Dane County board members are poised to approve a request to establish an
RTA, or Regional Transit Authority. What it is, in actuality, is an
INDEPENDENT TAXING AUTHORITY. The taxing authority would be
established to fund Commuter Rail in Dane County. That means that to
pay for a rail system that runs from Middleton to Sun Prairie--a rail
system that will increase traffic congestion, and provide very little
ACTUAL transportation and cost HUNDREDS of millions of dollars--the county
wants to create a body that can levy taxes on you and me. It's a way
to spread the pain around for Kathleen Falk's train fantasy. If only
she could dream so vividly about additional jail space!
It also funds Mayor Dave "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood" Cieslewicz's trolley
folly. They call it "phase II".
The taxes can come in a variety of forms, but most often they are either
assessed as sales taxes, or property taxes. The most insidious part
is that you won't have a say how much your taxes go up. And because
many RTAs are comprised of appointed, not elected officials, there is
almost never any electoral recourse. NO ONE has answered the
question: will there be a property tax assessment if the sales tax
does not cover the costs (and it won't).
Sounds great doesn't it? Choo. Choo. The tax train is
coming, and it's coming fast.
The proposed RTA would establish a 1/2
percent sales tax on county residents. The
pitch for this tax will go something like this:
"It's only a 1/2%!"...and "We'll use it to fund roads, too!".
Keep in mind, these administrations (city and county) have shown open
hostility to road funding (N. Mendota Pkwy, Verona bypass). And to
further illustrate this point, the Transport 2020 Committee bluntly stated
in it's Final Report that adding additional road capacity
is undesirable due to "environmental and land use impacts".
Also keep in mind that "only 1/2%" was the argument used to get the county
board to agree to the jail tax (to build the downtown jail). We
still don't have enough jail space, but we're still paying that sales tax.
Additionally, the RTA would have the authority to raise that sales tax if
additional transit revenue is needed (likely), and if we experience cost
overruns (likely) in creating the rail projects. Also,
any sales tax cannot be segregated to one specific purpose. All
sales tax revenue goes into GPR. How many other projects will find
their way under the RTA umbrella if we let this happen?
It's never "just" a tax. And the road teaser will be nothing more
than a trick to get people to give up the fight on this.
They want you to think that they're being reasonable and people like me,
and people like the Sun Prairie City Council are just "jumping to
conclusions". But remember, they tried to ram this through in NINE
days, without any public input, or any input from the municipalities in
Dane County. Remember, this was a deal between Dave Cieslewicz, and
Kathleen Falk. And until THIS RADIO STATION AND THIS SHOW shined the
harsh light of reality on them, that was all it was EVER going to be.
To borrow a line from a friend: the ability to tax the people is one
of the most fundamentally important things the people give to government.
Government has NO RIGHT to tax the people without their advice and
consent. Remember, once you give over taxing authority, you NEVER,
EVER get it back.
You need to
contact your county board members and tell them NO. No new
taxing authority on my watch. Make your voice count. They're
hoping you are not paying attention. So tell other people what the
board is planning to do. Otherwise, you'll feel it in the wallet.
The Madison City Council is also considering this RTA resolution.
Tell them NO, under NO circumstances, will you agree to allow them to tax
you for their train and trolley fantasy!
Here are your
Madison Central Committee members. Write them. Call them.
Be polite, but make it clear that you will NOT BE RAILROADED into a train
and trolley tax!
COMMON COUNCIL: ALDERS (note: when you click
their respective links, you will have to scroll down the new page to see
the info)
|
|
|
|
|
Robbie
Webber,
District
5
|
Marsha
Rummel,
District
6
|
Zach
Brandon,
District 7
|
Eli
Judge,
District
8
|
Paul
Skidmore,
District
9
|
Brian
Solomon,
District
10
|
Tim
Gruber,
District
11
|
Satya
Rhodes-Conway,
District
12
|
Julia
Kerr,
District
13
|
Tim Bruer,
President Pro Tem,
District
14
|
Larry
Palm,
District
15
|
Judy
Compton,
District
16
|
Joe
Clausius,
District
17
|
Michael
Schumacher,
District
18
|
|
|
Well done City of Sun Prairie for passing a UNANIMOUS resolution
against the RTA. Kudos to Town of Cross Plains and the Village of
Waunakee for taking a stand! Also, go Stoughton! Our news is
reporting Stoughton will soon pass a resolution opposing the RTA.
Fitchburg gets an F, though. The city decided to support a county
wide tax increase. Mayor Tom, I love you, but what were you
thinking?
The Dane Co. GOP
has also weighed in against the RTA. Where are the
Dane County Dems???
Cue crickets chirping.
Still waiting for the Towns Association to weigh in. Where are
you guys?
UPDATE: State Represenative Al Ott and State Senator Roger Breske
uncorked a bipartisan warning to King Dave and Queen Kathleen regarding
the RTA. Though I do not agree with them that an RTA is EVER going
to be necessary, their critique from the middle is compelling. Read
it
here.
IMPORTANT: DANE COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN MEETING set for
8/2 at Alliant Energy Center and 8/8 at Fitchburg City Hall. Do
yourselves a favor, go to this meeting, learn about the plans for this
county, which, of course, MUST include transportation and zoning issues.
Read the overview and agenda of the meeting
here.
© 2008