NUMB:
000568
VERS:
ORIGINAL
REF:
XXBY:
JUDICIARY AND LEGISLATION COMMITTEE
TITL:
Resolution relating to the Governor's Blue Ribbon Commission on State and Local Partnerships and the Badger Birthright.
ANLS:
- Analysis -
This resolution declares the City of Milwaukee's support for the continued existence of state shared revenue programs that equalize the ability of local government to meet their residents' and businesses' need at stable, comparable property tax rates.
BODY:
Whereas, The coming of the Progressive Era in Wisconsin produced a huge improvement in the financing of state and local government; and
Whereas, In 1911, hundreds of confusing and dysfunctional local taxes were eliminated as part of the creation of Wisconsin's progressive income tax and the sharing with local governments of the proceeds of that tax; and
Whereas, The revenue sharing programs for local government, principally State Shared Revenue (SSR) and the Expenditure Restraint Program (ERP), ensure that communities with low equalized property value per person are nonetheless able to provide their residents and businesses with essential municipal services--police protection, fire suppression, garbage pick-up, recycling, snow plowing, street maintenance, building inspection, public health, libraries and others--at tax rates that are comparable to more affluent communities that have high property values per person; and
Whereas, Revenue sharing and tax base equalization constitute the foundation of a Badger Birthright, allowing residents of Wisconsin throughout the state, and regardless of the size or location or affluence of their community, to receive core municipal services at comparable tax rates; and
Whereas, For the City of Milwaukee, given the City's relatively low equalized property value per person, shared revenue in its various forms provides approximately $245 million and covers 35% of the City's operating budget; and
Whereas, If the Shared Revenue program were eliminated, property taxes in the City of Milwaukee would rise dramatically, almost tripling from the current $9.71 per $1,000 of property value to over $25.00 per $1,000 of property value; and
Whereas, The municipal and county Shared Revenue programs have been funded at $951 million since 1995, with no increases for inflation, which means that as a whole shared revenue has declined by 15% in real, inflation-adjusted dollars; and
Whereas, The SSR and ERP payments that Milwaukee received for its 2000 City budget was $2.8 million lower than the prior year; and
Whereas, There is no other credible substitute for State Shared Revenue, such as a local option sales tax, that would allow residents of Milwaukee to continue to enjoy their Badger Birthright at tax rates comparable to most of the communities that surround the City; and
Whereas, Municipal government spending and State Shared Revenue have at times been identified as a cause of the fiscal difficulties faced by the State of Wisconsin, thus giving rise to an interest in repealing State Shared Revenue; and
Whereas, In fact Milwaukee's spending has risen at an annual average rate of only 1.8% since 1994, compared to a 2.5% annual average inflation rate and a 10% annual average rate in the growth of State general purpose spending (GPR) for programs other than State Shared Revenue; and
Whereas, Spending by all municipalities and counties has also risen at an annual average rate that is less than State GPR spending; and
Whereas, State Shared Revenue has declined dramatically from 13.2% of State general purpose tax revenue to 9.3% during the last 6 years; and
Whereas, The Governor's Blue-Ribbon Commission on State/Local Partnerships for the 21st Century, commonly called the Kettl Commission after its chair Professor Donald Kettl of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has been charged with engaging in a fundamental reexamination of the entire relationship between the State of Wisconsin and its local governments, and is considering fundamental changes in the financing of local government; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, By the Common Council of the City of Milwaukee, that the City of Milwaukee supports the continued existence and viability of State Shared Revenue programs that equalize the ability of local governments to meet their residents' and businesses' needs at stable, comparable property tax rates; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Badger Birthright that all Wisconsin residents do and should continue to enjoy necessitates the preservation of State Shared Revenue programs; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the City of Milwaukee, joining together with other local governments, on behalf of the people of Wisconsin whom they serve and represent, requests Governor Thompson and the Wisconsin legislature to make no changes in State Shared Revenue programs that would destroy or erode their equalizing purpose and effect, and urge the Governor and Legislature to allow funding for the programs to grow at the rate of inflation or, if lower during a time of general economic downturn, to grow at the rate of the State's own revenues.
ZDPT:
DFTR:
00351-1
BJZ:bsw
07/24/2000