Tuesday, October 24, 2006

More property tax increases

This is another headline that Governor Jim Doyle did not need, exactly two weeks out from the election:

MPS gets a tax surprise

Less than expected state aid means larger tax increase

Check out this sentence in the article:

The state aid total left a choice for MPS of either cutting expenses or increasing the amount of property taxes.

Horror of all horrors, taxpayers actually expect our government to cut expenses, not increase our taxes.

Check out this sentence in the article:

On the question of who should pay, the answer is property-tax payers when state aid doesn't meet forecasts, though state aid still covers the largest percentage of MPS spending.

Where is Governor Jim Doyle? I thought he said he cut the budget and cut property taxes!

If the revised budget is approved as proposed, it will bring a $16.5 million increase in property tax revenue for MPS, up from $213.8 million last year to $230.3 million this year. The 7.7% increase would be lower than a 13.2% increase two years ago, but higher than any other year since 1998-'99.

The two largest property tax increases since 1998-1999 have taken place under Governor Jim Doyle's leadership.

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