;
Needs Fix By Rich Eggleston
A review of recent arbitrators'
decisions in collective bargaining impasses across Wisconsin proves the current system is
broken and needs a legislative fix, Milwaukee attorney Robert W. Mulcahy, a partner in the
Michael, Best & Friedrich law firm, writes in the latest issue of Wisconsin
Counties magazine.
| A case involving West Allis
and its police union, which was handed down after the magazine's deadline, reinforces that
assessment.
Arbitrator Edward B. Krinsky on Nov. 12 ruled that more
than 20 years of contract parity between fire fighters and police officers in West Allis
did not warrant awarding the police union a contract with substantially the same terms
that fire fighters and other unions had voluntarily accepted. He chose a more generous
plan proposed by the police union. |
|
| Alliance Endorses Arbitration Fix At their Nov. 7 meeting in Wauwatosa, members of the Wisconsin
Alliance of Cities unanimously endorsed AB 598, a bill to begin
fixing Wisconsin's binding arbitration law for municipalities, providing several
shortcomings are amended out of the proposal.
The action came after members of the Milwaukee Area
Municipal Employers Association explained their unanimous support for the measure.
"We're trying to level the playing field,"
Menomonee Falls Village Administrator Barb Blumenfield told Alliance city leaders.
"Is (the bill) perfect? Absolutely not. Is it a start? Absolutely." |
|
However, in an April 17 decision against Cudahy,
arbitrator Herman Torosian ruled that the historic parity between benefits for police and
fire personnel outweighed that city's deteriorating financial picture, and decided against
a city offer that would have instituted a 5% health insurance premium contribution for
fire fighters, which had not been part of a settlement negotiated with the police in 2002.
Mayor Glowacki
|
Cudahy Mayor Ray Glowacki said the different
standards applied to two Milwaukee suburbs by arbitrators working under the same law shows
why the law must be changed. "It is a law whose
time has come to be re-examined," Mayor Glowacki said. "The big argument for
arbitration is that it stops strikes. At what cost?" The cost is significant to local
budgets and property taxes, he said.
"I think we'd be better off with strikes," the
mayor declared. "I really do."
In Cudahy, the cost of health insurance increased from
$790 per month per employee in 2001 to $1,475 in 2003. Cudahy, by the way, shouldered a
more than $250,000 cut in shared revenue last year. |
"Since wages and benefits comprise approximately 60
to 80 percent of the (local) budget, it's no wonder that these decisions are now the
subject of rigorous review and analysis," Mulcahy wrote. According to Mulcahy, health
insurance has been at the top of issues taken to arbitration since 2001.
Property Tax Freeze Resurrected
By Rich Eggleston
Some of the same state legislators who predicted massive
property tax increases across Wisconsin in December — a prediction that failed
to materialize — are again calling for a property tax freeze. Again,
their "freeze" wouldn't really be a freeze, but like the "freeze" that
Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed, it could have unintended consequences that hobble the state's
economy and hinder new job growth.
Freeze supporter
|
The latest version is a two-year "freeze" rather than a
three-year limit on tax increases, and contains the same allowances for growth as the
vetoed measure. The freeze vetoed by Gov. Jim Doyle, combined with shared revenue cuts,
would have forced spending reductions of up to 6.7% in medium-sized cities, and of more
than 11% in the largest towns, Andrew Reschovsky of UW-Madison and Steven Deller of UW
Extension estimated. |
| Police and fire costs are likely to face the budget ax in
the future as local officials continue to comply with the wishes of taxpayers, freeze or
no freeze, just as personnel and overtime were trimmed in cities across the state despite
the governor's vetoes.
The effect won't be uniform statewide, Reschovsky and Deller wrote.
"The proposed freeze presumes that all new development will pay for itself, and
the increase in levy attributable to...new construction can be used to finance ongoing
municipal services," they wrote. "Unfortunately, this is not always the case,
and for smaller rapidly growing communities this is seldom the case."
Yes, Virginia, there is a Madison
Mayor Cieslewicz
|
After the Wisconsin State Journal ran several pieces on its
editorial pages over the last few months suggesting that some ideas emanating from City
Hall in Madison were too avant-garde, too far out front, too...well, too liberal,
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz decided to respond in a good-natured way. The State Journal seemed
to be suggesting that Madison should be more like Peoria, Ill., or maybe Des Moines, Ia.
(The State Journal's parent company, Lee Enterprises, is headquartered in
Davenport, Ia.)
The mayor penned a response to Tim Kelley, State Journal editorial page
editor, in the form of a parody of New York Sun editor Francis P. Church's
immortal reply to Virginia O'Hanlon's entreaty about whether there is a Santa Claus.
