Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Sheboygan City Attorney Explains How a Fee Becomes a Tax



Sheboygan Common Council creates garbage fee. Households will pay extra $7.16 a month to balance budget. (Sheboygan Press, 11/28/2011)

Excerpt:  Ryan and aldermen spent an extended amount of time debating whether the fee should only apply to garbage collection or to all "core services," which include an array of services, such as law enforcement, fire protection, storm water management, tree trimming, street repair, public library and others.

City Attorney Steve McLean cautioned them, however, that if the fee was applied too broadly it likely would be considered a tax if challenged in court.

"The broader you make it and the less you tie it to a specific service, the more it looks like a tax," McLean said
.

Other Wisconsin county and municipal budget news.
City of Beaver Dam 2012 budget.  (11/22/2011)
At this point, Sheboygan budget includes no cuts to Mead Library and Fire Department. (11/21/2011)
City of Milton 2012 budget.  (11/17/2011)
City of Whitewater 2012 budget.  (11/17/2011)
Sheboygan officials look to privatize cleaning services @ 3 city facilities.  (11/15/2011)
Stoughton residents speak up for their library.  (11/14/2011)
In addition to considering a garbage fee, Fond du Lac council restores a part-time library position.  (11/13/2011)
Marathon County's 2012 "No, No, No Budget".  (11/9/2011)
Let the aphorisms fly @ the Beloit City Council meeting.  (11/9/2011)
2012 Marshfield Public Library budget cut by 2.4%.  (11/8/2011)
Part time staff @ Beloit Public Library lose health-care benefits.  (11/7/2011)
Privatizing trash pickup would more than plug Sheboygan's $800,000 budget gap. (11/5/2011)
Portage County approves budget.  (11/4/2011)
Manitowoc's bond rating woes.  (11/4/2011)
Menasha mayor asks library board to cut $45,000 from 2012 budget.  (11/2/2011)
Fond du Lac councilman Ruedinger calls $91,000 cut to library "huge"  (11/1/2011)
Dimming the streetlights in Clintonvlile.  (10/27/2011)
Two Rivers' Lester Public Library looking at a 7% cut in 2012.  (10/26/2011)
Boost in taxes for Neenah residents.  (10/25/2011)
Apparently, Sheboygan alderman David Van Akkeren doesn't love and value libraries. (10/25/2011)
Crabby Appleton trumps League of Women Voters president in coverage of Outagamie County budget hearing.  (10/25/2011)
Black River Falls looks to cut $62,000 from 2012 budget.  (10/24/2011)
Shawano does the garbage fee math.  (10/19/2011)
Wisconsin Rapids:  Proposed McMillan Library 2012 budget cut $63,221.  (10/19/2011)
Racine mayor uses Packers analogy in budget address.  (10/19/2011)
Manitowoc mayor cuts budget 10%.  (10/18/2011)
Mayor proposes 5.1% cut to Fond du Lac Public Library funding.  (10/17/2011)
Racine County executive explains the various tax levies.  (10/16/2011)
Lake Geneva's 2012 budget dilemma.  (10/15/2011)
Rhinelander has a bigger hold to fill due to budget error.  (10/15/2011)
City of Ripon 2012 budget update.  (10/15/2011)
Shawano city administrator:  "Bleeding has stopped for the most part".  (10/14/2011)
Retirements?  Not worry, sez Sheboygan officials.  (10/14/2011)
FEE-fi-fo-fum in Ashland.  (10/14/2011)
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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