Posts Tagged ‘wheel tax’

Barrett right on veto

Tuesday, August 12th, 2008

Mayor Tom Barrett likely will get overridden on his veto of the $20 wheel tax, but it was the right thing to do.

On the other hand, kudos to Ald. Robert Bauman and his allies for pushing this issue, which so badly  needed to be addressed for so long. which the mayor declined to do for too long.

A wheel tax isn’t a bad solution — it just should not be the only solution. Ald. Michael Murphy had a better idea when he proposed the combination of a $10 wheel tax and significantly reduced special assessments for street repairs. That would ensure that non-profits and land-heavy businesses and absentee landlords share in the cost of street repairs. As it stands now, those entities may well escape paying their fair share.

The council also should have done more to protect itself from pent-up demand. The wheel tax-only funding source for street repairs removes any incentive for homeowners not to insist that their wrecked — or even mildly imperfect — streets be repaired immediately. People who pay the $20 and don’t get the repairs they feel they deserve will be angry; people who rejected repairs under the assessment system will want the repairs now that the assessments aren’t attached to them.

If aldermen think liquor licenses can be a problematic pain — they ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

And, of course, if the state provided adequate local transportation needs, the entire wheel tax debate would not even be necessary.

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Wheel tax vote and unintended consequences

Sunday, August 3rd, 2008

My prediction about what aldermen will be hearing now that there is a $20 wheel tax instead of special assessments for street repairs:

The street in front of my house sucks. It’s got all sorts of potholes and it is a really, really, rough ride. Now that the wheel tax has been adopted and my neighbors and I don’t have to worry about special assessments, we’d like the street rebuilt. Now. No? If we don’t get services for the money, why the hell are we paying that wheel tax? And why does street X get rebuilt before my street does? My street is just as bad.

I also wonder if the folks who rejected street projects because of the onerous special assessments will get another chance now that there aren’t going to be those assessments. The rules have changed, after all.

The assessments, as outrageous as they were, at least functioned to moderate folks’ desire to have their streets repaired so the Department of Public Works wasn’t overwhelmed with demand. Now that those special assessments are gone, it’s doubtful that will be the case. There still is not enough money to repair all the streets that need repairing, but there is no motivation any more for residents to limit their demands for street repairs.

Watch out, aldermen, you got what you wished for. By the way, Ald. Murphy, Pinecrest Street really is in sad shape….

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Posted in Commentary, Common Council | 2 Comments »

Council fantasy

Wednesday, July 30th, 2008

Here’s how I wish it would go today at the Common Council, but it won’t.

Ald. Michael Murphy’s alternative to the proposed $20 wheel tax is adopted. Murphy has proposed a $10 wheel tax with lower special assessments for street repairs. Murphy’s proposal means property tax-exempt non-profits still kick in for street repairs based on the size of their individual properties; under the $20 tax proposal, non-profits with lots of property, but few vehicles, get off really cheap. In addition, the state just raised its own vehicle registration fees by $20. Make it expensive enough, and more people simply won’t register their vehicles.

Murphy’s proposal doesn’t stand a chance in the world, though. The $20 tax seems not only meant to fund street repairs, but also to serve as a symbolic Common Council declaration of independence and leadership. Some aldermen are clearly unenamored with Mayor Barrett’s low-key style. 

Also during my wish-it-were-so council debate, the aldercritters find a way not to tax motorcycles, mopeds and scooters. It’s seems awfully silly to me to levy an additional $20 tax on vehicles that actually are lighter and cause less damage to streets than cars or trucks (yes, I have a scooter.)

The council then moves ahead and rejects Murphy’s proposal to sell water to the “middle third” of New Berlin. This deal is akin to a starving man selling his pure gold watch for a peanut butter sandwich and a glass of milk. The City of Milwaukee is desperate for the $1.5 million New Berlin is dangling. It is making this decision based on inadequate information and fear, a really dangerous combination. 

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Murphy opposes $20 wheel tax

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008

Ald. Michael Murphy said Wednesday that he opposes the $20 wheel tax endorsed by a Common Council committee, and would offer a compromise that would reduce the proposed fee to $10.

The $20 fee endorsed Wednesday by the Public Works Committee would raise $6.6 million and would eliminate the need for special assessments for street repairs; the $10 fee would raise $3.3 million and allow special assessments to be significantly reduced, Murphy said.

The $20 fee  would allow some major entities, such as hospitals, that benefit greatly from steet repair programs to be totally exempted from sharing the cost of the repairs, Murphy said. Maintaining some level of special assessments would assure that those entitities shared in the cost of repairs while at the same time providing property tax relief, he said.

Murphy may have an uphill battle to win his colleagues’ support for his version of the wheel tax. The $20 fee proposal has 10 co-sponsors, a veto-proof majority. It was endorsed by the Public Works Committee on a 4-1 vote.

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The wheel tax

Monday, July 14th, 2008

The Milwaukee Common Council is going to vote on the idea of $20-per-year wheel tax. The measure thus far has a veto-proof majority, but it is only a one-vote margin and can change.

There is a lot wrong with the idea of taxing residents of such an impoverished city to subsidize streets for huge damage-causing trucks from elsewhere. It is obvious, though, that something needs to be done. City streets are becoming increasingly dangerous because of their poor condition.

Is this the best fix there is? Certainly it would be better if some of the billions the state is going to throw away on unneeded freeway expansion were redirected to local governments for needed street repairs and reconstruction. The land use group 1000 Friends of Wisconsin reported last year  that Milwaukee County residents spend $180 million per year on road projects that are eligible for state aid, but that aren’t getting the aid because the state is spending the money elsewhere — on big highway projects.

The state needs to set some new priorities.

 

 

 

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Posted in Commentary, Common Council, Freeways, State Government, WisDOT | 2 Comments »