"Yes, Tim, there is a Madison!" Mayor Cieslewicz wrote. "Our little town
has a long history of not being content with the national status quo. You might even say
that it is fundamental to who we are as a city. |
"Madisonians see war and they question why it is necessary. They see poverty and
they want to do something about it. They see injustice and they want to correct it. They
see their state and national governments in the hands of the far right and they look to
their local government to represent them..."
For the entire text of the mayor's Op-Ed piece, click here. |
|
|
|
Why Electric Deregulation Won't Work
| Have you noticed all the electric rate
increases occurring lately in Wisconsin? A 9.5% increase for Wisconsin Public Service
Corp., an 11.8% increase for Wisconsin Power & Light, just to name two examples.
Businesses are paying 18.3% more for electrical energy than they were in 1997, according
to the Milwaukee Business Journal. What's happening is a property tax for homeowners, a job tax for
employers and a regressive tax on the poor, says A.J. (Nino) Amato, president of the
Wisconsin Coalition of Energy Consumers and the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group.
And the solution isn't deregulation of the energy
market, Amato says.
"Electricity is not like pork bellies, corn or
Bucky Badger sweatshirts. It cannot be stored for future sale," he says. "...As
a result, traditional price and market-clearing signals don't work."
He says the state should focus on generation,
transmission, renewables and conservation, restore energy conservation money seized to
balance the state budget, strengthen the Public Service Commission, include consumer
groups in wholesale energy negotiations and involve energy users in long-term planning. |
A.J. (Nino) Amato
|
"Let's not repeat the California debacle or head down
the East Coast-blackout road," he says. "With the right level of engagement from
all parties involved, and the voice of the consumer clearly heard, we can move forward
again."
See a fuller explanation of Amato's ideas in his
Op-Ed piece on the subject here. See the
Milwaukee Business Journal story on how companies are being zapped by rate increases here.
|
| Friends of Municipal Broadband
Are Busy By Scott Meske
Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin
City councils, county boards, village boards and utility
commissions across Wisconsin continue to pass resolutions opposing SB 272, the bill that would
hamstring local governments in their effort to provide reasonably priced high-speed
Internet service in areas the telecommunications and cable companies have ignored.
The support for the “muni position” continues to
pour out. At this point, the bill is in the Assembly Energy and Utilities Committee
awaiting a vote. Copies of resolutions along with letters to the committee members should
be sent to their legislative offices. If you prefer to send a quick email message, in
addition to a formal letter with a news story or resolution, that method works as well.
Here are the committee members’ contact information: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Biography |
Dist |
Pty |
Hometown |
Office Phone |
E-Mail Address |
| Fitzgerald,
Jeff |
39 |
R |
Beaver
Dam |
608.266.2540 |
rep.fitzgerald@legis.state.wi.us |
| Friske,
Don |
35 |
R |
Merrill |
608.266.7694 |
rep.friske@legis.state.wi.us |
| Gottlieb,
Mark |
60 |
R |
Port
Washington |
608-267-2369 |
rep.gottlieb@legis.state.wi.us |
| Honadel, Mark |
21 |
R |
South
Milwaukee |
608-266-0610 |
rep.honadel@legis.state.wi.us |
| Jensen,
Scott |
98 |
R |
Waukesha |
608.264.6970 |
rep.jensen@legis.state.wi.us |
| Krug,
Shirley |
12 |
D |
Milwaukee |
608.266.5813 |
rep.krug@legis.state.wi.us |
| Montgomery,
Phil |
4 |
R |
Ashwaubenon |
608.266.5840 |
rep.montgomery@legis.state.wi.us |
| Nischke,
Ann |
97 |
R |
Waukesha |
608.266.8580 |
rep.nischke@legis.state.wi.us |
| Powers,
Mike |
80 |
R |
Albany |
608.266.1192 |
rep.powers@legis.state.wi.us |
| Schooff,
Dan |
45 |
D |
Beloit |
608.266.9967 |
rep.schooff@legis.state.wi.us |
| Steinbrink,
John |
65 |
D |
Pleasant
Prairie |
608.266.0455 |
rep.steinbrink@legis.state.wi.us |
| Travis,
David |
81 |
D |
Madison |
608.266.5340 |
rep.travis@legis.state.wi.us |
| Turner,
Robert |
61 |
D |
Racine |
608.266.0731 |
rep.turner@legis.state.wi.us |
| Ziegelbauer,
Bob |
25 |
D |
Manitowoc |
608.266.0315 |
rep.ziegelbauer@legis.state.wi.us |
|
