www.postcrescent.com
Posted February 13, 2007
Letters: Citizens need support from their legislators
The Assembly Republicans from northeast Wisconsin are indeed a fickle bunch.
Their 2007-08 legislative agenda claims that reducing the tax burden is one of their primary concerns. But just whose taxes are most likely to get reduced? Individual homeowners or those businesses represented by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce?
Many of our local paper companies are looking to take advantage of a tax loophole that has gone unnoticed for 53 years.
A recent court ruling allows facilities that are engaged in certain types of recycling, property tax exemption. The catch here is that homeowners will be forced to cover the loss of tax revenue or see vital services disappear in many of our schools, cities and municipalities.
The shift of taxes away from business and onto individuals is nothing new in Wisconsin. In 1980, business accounted for 40 percent of all property taxes. In 2004, they paid only 29 percent. This new round of corporate tax relief will only make the situation worse.
Income tax disparity is even a bigger joke on Wisconsin's working men and women. Again, in 1980 the corporate income tax provided 10 percent of the revenue the state relied on to fund its budget. By 2003, that percentage was cut in half to only 5 percent.
Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce is lobbying to eliminate corporate taxes altogether, while the average working family paid over $1,800 in state income tax.
Will the Fox Valley's Republican Assemblymen stand up for working families? Or will they continue to pander to the special interest groups that contributed to their election campaigns?
Mark Westphal,president, Fox Valley Area Labor Council, Menasha
Posted February 13, 2007
Letters: Citizens need support from their legislators
The Assembly Republicans from northeast Wisconsin are indeed a fickle bunch.
Their 2007-08 legislative agenda claims that reducing the tax burden is one of their primary concerns. But just whose taxes are most likely to get reduced? Individual homeowners or those businesses represented by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce?
Many of our local paper companies are looking to take advantage of a tax loophole that has gone unnoticed for 53 years.
A recent court ruling allows facilities that are engaged in certain types of recycling, property tax exemption. The catch here is that homeowners will be forced to cover the loss of tax revenue or see vital services disappear in many of our schools, cities and municipalities.
The shift of taxes away from business and onto individuals is nothing new in Wisconsin. In 1980, business accounted for 40 percent of all property taxes. In 2004, they paid only 29 percent. This new round of corporate tax relief will only make the situation worse.
Income tax disparity is even a bigger joke on Wisconsin's working men and women. Again, in 1980 the corporate income tax provided 10 percent of the revenue the state relied on to fund its budget. By 2003, that percentage was cut in half to only 5 percent.
Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce is lobbying to eliminate corporate taxes altogether, while the average working family paid over $1,800 in state income tax.
Will the Fox Valley's Republican Assemblymen stand up for working families? Or will they continue to pander to the special interest groups that contributed to their election campaigns?
Mark Westphal,president, Fox Valley Area Labor Council, Menasha
1 Comments:
Right on the Mark! Keep legislators and the Governor's feet to the burner. Let all politicians know at all levels you will not vote for them without reform now! No reform - no re-election!
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