March 7, 2001 e-newsletter
| Boundary
Bill O.K.'d 15-6
David Rusk Faults 'Suburban Policy' Bills to Watch (see request for help) |
Assembly Panel to Tackle Regions |
| Elsewhere: | |
Members OK Boundary / Whammy Bill, Regional Thrust
A bill to provide cities and villages with some relief from double whammy taxation and towns with some relief from county zoning regulation if cities, villages and towns can forge enough border agreements with their neighbors was endorsed 15-6, with two abstentions, at the Alliance meeting in Neenah Feb. 23.
Madison had moved that the Alliance reconsider support for the legislation, a position the organization took following an earlier discussion in Janesville.
Opponents said some communities won't be able to benefit from the bill as written, and smaller communities may gang up on larger communities. "It gives towns additional authority to plan for and implement development," said Madison Assistant City Attorney Jim Voss.
Supporters said the bill provides communities an opportunity to work with their neighbors and obtain relief from double whammy at the same time. "This bill does not restrict your powers of annexation at all," said Marinette Mayor Doug Oitzinger.
Green Bay Mayor Paul Jadin read a letter he received from Rick Stadelman, executive director of the Wisconsin Towns Association, that made it clear that the major thing that town governments want is something only cities and villages can give them: stable borders. Menasha Mayor Joe Laux said that gives cities and villages tremendous leverage in reaching border agreemenets with towns.
In response to concerns by Alliance members that the proposed legislation is unclear about what kind of agreements qualify for zoning/double whammy relief, Stadelman agreed to seek an amendment providing that only existing boundary-related agreements would be grandfathered in.
On another agenda item, members directed the Alliance staff to investigate regional problem-solving in other states, including regional governance structures.
"I would like to see the Alliance help us become educated on what is working," said Beloit City Manager Jane Wood.
Underheim Committee May Draft Regions
Rep. Gregg Underheim (R-Oshkosh), chair of the Assembly State-Local Finance Committee, said March 1 he wants the committee to draw up the regions within which communities must cooperate in order to share in sales tax growth on a per-capita basis. The regional cooperation compacts that are integral to Kettl Commission recommendations to retool the state-local partnership got a good deal of attention at the committee's second meeting.
Underheim asked Rick Chandler, secretary designate of the state Department of Revenue, whether the state budget bill's requirements for the agreements were tough enough. Chandler replied that the administration didn't want to create "an exercise in paperwork." He said agreements currently in place would help communities meet the budget bill's requirements, and that after several years, the administration and the Legislative Audit Bureau would look at how they're working.
The Alliance's Ed Huck said the Kettl Commission recommendation for a uniform local-government chart of accounts, included in the budget bill, should be replaced by a uniform reporting requirement. Alliance finance directors meeting in Fond du Lac Feb. 16 said the uniform chart of accounts would make some expensive accounting software obsolete in some cities.
Huck said the budget's state-local provisions are full of promise, though fraught with political peril because of the redistribution effects they are bound to produce. "The status quo has not been an acceptable alternative for my local governments," he said. "We must find more and more common ground."
Rep. Frank Urban (R-Brookfield), questioned whether cooperative service agreements contribute much to the vibrant local economies that the Kettl Commission sought to enhance.
And Rick Stadelman, executive director of the Wisconsin Towns Association, worried that towns might have to contract with counties for services. He also objected that the cost of streets and roads are not included among the Badger Basics for which communities would receive equalization aid under the proposed budget.
Utility Tax Overhaul Proposed
The Department of Revenue's Utility Taxation Study Group has drafted a proposal for revamping Wisconsin utility tax law to accommodate some of the changes that are just beginning to occur in the electric utility industry. The study group, which included representation from all types of power producers as well as consumers received input from local government.
Recommendations include:
The recommendations were intended in part to make new power plants, transmission lines and substations more attractive to host communities. DOR says implementation of recommendations 2 and 3 would increase utility shared revenue payments to municipalities and counties by about $2.7 million. DOR intends to seek a budget amendment to implement the recommendations.
David Rusk wants Urban Policy to replace Suburban Policy
| For five decades, the nation's
"urban policy" has been a suburban policy in disguise, author and regionalist David Rusk told community leaders from throughout southeastern Wisconsin
Feb. 26.
The policy of subsidizing the new and discarding the old is now putting not only inner cities but older suburbs in "small box" states like Wisconsin at risk, Rusk said in a speech sponsored by the Intergovernmental Cooperation Council of Milwaukee County. "In one generation you'll be new and in the next generation you'll be old," Rusk said. "Today's winners become tomorrow's losers." He said Milwaukee is kept afloat by state aids, but other strategies can benefit both central cities and their suburbs without creating the dependence on state aids that Milwaukee and other communities encounter in Wisconsin. |
|
"If you want to maintain that high a dependence upon the state government, (shared revenue) is an excellent, excellent program," Rusk said. "If you want to reduce that dependence somewhat, it needs to be replaced by a formula that shares the benefits of growth wherever it occurs."
