Monday, April 16, 2012
Gov. Scott Walker announced Monday that property taxes went down for the first time in 12 years. Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester) says the good news also includes an uptick in new business start-ups, proving that budget reforms are working.
If you haven’t already heard the good news, let me be the first to share it with you. Statewide property taxes went down for the first time in 12 years. You read it right. Property taxes went DOWN not up. This reverses the trend of tax increases every year for more than a decade. In fact, since 1998, property taxes have risen 43 percent. This year the tax bill for the median value home went down .4 percent. That amounts to at least $39 back in your pocket. To those naysayers who quip, “That isn’t much,” I say consider what was first believed to be the case for property taxpayers. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau initially estimated the average homeowner would have paid an additional $700 over the biennium. What a great reversal! Taxpayers …
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Rep. Robin Vos said in a commentary that his relationship with the American Legislative Exchange Council is a non-issue.
The not so surprising relationship between corporations and state Republican Legislators is the topic of an investigative piece called ALEC Exposed, a project of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). Critics say the American Legislative Exchange Council, heavily funded by corporations like Wal-Mart, GE, Boeing, and the Koch company, have boiler-plated over 1,000 pieces of Legislation and 25 percent make it to becoming law, according to a commentary published on the Racine Journal Times website. Scott Kelly, press secretary for Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), said Wanggaard is a member of ALEC. “But the ALEC meetings aren’t secret,” he said. “It’s no different than being a member of the National Conference of State Legislators.” Kelly …
Monday, June 6, 2011
The money will help restore some classroom support, they say.
Racine Unified officials said Monday they were happy two local legislators helped save $1.75 million in state money for the district. In a prepared statement, the district said it was pleased that Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and State Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, worked to restore the money through the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee. Had the cut been allowed to stick, RUSD would have been the only district in the state to experience such a funding reduction. In a joint release issued last week, both Vos and Wanggaard said the change softens the district's financial blow. Under state plans, Racine Unified's charter school funding would be phased out. The district is scheduled to receive $1 million for the 2011-2012 school year…
Saturday, May 28, 2011
The district will avoid taking a financial hit that no other schools were facing.
The Joint Finance Committee has restored a portion of $2.6 million to Racine Unified for charter school funding. Racine Unified would have been the only district in the state to have faced such cuts. According to a joint press release from Representative Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and State Senator Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), the budget motion restores $1.75 million, which should help lessen the financial hit the district faces for the 2011-2013 biennial budget year. “We’re trying to protect Racine Unified from a drastic cut in their budget,” said Vos. “This will soften the financial strain on the district.” He is co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee. The release clarifies that state aid for the charter school phases out gradually, giving $1…
Monday, May 23, 2011
Columnist Dan Bell believes Wisconsin's politicians lack value-based leadership.
Okay, so there’s George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and….Scott Walker? No..no. The Fitzgerald boys? Oh… no.. no. I know, how about Paul Ryan? Robin Vos? Tommy Thompson? Anyone? Ask yourself this question; did it seem at all ludicrous to even suggest any of these names as candidates to be immortalized in granite next to those already on Mount Rushmore? I think I can help with the answer, and more importantly, why this should be important to you today…. right now. According to James O’Toole in his book Leading Change, the answer lays beyond the initial reasons why those on Mount Rushmore were chosen – what they have in common. All were leaders. All were important in the formation and evolution of the …
Friday, May 20, 2011
State Superintendent Evers says, "A significant debate coming."
Describing Wisconsin’s public school system as “under attack,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Evers told a Thursday afternoon news conference that taxpayer-supported vouchers would do more harm than good in Racine. The event, assembled by the Racine Unified School District at the Walden III Middle/High School cafeteria, was in response to recent pronouncements by Governor Scott Walker that he’d like to see something like the Milwaukee Parental School Choice Program brought to Racine, Beloit and Green Bay. Under the 20-year-old Milwaukee program, students in low-income households receive vouchers worth $6,442 each to attend private schools in Milwaukee, including religious schools. A provision in the proposed state …
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Measure would need to be passed in the state Assembly and Senate, but this could come to pass Caledonia.
Property owners in Caledonia could see their property tax bills capped permanently if the biennial budget bill becomes law. Authored by Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester), the Joint Finance Committee, which Vos co-chairs, passed a motion today that would prevent property taxes from increasing the next two years and make a 1.5 percent tax increase the standard after that. Vos says taxpayers can count on this happening. "Taxpayers can circle this date on their calendars," Vos said in a press release. "We’re making history by creating a permanent property tax cap.” The measure passed the Joint Finance Committee along party lines. "We’re putting money where our mouth is,” Vos stated. “We've talked about permanent property tax limits during the …
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Representative Robin Vos says he wants to be sure residents aren't passing on more debt to future generations.
This week the members of the Joint Committee on Finance are taking the first of many important votes on the state’s new two-year spending plan. As the co-chair of the committee, I’m looking forward to balancing the budget the right way, without passing along massive debt to our children, borrowing billions or raising your taxes. Over the past eight years, Democrats balanced the state budget by using accounting tricks and gimmicks, raided segregated funds, borrowed money, raised taxes, or filled the gap with one-time federal stimulus money. Basically, we’ve used a band-aid approach but our financial wounds have only gotten worse and this time, there isn’t a big enough band-aid to fix it. It’s now a $3.6 billion dollar gash to the …
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The question: how big?
The Racine Unified School District Board of Education learned Monday that possible cuts in state general education aid and other funding could blow a nearly 10 percent hole in the next budget. David Hazen, RUSD chief financial officer, told the School Board that an anticipated cut in state aid, totaling $10.7 million, plus the expiration of federal stimulus funding and anticipated increases in wages, benefits, transportation and utilities, leaves the district with a $20.5 million deficit for 2011-12. RUSD’s current general fund budget for 2010-11 is about $246 million. While the funding cuts would be partially offset by employee contributions to pension and health insurance premiums, Hazen and Marc Duff, the district’s budget director, …
James R Hoffa
12:36 am on Sunday, June 17, 2012
ALEC??? Is that the new liberal Democrat name for 'taxpayers'? more ›