Alliance 2001 Meeting Schedule |
Agenda for finance directors Feb. 16 |
In this issue:
| WMC lashes out at local spending | Audit looks at recycling |
Assembly Committee Hearing
By Rich Eggleston
The problem with the state-local partnership is that taxes are too high, a representative of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce told lawmakers Jan. 18. The solution, she said, is (1) spending caps for state and local government and (2) an end to local spending autonomy.
"Wisconsin has had a decades long experiment of allowing local governments to spend at will," Joan Hansen, WMC's tax policy director, told the Assembly Committee on State and Local Finance. "We view that experiment as having failed."
In contrast, Wallace Thiel, Hartland village administrator and a member of the Governor's Blue Ribbon Commission on State-Local Partnership for the 21st Century, said the problem with the partnership is that it has become a marriage of convenience, not a true working relationship that promotes governmental fairness and a strong economy.
To renew state-local vows, Thiel said, it is essential to tie communities to their areawide economies, and create a mechanism for communities to share areawide growth. He also called for study of the existing equalization system versus the commission's proposal for state funding of "Badger Basics."
Thiel further called for meaningful local fiscal estimates of legislation. Today state agencies typically say local costs can't be determined; the commission recommended that the task be turned over to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
And Thiel called for creation of a framework for maintaining the state-local partnership rather than let it gradually deteriorate again once it is repaired.
Thiel and Hansen, along with commission chair Don Kettl and commission member Todd Berry of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, testified at the initial hearing on the Kettl Commission report by the Assembly Committee on State & Local Finance.
The committee is chaired by Rep. Gregg Underheim (R-Oshkosh). Other committee members are Reps. Terry Musser (R-Black River Falls), Joe Leibham (R-Sheboygan), Terri McCormick (R-Appleton), Frank Urban (R-Brookfield), Dan Schooff (D-Beloit), Bob Ziegelbauer (D-Manitowoc), and Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee).
To e-mail any of the committee members, click on their names. If you have any comments or questions for WMC, e-mail Jim Haney, WMC president, by clicking here. To download a copy of the Kettl Commission, report, click here.
Rep. Scott Gunderson (R-Waterford) advised fellow legislators Jan. 23 that he is drafting legislation to prohibit residency requirements by local governments and school districts, except for police officers and firefighters, who could be required to live within 15 miles of the community where they work.
"In this day and age of improved telecommunications and modern high-speed highways, residency requirements are no longer necessary," Gunderson said in a memo to fellow lawmakers.
Please e-mail your state legislators immediately and urge them not to sign on to LRB
1072/1, Gunderson’s bill draft. For a list of state representatives’ e-mail
addresses, click
here. For state senators, click here.
Help Sen. Kohl Help Your Community
Again this year, Sen. Herb Kohl asks the help of Alliance members in identifying worthy projects in Wisconsin that are likely to receive funding from the Senate Appropriations Clommittee, of which he is a member.
In particular, Sen. Kohl is looking for potential economic development initiatives; transportation goals rather than specific projects; sewer projects that would place extraordinary demands on local ratepayers if funded locally; as well as stormwater and other water quality projects.
"There are no guarantees that any specific project will be funded, but I am committed to pursuing every opportunity for funding for our state," Kohl said in a letter to Ed dated Jan. 19. To read the letter and supporting documents, go here. Kohl has asked us to send him your input by Feb. 23, so please e-mail or fax us your proposals by Feb. 12. Thanks. If you have questions, please contact Brian Spahn of Kohl’s staff at (414) 297-4451.
The Fair Share Coalition is taking a look at the state Department of Transportation’s recommended $4.47 billion 2001-2003 budget. The question is whether the DOT is giving a fair shake to local transportation needs, including mass transit and transportation for the elderly and disabled.
The Fair Share Coalition is an alliance of local government, environmental, senior-citizen, labor and disability groups. The Alliance of Cities is a member. The coalition wants to know why the DOT doesn't forecast, analyze and plan for local needs the same way it does for state highway needs.
Fair Share meets Jan. 30 at 1 p.m. for a transportation budget briefing and discussion. The meeting is at the Alliance of Cities office, at 14 W. Mifflin St., beginning at 1 p.m.
.
Audit analyzes recycling program
The share of local recycling costs covered by state grants has fallen from 47.9% in 1995 to 30.4% in 2000, the Legislative Audit Bureau reported January 12.
For most local governments, recycling grants last year covered between 20% and 39% of their eligible costs, the audit bureau found.
According to state auditors, in 1998, communities spent about $85 per ton collecting and disposing of solid waste, and about $95 per ton for recycling. The amount of material recycled last year was 759,600 tons, the audit bureau said.
For a summary of the audit, and a link to the whole document, click here: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/LAB/reports/01-2tear.htm
Daniel T. "Tom" Kelley, a former Beloit city attorney, city manager and good friend of the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities, died Friday morning, Jan. 19, at the age of 70, following a bout with cancer.
"This is a tremendous loss," City Manager Jane Wood told the Beloit Daily News. "Tom fought very hard for all of us, and he cared very deeply about the citizens of this community."
"I think what I was most impressed with from day one was his knowledge and love for this community,'' said Assistant City Manager Steve Gregg. "It isn't as much that Tom wanted to be city manager, as Tom wanted to make Beloit a better place. It was his home town and he loved it."
Help Ed and Gail Lobby Alliance Issues
Ed and Gail are holding many meetings daily to talk to legislators about the Alliance's 2001 proactive agenda.
When you see some of your legislators on the list that follows, please look up their e-mail addresses (if you don't already have them bookmarked) and send them a brief note urging support for our agenda. (To review the agenda, go here. Feel free to cut and paste!)
For a list of state representatives’ e-mail addresses, click here.
For state senators, click here.
Ed met with Sens. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) and Robert Welch (R-Redgranite); and Reps. Michael Huebsch (R-West Salem); Samantha Starzyk (R-Powers Lake); Tom Sykora (R-Chippewa Falls; Dave Travis (D-Madison); Wayne Wood (D-Janesville); Suzanne Jeskewitz (R-Menomonee Falls); DuWayne Johnsrud (R-Eastman); Phil
Montgomery (R-Ashwaubenon); Steve Kestell (R-Elkhart Lake); Spencer Black (D-Madison).
Gail met with Reps. Marty Reynolds (D-Ladysmith); Jean Hundertmark (R-Clintonville); David Ward (R-Fort Atkinson); Judy Krawczyk (R-Green Bay); Sheldon Wasserman D-Milwaukee); Mark Pocan (D-Madison); and Jeff Stone (R-Greenfield). She also met with the stff of Rep. Rep. Mary Hubler (D-Rice Lake).
Both Ed and Gail met with Rep. Dan Meyer (R-Eagle River); Gregg Underheim (R-Oshkosh); and Donald Friske (R-Merrill).
An e-mail from one of their city leaders helps show them that you're watching, and appreciate results on the issues that we share.
Upcoming
Events
(Click on underlined text
for more)
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 |
