Yay Friday. I was able to spend part of the day at Summerfest yesterday and took the family to the Big Bang fireworks as is tradition in the Cody household. Summer is here!
- Transit gets it’s funding in the next budget, the parks don’t. I’m very disappointed in the actions by the Assembly that caused the removal of the 0.5% potion of the sales tax that was dedicated for parks in Milwaukee County and the manner in which this entire budget process was carried out. Milwaukee County voters approved a combined transit/parks sales tax last November in part because the strength of the parks component. Now only one will get the funding that both were approved for. It’s like both of my kids applied for a scholarship for college and only one got it. Very disappointing.
- Oakwood park golf course is trying out “fast paced Fridays” today. As a golfer, I love this idea. As a golfer, I also hate this idea. One of the things I absolutely hate about golf is overly slow play. One of the things I also absolutely hate about golf is a ranger laying in to me because I’m playing “slow”.
- If you’re a national politician who has any kind of skeletons in the closet, today would be the day to come clean. Two politicians in two weeks have admitted affairs and Michael Jackson is dead. Your admission of guilt might make the news.. on page three of the Lifestyle section. It would probably get lost in the confusion.
I live in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI with my wife Jen, our daughter Emerson, and sons Carter and Colton.
The JS article talks about it, but “fast paced” is actually “the pace you should be playing at”. I’m all for it – and if I could stop from losing tee shots in the bushes, I’d actually be able to keep up.
@Dan I know it isn’t good for the parks to not get funding, but it always seemed to me the issue/tax should be separated from transit.
It should have been separated from the beginning, but it wasn’t when it went on the referendum. They passed that process together and should have passed the budget together as well.
The Governor’s RTA proposal with it’s half cent sales tax made it through the budget process and the 1% sales tax referendum didn’t.
Now, as the comment below shows, there will be mass confusion about the whole thing.
While I do enjoy the park system, the voters approved the sales tax because many of them were duped by wording, which implied that the revenue would go toward property tax reduction. Clearly, that was a willful misdirection (a lie) all along… the money is just going to be added to the budget for transportation, voters get bupkis. I know that we bill be fed the line that the money was going to be spent anyway, and now it will be funded by the sales tax, but a lot of us are tired of eating what they feed us.
Don’t worry though, I’m sure that our legislature will be only too happy to add more taxes onto the backs of the voters at the earliest opportunity. Even if Doyle does indeed resign, Ms. Lawton is quite the happy taxer herself.
Milwaukee is now 1% higher than Waukesha. In a time when every penny counts, I wonder how many folks will take the no brainer savings? I will likely do so, especially on big ticket items.
You’re confusing the RTA .5% sales tax in the current budget and the .5% of a sales tax for Milwaukee County transit that as part of the 1% sales tax referendum was passed in November.
The 1% referendum had language that took the transit/ems/parks off your County property tax levy, hence lower property taxes.
The RTA plan that passed has nothing to do with property taxes.
@The Family Guy ahh the “only the stupid people voted for it argument.” Of course, you have no proof of that. I voted for it because I’d like to see the parks and transit funded period.
Well, you called it, though I didn’t say it. I would be hard pressed to find a better descriptive term for more taxes on local business in a recession, or increased costs for families in a county with high unemployment?
I would posit that most county voters are not as cash secure and altruistic as Dave seems to be. Had the wording of the referendum stated: “Do you support an additional 1% sales tax to increase the county budget while property taxes would continue to rise”, it would have received somewhat less support. I also firmly believe that the politicians bear a responsibility to the voters not to bait and switch, nor to institute this regressive tax during a time of severe economic hardship.
If Dan is correct about the RTA tax (he very well might be, as I have no reason to doubt him) then we can expect another 1% on top of this mess. Well done Democrats, hammer the poor, and make force struggling families to choose: Shop local business, or make economics a priority.
Since you’re into Dem party politics I hope you’ll find out why, if they’re going to let us tax for two of the things mentioned in the referendum they refused to let us tax for the third. I hope there’s some explanation besides the fact that your party would screw up a 2 car parade 9 times out of 10 (but don’t worry, so would the other party).
And congrats on running the Park People. I wish you success. I hope you are prepared for what you’re getting yourself into.
Umm, if the ranger is going after you for playing slow, i would suggest to you, you are probably playing to slow. Just remember, you are not playing for the PGA or GMO title.
But of course, if someone was playing very slow in front of me and wouldn’t let me go through, a t-shot in their direction is a helpful reminder.
I usually get yelled at for “playing slow” because we’re waiting on the group in front of us.