Reluctant To Raise Taxes, Ashland Councilors Turn To Fees. (Ashland Current, 10/13/2011)
Excerpt: The Ashland City Council might not vote to raise property taxes next year, but it is working to generate more revenue through fees, in part, to force tax-exempt organizations to contribute to the city's coffers.
One strategy under consideration is turning a $501,000 fire protection charge, currently collected through property taxes, into a user fee. By making it a fee, the state-mandated charge to maintain the city's water infrastructure for fire-fighting purposes would be collectible from tax-exempt entities, such as Northland College and Memorial Medical Center.
At a budget meeting Thursday night, several councilors expressed approval for creating the user fee. “We're simply asking nonprofits to pay the real cost for services they receive, as opposed to taxpayers … subsidizing those” services, Councilor Pat Kinney said.
Some councilors expressed concern that Mayor Bill Whalen's administration is not proposing to reduce property taxes by a proportional amount in exchange for creating the user fee. Council President Rollie Peterson described the new user fee as a “Band-Aid for a year or two.”
Other Wisconsin county and municipal budget news.
Waupaca proposes no retiree access to city's health plan. (10/13/2011)
Mayville retains wheel tax. (10/13/2011)
Wheel tax proposed in Janesville. (10/12/2011)
City of Marshfield 2012 budget update. (10/12/2011)
City of Oshkosh 2012 budget update. (10/12/2011)
City of Fond du Lac to eliminate assessor's office. (10/12/2011)
Sheboygan officials no longer have the "headache" of maintenance of effort. (10/11/2011)
City of Waukesha considers annual garbage fee. (10/9/2011)
Brown County proposes cuts to employee benefits. (10/9/2011)
Library salaries focus of debate at Sussex-Lisbon budget discussion. (10/8/2011)
City of Delavan administrator requests all department reduce operating budgets by 8%. (10/8/2011)
Village of Waterford looks at across-the-board cuts. (10/8/2011)
Ripon city administrator on 2012 municipal budget. (10/8/2011)
4% cut to library funding in Appleton mayor's 2012 proposed budget. (10/8/2011)
McMillan library staff reorganization saves Wisconsin Rapids $45,075. (10/5/2011)
Budget reduction forces cuts in hours, positions @ the La Crosse Public Library. (10/3/2011)
Marathon County cuts employee benefits to balance 2012 budget. (10/3/2011)
City of Sheboygan 2012 proposed budget. (10/3/2011)
2012 Brown County Public Library proposed budget. (10/1/2011)
1.2% of Janesville residents get to wag the dog. (9/30/2011)
Beloit Public Library proposed 2012 budget. (9/30/2011)
Shawano City-County Library receives $13,000 cut (3%) in county funding. (9/28/2011)
City of Rhinelander looking at a $200,000 decrease in revenue for 2012. (9/27/2011)
Mayor Barrett's proposed 2012 budget increases hours, expands 3 educational initiatives @ the Milwaukee Public Library. (9/26/2011)
Janesville: Slight decrease in 2012 Hedberg Public Library budget. (9/25/2011)
Fond du Lac faces $1.7 million deficit. (9/23/2011)
McFarland wrestles with 2012 budget.. (9/22/2011)
Beloit to make deep cuts to police, fire departments. (9/22/2011)
Wisconsin Rapids 2012 budget process underway. (9/22/2011)
Oshkosh 2012 budget deficit projected to balloon to as much as $2.3 million. (9/20/2011)
Facing $2.5 million shortfall, La Crosse considers a variety of fees. (9/14/2011)
100 show up at Dodgeville budget hearing. (9/12/2011)
Zero percent increase for Prairie du Sac department budgets. (9/7/2011)
City of Ashland looks at projected shortfall of $329,000 in 2012 budget. (8/26/2011)
Dodgeville city council to hold listening session on 2012 budget. (8/26/2011)
Shawano budget deficit at $504,800. (8/25/2011)
City of Ripon facing $110,000 budget deficit for 2012. (8/25/2011)
Long list of cuts on table for Racine city services. (8/25/2011)
Dodge County Administrator: "Governor Walker does not speak for Dodge County". (8/25/2011)
Longevity bonuses in Portage might become a thing of the past. (8/24/2011)
Declining property values pose a challenge to Columbus budget development. (8/24/2011)
Whitewater council looks at 0% tax levy increase. (8/24/2011)
Janesville residents asked to make tough choices in online budget scorecard. (8/24/2011)
Village of Darien officials ask for input on 2012 budget. (8/24/2011)
City of Marshfield has some wiggle room in its 2012 budget development. (8/24/2011)
Soglin on 2012 Madison budget: "Every service we rely on is vulnerable". (8/23/2011)
With a ballooning budget deficit, Marathon County considers a tax increase. (8/23/2011)
Sheboygan's Strategic Fiscal Planning Committee to determine what city will look like. (8/19/2011)
Brown County Exec looks at same tax levy, impact on services to be determined. (8/18/2011)
City of Shawano wrestles with $128,000 deficit. (8/16/2011)
Possible double whammy for Shawano City-County Library. (8/15/2011)
Portage County Executive looks to "create a bridge to a new design, a way of functioning on less".. (8/15/2011)
Antigo cuts fire, police positions. (8/15/2011)
Adding up the budget numbers in the Fox Valley. (8/14/2011)
Sauk County officials ask for input. (8/12/2011
Marathon County ranks services to address $500,000 budget shortfall. (8/12/2011)
City of Beloit faces a challenging budget process. (8/8/2011)
Fond du Lac city manager sez Governor's tools not enough to offset cuts. (8/2/2011)
Manitowoc mayor asks department heads for 10% budget cuts. (8/2/2011)
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