Sowhat’s the county to do? The options are pretty limited, since the vastmajority of the property tax levy is going to state-mandated functions likepublic safety, the courts and health and human services. The deficit is so bigthat it equals laying off 352 full-time employees or asking non-mandatedservices to bear the brunt of the cuts (cultural institutions, transit, EMS support to municipalities, and services for thedisabled, homeless and incarcerated). On the other hand, instead of cutting,the county could raise revenues by raising the property tax and the wheeltaxtwo revenue sources that don’t require state approval. PPF estimates thatthe increase would equal roughly a $62.03 increase for a homeowner with a housevalued at $150,000 and two cars.
WhilePPF has created models to help policy-makers sort out next year’s loomingcrisis, it also has strong words about the county’s inability to craftlong-term solutions that require increased investment in the county. Instead,the Scott Walker administration and the county board have relied on short-termgimmicks, easy-to-cut programs and a living-on-a-credit-card mentality thatwill only get worse in the future.
Heroes of the Week
Local ‘Kids Who Care’ ScholarshipWinners
Last week, Kohl’sDepartment Stores awarded $1,000 scholarships toward higher education to morethan 200 youth volunteers across the country through its “Kids Who Care”scholarship program. “These kids are doing remarkable work to benefit theirlocal communities,” said Julie Gardner, Kohl’s executive vice president andchief marketing officer. “We feel privileged to be in a position to helpsupport the continued education of deserving kids across the country who aremaking a real difference in the lives of others.”
Among area youthreceiving the awards were Kevin Lusterio, 18, of Franklin,who serves as a volunteer tutor for the Boys & Girls Clubs, Nick Ruiz, 18,of New Berlin, who has volunteered at MexicanFiesta for nine years, and Kristin Wollmer, 17, of Waterford, who volunteers with the ArthritisFoundation.
Jerk of the Week
‘Journal Sentinel’Columnist Patrick McIlheran
Aftermonths of flogging Climategate, conservative Journal Sentinel columnist Patrick McIlheran just can’t let go. Incase you missed it, so-called Climategatelast fall’s manufactured scandal inwhich hacked e-mails from British climate scientists allegedly showed that datawas manipulated to support the fact that humans have an effect on globalwarminghas been thoroughly debunked by no less than five investigations. YetMcIlherannot exactly an expert on scientific mattersjust can’t admit that he waswrong about the trumped-up affair and set the record straight. First, he deniedpumping the scandal, saying he merely linked to critiques of the scientists’work. Then he said he still has doubts about global warming. No wonder whyMcIlheran (alongside Joe the Plumber) won an award in March from Americans forProsperity, the global-warming-denying Astro-turf organization funded by BigOil. Neither one of them is bothered by those pesky things called facts.
A Voice of Reason
Bucyrus CEO Tim Sullivan
StateGOP chief Reince Priebus just got called out for lying about Sen. RussFeingold’s involvement in a federal decision to save jobs at the SouthMilwaukee-based Bucyrus Corp. While Priebus spun a story that Feingold “wassilent” on the deal and didn’t seem to care about the jobs, Bucyrus CEO TimSullivan rose above the politics and set the record straight. “The facts do notsupport this assertion,” Sullivan stated, because Feingold had fought forBucyrus when communicating with federal bankers. Sullivan deserves kudos forhis efforts to be fair and, most importantly, accurate.
Correction: The July 8 Hero of the Week identifiedErik Lindberg as a principal planner of Power Down Week. Though Lindberg is amember of Transition Milwaukee, credit should go to Sarah Moore and a group ofplanners. Transition Milwaukeeco-founders include Nicole Bickham, Jessica Cohodes, Christie Mole and TomBrandstetter.
