Wednesday, December 12, 2012

The Walker Agenda Is Still Working! Part CLXI

We got our property tax statement today.

Surprise, surprise, it went up again, despite Scott Walker's claims that his agenda is working and he did it all without raising taxes.

Of course, I, along with all of you, knew his agenda was a failure from the get go.  No matter how much Walker and the Teapublicans might wish it so, there is no pixie dust that does the things we take for granted.  Pixies don't plow the roads, teach our children, maintain our buildings - including schools or maintain public safety.

Here's how it went since Walker took office:

Taxing Jurisdiction
2011 - % tax change
2012 - %tax change
State
4.4%
-0.6%
County
9%
1.5%
Town
1.1%
2.8%
School District
-0.9%
4.5%
Tech School
5.1%
9.2%
Net property tax
4.5%
3.5%

The "savings" from the state's part of the tax amounted to a whopping six cents.

Overall, from the time Walker took office, our taxes went up 8.1%.

Our taxes probably would have gone higher, but our property value dropped by several hundred dollars.

Of course, I should also mention that thanks to Walker and his cohort in austerity, Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, my pay dropped by 10%, which does not include the additional gouging to come in 2013.*

And what do we get for our paying more money?

Less jobs, worse schools, an infrastructure that is crumbling, a stagnant economy, less rights, a corrupt government and a governor with a legal defense fund.

Tell me again how it's working.  I keep forgetting.

*Has anyone else noticed that Walker's and Abele's claims of surplus tends to be almost exactly the same amount that they took from the workers?  That means not only were the cuts unnecessary, but they have put their respective jurisdictions in economic harm's way for nothing but a political sound bite.

2 comments:

  1. Thank you. Now I feel much better because our taxes went up ONLY 3.2%, not your 3.5%. I remain confused as I read the self-congratulatory statements from our Madison heroes bragging that they "reduced property taxes." Anyone? Did anyone who reads this get a lower property tax bill this week? As Ben Stein once asked, "Anyone, anyone, anyone?"

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  2. Can we form a class action suit against the executive office for failing to keep taxes from going up?

    Wasn't this what we were sold on? In business, and Wisconsin is open for business, if the product or service isn't delivered?

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