Milwaukee County Sales Tax Referendum

MAN, do I wish I would have been commenting on this debacle of a tax increase over the past several weeks/months…..I do have to give the left of this community a little credit, they do realize that the way to “sell” the public is to offer them some sort of “tax cut” to get them to at least pay attention to their shenanigans, and they have not disappointed this time.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, well let me share.  There will be a non-binding referendum on this years ballot, for Milwaukee County residents, basically asking to increase the sales tax by .5%.  The bulk of this tax revenue is supposed to go to pay for Milwaukee County’s transit system and parks, with a portion (and this is the “upsell”) supposedly going to Milwaukee County property tax payers in the form of property tax relief. 

All that sounds good, right?  Here’s the problem, oh wait PROBLEMS.  One Milwaukee AND Wisconsin, by every partisan and more importantly Non-Partisan tax groups, sit in the top 5 of most taxed areas/states in the union.  Two, I have posed the following question to advocates (political and general citizens who support the tax): If I support this tax, what assurances will you give me that in the next 2, 5, 10, 20+ years a portion of this sales tax increase will go towards property tax relief?  I have not found ONE person able to answer that question.  Why?  The reason is they can’t.  They can’t because this isn’t about property tax relief; this is about raising taxes, period!  Three, (and this goes for City of Milwaukee residents) even if there is property tax relief, MPS is going to absolutely HAMMER you this year withtheir increases.  Hell, they’re putting out a quality product, why not throw another double digit tax increase onto our bills, that’ll fix it, right????  See the pattern???  Next, if you were not living here in 1991, the same “sales job” was thrown at Milwaukee County residents.  Do you think there was lasting property tax relief?  Of course not!  The left of this area are hoping that we won’t remember that last snow job.  They’re telling me now, “this is different”, this is REAL tax relief.  Fool me once – shame on you.  Fool me twice – shame on me.  Lastly, and this is NEVER discussed by the supporters (Milwaukee liberals)…this is a regressive tax, plain and simple.  A tax that hits those in the lower tax bracket.  Admittedly it will not be in place for food, gas and prescription drugs, but everything else is fair game.  In an economy that is stagnant, at best, is raising a tax that hits those less fortunate a very liberal/compassionate thing to do??  It’s a rhetorical question, of course, but it needs to get out there.

Liberals in this region/state (country as well – see my previous post) do not think we pay enough taxes.  Not enough in property taxes, sales taxes, income taxes, inheritance taxes (name it and it’s not taxed enough).  I would say to those supporting this increase, just be honest and tell me you want to raise my taxes to support transit and parks.  I still wouldn’t support it, because I believe there needs to be a more thorough look at the city, county and statewide costs, but at least I would have some respect for those supporting this referendum.  These tactics reek, and considering I pay a boatload in taxes, you’d better come up with a better, more reasonable argument for taking money out of my wallet.  On a related note, if being patriotic means paying more in taxes, Wisconsin residents are one of the most patriotic citizens this country has EVER SEEN!!!!