Feb 8 at 10:55 AM
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| Bob Ziegelbauer doesn't believe in infation |
I agree tha the County has been mismanaged for a long time now. Bob's badge of honor has been his so called fiscal conservative-ism and until just recently bragged consistently that he has held taxes flat. Unfortunately this is a fiscal fantasy that we have seen played out not only here but at the state, in particular at the State DOT where the Legislature (which I believe then included Bob) decided to remove indexing the gas tax to inflation. Republicans do not believe in inflation so without considering the obviously rising cost of doing business in the real world, they implement these policies that have train wrecked much of the State's budgeting from Madison on down to the towns.
Chip,
There is a lot of talk about running government running like a private business. I suggest that there is no private business that would even consider the artificial constraint of the operating costs by this sort of fiat without the recognition that prices rise and that they would instead neglect their facilities for decades in stubborn delusion that they can hold their budget to that of twenty years ago.
At the same time they have cut revenue sharing to local governments. Every town chair I have spoken to and all of those quoted in the Valders Journal have mentioned this as a cause for concern regardless of party affiliation. In yesterday's paper there is an article about Town of Cato considering the abandonment of single user roads including one that serves a commercial farm citing those cuts. They are not the only town to turn to that. At the same time Cato is struggling with a serious issue with the Clarks Mills dam with little or no help from the State, yet what happens to that dam ill impact a major segment of the county up and down the river including Cato Falls Park. It should not fall entirely on them to deal with this but before the County can help it needs to get its fiscal act together.
Beyond the cuts to revenue sharing and despite Walkers "tools" to take it out of the hides of municipal workers and teachers the Republican Legislature has handcuffed local governments by mandating strict limits on property tax increases which Im sure most would agree was nothing more than attempt to paper over the real effects of their revenue sharing cuts. Once again, that artificial limit is below the rate of inflation which if real budgetary needs were addressed would have to be implemented every single year just to keep up with the actual cost of doing business. In almost every year except in times of recession the real inflation rate has exceeded 2%. Compounded annually this means that over the last decade until this year a we have experienced a real dollar cut to services nearing 25%, something that if overtly proposed at the outset would have never been considered. Never the less, that is the reality of the cumulative budgeting of this executive and passively agreed to by successive boards (not the mention the State Legislature and now former Governor).
Of course the promise of all the fiscal conservancy is that prosperity will result. Nowhere is that less true than Manitowoc County. A recent article in the Capitol Times showed an economic survey that showed a net contraction of the working age population county by county and Manitowoc showed a net contraction of the exact segment of the population that generate the ability to fund government. As a result property values are at least as stagnant as the budget which means that county and city revenues have been largely flat with only a few exceptions. The "Dark Store" loop hole which Republicans have refused to end is cutting into the justification for expending funds to support new stores like Meijer and Panera for which he carved up the fair grounds on a no-bid sale even as the Executive and the Mayor bicker over how to fund the infrastructure. Apparently Bob needed those funds pretty badly - another clue that the County is in trouble.
Another clue to that trouble is his proposal to (yet again) sell off county land in a no-bid sale without the necessary due diligence in extracting the maximum value for the taxpayers from that land. This has been a repeating pattern with the Executive. Beginning with the no-bid sale of the MCHCC at a net nine million dollar loss to taxpayers. Even if you accept the alleged annual losses of that center as a fact (I do not) there was absolutely no justification for the fire sale price of six million. Certainly there have been several new such facilities built in Manitowoc since that time, all for full value. All for considerably more than six million and all appear to be making a go of it.
Another appalling example has been the aforementioned destruction of the County Expo grounds - again a no bid sale. The alleged trust fund is little more than an attempt to get it off the county books as fast and as much as possible which unfortunately had the effect of crippling the facility and cementing it in a now terrible location that will in my opinion eventually bring about its demise.
