What's playing out in Milwaukee County is a case study of the battle for fiscal responsibility in government.
It's a tax war.
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker refused to appease the tax and spend liberals, special interests and unions.
So on Tuesday, Walker vetoed the entire 2007 county budget.
Why?
He's keeping his promise to the taxpayers of Milwaukee County.
Read Walker's reaction to the County Board's Budget.
The members of the Milwaukee County Board passed their version of a county budget on Monday, November 6 on a 14 - 5 vote. The "County Board Budget" raises the property tax by nearly $9 million. My original budget had a 0% increase in the tax levy.
What did the County Board “buy” with the additional $9 million of your money?
The County Board budget raises the property tax levy by nearly $9 million to fund a $49 million pension contribution – without taking any action to curb the future growth of this obligation.
...They bought more government jobs.
...The County Board spent an additional $9 million of your money on an outdated aquatics system. Not only did they keep nearly all of the pools open, but they are also pouring money into pools that were built as far back as the 1930s.
...The County Board spent an additional $9 million of your money to fund other odd items like restoring county funds on the Farm and Fish Hatchery for inmates at the House of Correction.
...What did the County Board buy with the nearly $9 million of your money?
Not very much. In addition to raising property taxes by nearly $9 million, the County Board budget is not balanced for 2007 and it fails to adequately address the legacy costs of the county, which are eating up our budget like a virus. Thankfully, I have a BIG veto pen and I plan on using it to protect the taxpayers of Milwaukee County.
Not surprisingly, Walker is being blasted for vetoing a bloated, irresponsible, and broken budget.
Rather than being praised for being true to his word and protecting Milwaukee County taxpayers, he's being lambasted.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that board members are "irked" by Walker's veto.
Okay, so some board members are irked. So what?
Walker didn't promise to make the County Board happy. He didn't promise to placate unions and add more fat to an already blubbery budget.
He promised to provide tax relief and to curtail the county's rampant irresponsible spending.
Of course, Walker's being criticized.
Some reaction from the Board:
Ryan McCue: "The county executive had a choice between political grandstanding and governing. Unfortunately he chose grandstanding."
Roger Quindel: "This veto doesn't make any sense. He should have worked with us."
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Board echoes the complaints.
It refers to Walker's veto as "more political theater."
Rather than an act of political willpower by an elected official committed to a tax freeze, Walker's veto looks more like the act of an elected official unwilling to pull the trigger on specific items in the budget that he thinks are fiscally irresponsible. Rejecting the entire budget, the good and the bad, to make a point as Walker now has done, smacks more of political theater than good government.
If supervisors fail to override the veto Wednesday, they will have to piece together another budget, no small task, in a relatively short amount of time. In other words, start all over or, as Walker put it Tuesday, have "a do-over."
To what end? As Walker said in his veto message, he supports a number of the changes the board made to his budget. So why throw out the good with the bad? That doesn't seem responsible at this late stage in the budget process.
How is vetoing the budget throwing out the good?
Certainly, the good would be salvaged and the bad would be removed.
Duh.
The Editorial Board recommends, "Supervisors should override Walker's shotgun veto."
Why?
To keep the fat?
It's a sad thing when controlling government spending and defending the rights of taxpayers is seen as grandstanding.
Walker did the right thing by using his "shotgun veto" and mercifully putting the messed up budget out of its misery.
The County Board needs to do its job and get the budget right. The Board should follow Walker's lead and get the job done.
Walker upheld his promise and did the job that Milwaukee County voters elected him to do -- he refused to sign a budget that meant a multi-million dollar tax increase.
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