City Budgets Suffer Under Madison's Mandates and Caps

Written By: Travis Buhler  |  Posted: Saturday, May 14th, 2011

            The recently proposed biennial state budget for Wisconsin has raised a lot of concern among those reliant upon state funding.  Among those affected are Wisconsin cities.  The Eau Claire City Council recently considered sending Madison their concerns.  This comes from the proposed 10% cut in state funding for municipal services.

            Though city council members understand that the cut is the same for most other state spending programs, the added bite is a continuation of the caps on property tax levy increases.  The city's share of our property taxes is limited to the previous year's new construction.  Even if the city lowered its taxes, it cannot raise them the next year to match the previous allowed high.  If two local governments decide to share services in order to save costs, the savings must be reflected by a lowering of the taxes by the same amount.

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