Now we see the same approach to the sale of the farmland even though one parcel is right on the I-43 corridor and prime for commercial development. Bob simply wants to take the first offer with not even a hint of curiosity as to its real value or other fiscal considerations. I suggest that at the offered price the County is better off not selling it at all. Consider the current rental rate of (what I believe to be $140/acre) Then consider that the State's mandate that farmland be taxed for its use value and not market value. A simple calculation shows that the County would be better off continuing to rent the land out rather than hope in any increased revenue due to putting it on the tax roles. As a farmland owner myself I can assure you this is not even a close decision.
*Note: The board has since wisely rejected this.
Beyond that according to information previously provided by Maura, the Executive plans on simply dumping the cash into next years budget I suppose to avoid another tax increase. Only that cash wont even cover the cost of inflation for next year much less the interest on his proposed borrowing. I take this as the third clue that he knows the county is in deep trouble. Any capital sale should go to offset other capital expenditures and not a one time flush of cash into expenses. It is effectively breaking up the County's furniture to heat the courthouse.
Rather, for the I-43 property in particular the possibility of promoting it for commercial development has to be the first consideration. Wtih the departure of any number of business in recent times this should be the top priority for any government official, not using what remains of county property as an ATM.
Contrast this with the City's acquisition of the old CNR rail yard along the river. Certainly this is a positive development and will yield results for the County as well. The County needs to make at least some attempt to restart support for economic development since clearly the current Exec's sole focus on low taxes have been an epic failure.
All this said, I do not support the county sales tax.
Having spent 30 odd years in the IT industry maintaining systems that include sales tax accounting systems and there is little accountability in the collection and payment of that tax. I can virtually guarantee that few local business correctly calculate and report it much less pay the required "use tax" or even know that it exists. There are so many exemptions to sales taxes such as farm use that it is nearly impossible to track correctly and the State no longer effectively audits this due to cuts in State auditing capacity.
It also puts a higher burden on people with fixed income who either own no taxable property or pay relatively little on modest homes. The idea that there is a bonanza to be had in getting revenue from people outside the county to kick in as they come to Manitowoc to shop is largely a myth since other communities all have the same chain stores we now have and more people travel to larger cities for shopping and entertainment. Certainly the free skate that internet sales from companies like Amazon get while nearly no one pays the aforementioned use tax will continue to deplete sales tax revenues in the future. Increasingly the only revenue to be had from it will be on necessities that for practical concerns will be purchased locally which means a disproportional burden on those least able to pay.
Bob is actually correct in pointing out that State statute requires that county sales tax only be used as an offset for property tax which for the reason above I regard as counter productive in who it is actually seeking to "relieve" from taxation. Certainly the Mayor's proposal for the county to use the money to repair neglected city streets (Nickels has committed many of the same fiscal sins as the Exucutive) would be an unprecedented and illegal use of what are otherwise County funds.
I say all this as a significant owner of property in this county including the City of Manitowoc.
Better alternatives exist.
1. Insist that a series of future budgets at least keep steady with inflation by incrementally increasing property taxes at the maximum amount allowed under state caps.
2. Consider a county referendum for a larger a larger tax increase to fully fund the entire list of overdue repairs and maintenance of our infrastructure thus minimizing interest costs - a legitimate aspect of real fiscal conservancy.
3. Forbid the sale by statute if necessary of any county property in no-bid sales without due diligence to maximize the value for taxpayers considering not only the sale price but the long term fiscal impact on revenue and economic activity and potential growth. Under no circumstances should real property be sold to cover current expenses.
4. The County needs to reestablish the EDC and return to a policy of promoting actual growth, not the mythical and entirely non-existent growth of our cuttent low tax policies.
5. The county needs to lobby the Legislature to remove the shackles of State meddling in local budgets as well as restoring previous levels of income tax based revenue sharing instead of using those funds to patch its own deficits and ballooning budgets. This should include the repeal of Act 10 which robbed millions from out local economy while delivering nothing.
Sincerely
Bernard J. (Bernie) Starzewski
4823 Greendale Rd.
Valders Wi. 54245
