Expectations of the Kettl Commission's local-government members that municipalities would win a sales-tax "carve-out" to link municipalities to their area-wide economies and share in the growth of those economies were bruised as the commission prepared for its final meeting Jan. 4.

Only time will tell whether it was a superficial wound or a symptom of a serious problem.

In the draft report, a "portion of the sales tax" would be set aside to encourage area-wide cooperation and stimulate the economy of each area of the state.

In the report that was to be sent to Thompson this week, that language is being replaced with 

The change, once discovered by other commission members, provoked a flurry of e-mails among Kettl and municipal working group members, in which the Alliance of Cities participated. 

Ed and commission member David Riemer expressed concerns that  the commitment to providing the regions of Wisconsin with growth in sales tax revenue was not strong enough in the "equivalent appropriation" language. Kettl disputed that.

Kettl changed the language after receiving an e-mail Dec. 15 from Jack Stark, former assistant chief legal counsel at the Legislative Reference Bureau.

"(From news accounts) I understand that the plan is to distribute 0.25% of the state's sales tax revenue to local units of government, Stark told Kettl. "If that is the plan, it is unconstitutional."

Stark said the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that the unit of government that imposes a tax must be the unit of government that spends the revenue from the tax. He said he listed the cases in his book, "The Wisconsin State Constitution: A Reference Guide."

"Thus, local units of government cannot, under the state constitution, spend money that clearly is the proceeds of a state tax," Stark said. "The current shared revenue system does not have that problem because it uses general fund revenue to pay shared revenue. That is, the money from various state taxes has been commingled in the general fund with other revenue, thereby losing its identity."

The problem is the same that legislators encountered when they set up the Milwaukee Brewers Stadium Board to levy a regional sales tax to build Miller Park. Initially, the board was topheavy with representatives of the state, calling into question whether it was really a regional body, or a creature of the state.

In an 11-page Christmas Eve memo to Kettl, commission member Jere McGaffey expressed skepticism that the "carve-out" was really unconstitutional, as Stark contended.

However, to ensure that the recommendation is constitutional, McGaffey recommended the equivalent appropriation language. If the original language were found unconsitutional, he and Kettl reasoned, local governments could be left without any per-capita payment.

Kettl told fellow commissioners and the Alliance that the change was not substantive.

"The commission's report, as currently drafted, is quite clear that the amount of money put into the area-wide growth-sharing program will be the amount that the 0.25 percent of the sales tax generates," Kettl said. "So the amount of money in the program will be the same regardless."

Sustainable Cities Strives for Latest Data

Wisconsin Sustainable Cities Inc., the 501 (c) (3) arm of the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities, met with its local partners Jan. 5 to plan for the study of the social and physical environment of Wisconsin’s metropolitan areas that the Joyce Foundation funded.

But Census Summary Tape 3, which includes labor and poverty data crucial to the study, is not due to be released until sometime between August and December 2002. Tape 3A, which Metro Research has used in previous studies, won’t be out until even later.

David Wood of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, which contracted for a less ambitious study some years ago, said without new data, the news media in particular are not interested in any findings.

"It’s absolutely crucial," he said.

That creates an obvious problem in creating a timely report, a problem which Wisconsin Sustainable Cities and its partners will have to discuss with Myron Orfield, Metro Research’s head guy, and Joyce.

Representatives of Citizens for a Better Environment, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, the Greater Milwaukee Committee and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy participated in the Jan. 5 meeting.

The potential for Wisconsin Sustainable Cities Inc. to study other issues affecting the urban environment and recommend policy solutions to problems will be on the agenda of the Alliance’s board and general membership meeting, February 22-23, at the Park Plaza Valley Inn, Neenah.

For details of the Alliance meeting, look here.

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People attending the meeting included Rich Eggleston of the Alliance of Cities; Steve Hiniker of the Citizens Utility Board, Paul Uebelher and Mike Buelow of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, Bob Jacobson, with the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families; Jennifer Ondrejka of the Wisconsin Council on Developmental Disabilities; and Jeff Landin, chief of staff to Waukesha County Executive Dan Finley.

Each of the groups in the broad Voters First coalition is asking the same thing of its members, and when we get enough responses, we would like to organize editorial board visits to the daily papers that would include city leaders along with members of the community who are hurt by the current system.

Rich will handle op-ed pieces for city leaders who have stories to tell. The Democracy campaign also plans letters to the editor and guest columns in weekly newspapers and an exchange of ideas among Voters First members.

Please e-mail Rich (rich@wiscities.org) with concrete examples of how your community’s needs are adversely affected by ‘business as usual’ in the Legislature. Please let us know if you are willing to articipate in an editorial board visit, put your name on a guest column that draws on your experiences (Rich will put it together based on your experiences and the details of the Voters First bill), or bring the issue to your Common Council (which is a quick and dirty way to get media attention). Thanks.

By the way, Voters First is still looking for a Republican Senate sponsor for the bill. If you know of anyone who would be good, contact Paul Uebelher. Thanks.

You can visit the site or direct people with questions here: http://www.1kfriends.org/smartgrowth/

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