There’s a curious headline in today’s Journal Sentinel racist Jentinel, Franklin tries to stifle taxes. While it’s true that the levy increase of 3.9% is less than the 5.4% increase allowed (due to explosive growth of that amount), and that thanks to a lack of reassessment, there would be a $22 tax cut on a “median” home of $182,200 (heh; try finding 10 $182,200 homes in the tax hell known as Franklin, I double-dare you), it’s partly smoke and mirrors. Despite becoming a full-blown tax hell in the last decade (between municipal and school taxes, Franklin boasts one of the highest tax burdens around), spending is up 4.2% because, among other things, Franklin raids its contingency fund to the tune of $740,000 (the second year in the row they raided that fund), and pulls a Doyle on $289,000 in landfill fees that were to go to debt service, transfering that amount to the general fund.
I had a sleepless night following Wilma as she prepares to crash into Cancun, but all sorts of alarm bells are going off in my sleep-deprived head. I strongly suspect that because that $289,000 in debt service will need to be replaced, taxes will go up even more than expected next year thanks to the “debt-service loophole”. Also, there’s that $1,480,000 hole in the rainy-day fund that will need to be replenished sooner or later.
Also in the story, St. Francis is proposing a 2.98% levy increase (it could have raised it by 4.6% thanks to the lakefront condo development), and West Allis mayor Jeanette Bell whines that the 2.75% increase she’s forced to live with isn’t enough.