Bills to Watch
SB 55 / AB 144, the state budget bill. The Joint Finance Committee will begin budget briefings on the bill March 15, and will hold eight public hearings on the budget bill, starting March 27 in Superior. The committee is to begin executive action on the bill the last week of April.
AB 113, Rep. Scott Gunderson (R-Union Grove), introduced AB 113, to restrict the ability of local governments and schools to require that their employees live within their communities. The bill would apply to department heads as well as nonelected employees and job applicants. It would allow communities to require that police officers and firefighters live within 15 miles of their borders.
AB 161, sponsored by Rep. Lee Meyerhofer (D-Kaukauna), was introduced March 1. It would exempt cities, villages, towns, counties, school and technical college districts and UW schools from paying the state gasoline tax. It has 56 co-sponsors in the two houses, including the entire membership of the Senate Transportation Committee.
AB 18, the phony issue ads bill, was killed on a 52-41 vote in the Assembly March 6. The bill would have regulated the so-called issue ads that have written a new chapter of nasty campaigning to Wisconsin politics. But legislators will get another kick at the cat when SB 62 and AB 155, the Voters First bill, comes up. That bill was supported by Alliance of Cities members at our meeting last year in Janesville.
AB 37 and SB 31, due for debate in the Senate next week, would bring predictability to mass transit operating assistance in Wisconsin, something that has been lacking since the last budget bill attempted to provide that predictability. However, it did the exact opposite. The result: an $85,000 decline in funding for Wausau, a loss of nearly $32,000 in Fond du Lac, etc., threatening service cutbacks and discouraging service improvements.
AB 58 and SB 29, allowing low-speed vehicles on streets and highways with a speed limit of 35 mph or less. Alliance members voted to oppose last session's version of the bill on safety grounds.
SB 63, which changes the law governing redistricting at the state and local levels. Gail testified for information at a hearing March 7 by the Senate Organization Committee and the Assembly Census and Redistricting Committee. At the hearing, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala agreed to address several concerns we had with the bill, including eliminating the penalty for failing to file ward plans by the deadline, and eliminating a provision that could invalidate annexations if the proper paperwork wasn't filed.
Rep. Stephen Freese (R-Dodgeville) asked us to survey our members to find out if there were any problems you encountered with redistricting 10 years ago. If you can recall any, please e-mail Gail. Thanks.
Ed and Gail Lobby Alliance Issues
Ed and Gail have been busy at the Capitol not onIy with proactive lobbying, but they have begun reactive lobbying as well, on issues like the residency bill (AB 113) sponsored by Rep. Scott Gunderson . Ed's visits on the residency issue included Rep. Terry Musser (R-Black River Falls); Rep. Samantha Starzyk (R-Powers Lake); and Rep. Polly Williams (D-Milwaukee).
Gail lobbied the following legislators on the Alliance agenda: Reps. Julie Lassa (D-Plover); Steve Nass (R-Whitewater); Tim Hoven (R-Port Washington); and Mark Pettis (R-Hertel).
Ed also lobbied Reps. Tom Hebl (D-Sun Prairie); Neal Kedzie (R-Elkhorn) and the staffs of Sen. Gary George (D-Milwaukee) and Rep. Rob Kreibich (R-Eau Claire) on the Alliance agenda.; Rep. Gregg Underheim on shared revenues and Rep. Dan Vrakas ( R-Hartland) on the gasoline tax exemption. Both lobbied Rep. Antonio Riley (D-Milwaukee) on the Alliance agenda.
Gail also discussed tax exemptions with Sen. Russ Decker (D-Schofield); and she and Curt Witynski of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities discussed tax exemptions with Rep. Eugene Hahn (R-Cambria).
Please drop one or more of these legislators an e-mail to let them know you care about our issues. Thanks.
Upcoming
Events
(Click on
underlined text for more)
March 12-22 hearings
on DNR runoff rules
March
13 Senate debate expected on AB 37 (transit)
March 15
Initial Joint Finance budget
briefing, SB
55
March 19
Transit breakfast, 8:30 a.m.
Contact Gary Goyke
March 20
Fair Share Coalition, 1:30 p.m.
Contact Rich Eggleston
March 27
hearings on budget bill
begin in Superior
March 28
public hearing on
budget bill, Eau Claire
April 3
public hearing, residency bill, AB 113
April 3
public hearing on budget bill, La Crosse
April 4
budget bill hearing, Marshfield
April 5
budget bill hearing, Peshtigo
April 10
budget bill hearing, Kenosha
April 11
budget bill hearing, Madison
April 20
budget bill hearing, Milwaukee
(clicking on a bill number sends you to the Legislature's bill history page for that bill; clicking on the number there sends you to the full text.)
|
|
 (coming eventually) |
THE WISCONSIN ALLIANCE OF CITIES
14 West Mifflin Street Suite 206
Madison, Wisconsin 53703
(608) 257-5881
Edward J. Huck |
Gail
E. Sumi |
Richard
A. Eggleston |
|
