The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Board declares that the "People have spoken."
They've said, "Raise my taxes. Take my money, please!"
Milwaukee County Board Chairman Lee Holloway is right: The voters have spoken. And what they've said is they're willing to pay a little extra in sales taxes to preserve their parks, to make sure the buses keep running and to retain quality emergency medical services.
"A little extra"?
It's not a little. It adds up.
Now it's up to the Legislature to give the county the authority to levy that tax and to make sure it is used for those purposes.
In a news release issued Wednesday, Holloway pointed out that "the support for this objective was so strong that the referendum was still approved despite a slowing economy." In fact, one could argue that on that referendum and others, and by whom voters sent to represent them in Madison, a majority of voters sent the signal that they're willing to pay for things that matter to them.
It's up to the County Board and to a Democratic majority in Madison to make sure things are done right. And it's up to Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker to get out of the way of the will of the voters.
Oh, I see. This really was a referendum on Scott Walker.
The Board instructs him to "get out of the way of the will of the voters."
...As Holloway said in his release, the people have spoken. It's time to move forward.
I wonder how many of the voters misread the referendum.
It was intentionally worded to be confusing.
How many voters understood what it meant? How many knew they were voting for a tax increase that is sure to hurt themselves as well as businesses, especially those on the county lines?
You'd have to be crazy to buy a car or some other big-ticket item in Milwaukee County when you can save a sizable amount by slipping into a neighboring county to make the purchase.
What really is the will of the voters?
I find it hard to believe that Milwaukeeans voted to raise their taxes while voting for Barack Obama's plan to spread the wealth around, with at least some expecting their savior Obama to force the wealthy to pick up the tab for their mortgage and gas bills.
Scott Walker doesn't need to get out of the way, though citizens should beware of the stampede out of Milwaukee County to neighboring countries to make purchases.
They might want to step aside to avoid getting trampled.
6 comments:
When you purchase a car it doesn't matter where you buy it. Any sales tax is based on the County where it's registered, not where it's bought.
As for "the will of the people", you can speculate all you want about it or look at the hard facts of the number of votes cast.
Since you're already clearly against this referendum, I suspect you'll choose to ignore the factual reality of what happened on Tuesday and try to create an alternative reality where every single voter who may have been confused voted "YES" incorrectly, and because you think that MIGHT have happened, the entire referendum is now moot.
OK, a car is a bad example.
Let's say someone is furnishing a home and set to spend thousands of dollars on furniture and appliances.
It would make sense to buy in Waukesha or Ozaukee rather than Milwaukee County.
Don't put words in my mouth. Don't charge me with creating some alternative reality "where every single voter who may have been confused voted "YES" incorrectly."
I never said I thought that was the case.
If that were the case, people would have already been rushing to neighboring counties like Waukesha to save the 0.5% in sales tax that exists today.
Why aren't they "stampeding" to Waukesha or Ozaukee to save $5 on every $1000 spent right now?
I can provide one possible answer, and that the sales tax isn't a major factor when people are considering purchases any more than it is in the "tax island" argument about people not visiting particular cities because they have a high sales tax.
You can't compare the cost of visiting a city with the everyday cost of living in a place. That's apples and oranges.
I think the tax increase is bad for Milwaukee.
I clip coupons. I always look for bargains. You'd be amazed at how the savings add up.
The tax increase will affect where I spend my money. I won't buy something in Milwaukee if I can buy it for less elsewhere.
OK then, so you've been traveling to Waukesha or Ozaukee or Washington County then to make your purchases over the past several years?
They all have a lower sales tax than Milwaukee today.
Milwaukee voters just INCREASED the sales tax gap.
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