No Runny Eggs

The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.

Archive for November 13th, 2006

Yet another “no embryos killed” stem cell breakthrough

by @ 23:50. Filed under Miscellaneous.

(H/T – Free Republic)

KGO, the ABC affiliate in San Francisco, has the story of a brand new treatment to grow new blood vessels using one’s own stem cells. Very promising stuff, and the best part is no humans were sacrificed in the production of yet another non-embryonic stem cell breakthrough.

Tax hell marches on unabated in Oak Creek

by @ 21:05. Filed under Politics, Taxes.

Just got back from the Oak Creek Council adoption (6-0) of the budget. They think they’re soooo good for “limiting” the levy increase to 3.97% (or $692,742 on a budget that was just shy of $17.5 million last year) and the rate increase to $0.05/$1,000 of assessed value (0.70%). Before I get to just how unprepared Mayor Dick Bolender and company were for the public hearing held just before the adoption of the project, there are a few items from the memo from the preparers of the budget (Finance Manager RoseAnn Underberg, City Clerk/Comptroller Beverly Buretta and Administrator Patrick DeGrave) to the mayor, common council and the taxpayers (yes, they were listed in that order):

  • They whine, whine, whine again about the soon-to-expire revenue limits, then proceed to bust them. According to the memo, because of new construction, the levy could go up 3.956%, or $684,631 instead of the 2% base limit. They’re all older than me, and I came out of the Oak Creek/Franklin system, so I don’t know if I can blame public education for the failure of math here. Then again, I taught myself math before I made it to kindergarten, so I’m not the best judge of that.
  • That $12 million $15+ million after interest Taj Mahal police station pushed by my former alderman, Al Foeckler, continues to bite the taxpayers. Because the residual funds from the construction project and the funds from the sale of the old police station ran out this year, $190,000 of that levy increase is going to the mortgage (it would have been $390,000, but they found an extra $200,000 from this year’s ending fund balance from the closing of a pair of TIF Districts). It just gets worse; next year’s increase to cover the Taj Mahal mortgage will need to be $310,000 because the mortgage is just over $1 million annually, and we’re stuck with that bill until 2017. And Hizzoner and company are wondering why we’re wary about their call to replace city hall, one of the fire stations, the library, and a pair of city garages.
  • Despite an increase of total revenues, including state shared revenue, of only $286,800 (or 1.6%) to $18,182,674, spending is going up 5.7% to $21,441,360. Here’s the funny thing; that 5.7% expenditure increase still qualifies for the state’s “Expenditure Restraint Program”. Well, it would be funny if I didn’t have to pay the bill.
  • Reassessments will be coming in either 2007 or 2008; the assessed value is down to 86% of the equalized value.

Now, onto the public hearing (for which I was a wee bit tardy):

– The person at the podium when I got there was Arlen Degner, the old guard in the anti-tax movement here in Oak Creek. He kept hammering home that the taxes are going up faster than our ability to pay them and lambasted the mayor and company for not trying to make the hard choices we who pay their salaries have to make. Like clueless dolts, they didn’t understand.

They also don’t understand that it’s a combination of the tax rate and the assessed value that determines the bottom line; the city administrator (I think; there wasn’t a placard in front of him saying who he was) tried to spin the very-visible increase by saying if Oak Creek had reassessed this year, the rate would “only” have been $6.22/$1,000 of assessed value. Only one problem; the average assessment would have gone up the equal amount to keep the bottom line at the same increase.

– Next up, Mark Verhalen, the new guard in said anti-tax movement. He pointed out that Oak Creek’s government is so much less efficient than Franklin’s. Hizzoner appeared to never have heard of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, Foeckler trotted out some meaningless bit about taxes being higher in Franklin (attributable to less industry/commerce, a situation that is changing rapidly), and my new alderwoman Ann Lampe huffed and puffed that because Franklin doesn’t have a freeway running through it, they don’t have the safety needs of Oak Creek (funny, last time I checked, the OCPD didn’t patrol I-94, and Franklin had more land area and people).

– Last up, one of my old neighbors, who got confused by a part that was added to the memo referenced above, namely the levy increase for the Taj Mahal police station mortgage and the add-on part about the levy increase being a bit less than expected because of the closing of a pair of TIF Districts. Hizzoner and company didn’t offer any sort of explanation.

Say Doyle, can I get my $5 directly from you because I sure as hell am not getting it from the city of Oak Creek, the Oak Creek/Franklin School District, MMSD or MATC? The only hope left is the county. Scott Walker is going to try to deliver a levy freeze (be there at KEI tomorrow at noon for the veto party), but we need 2 supervisors (neither of them mine) to remember who pays their salaries and not who pays their campaign bills; Lynne DeBruin and Ryan McCue.

Quick hits

– Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi is appeasing the moonbat wing of her party by attempting to install John “Cut-and-Run” Murtha as House Majority Leader. I hope you in the middling are paying attention; the Dem “moderates” you elected turned the House much further to the left than you hoped.

– A ChiCom sub popped up within 5 miles of the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk during exercises. While Bill Gertz is trying to claim that it shadowed the battle group, I believe it more likely that the PLAN knew where they would be, had the sub go there ahead of the group and just wait. A diesel-electric sub is nigh impossible to detect on passive sonar when it is making bare steerage. In either case, it’s quite disturbing.

– Russ Feingold announced that, contrary to plans, he won’t be seeking the Democrat nomination for President. While the local newspaper fishwrap bird cage liner paint catcher is deeply saddened, Hillary finds the road open with one less person to take to Fort Marcy Park. Al Qaeda’s favorite Senator, however, will be refocused on the Senate, at least until Clinton asks him to be the VP nominee.

– Good news/bad news on the college football front (more-fully covered at TheWisconsinSportsBar) – Wisconsin moves up to #9 in the latest BCS rankings to become BCS bowl-eligible, but we discover that the BCS bowls can’t take 3 teams from the Big 10. My answer; crush ’em, Ohio State, as the Rose Bowl (which will have the pick of the litter) is expected to take a Big 10 team to replace the Big 10 champ/BCS #1 and Michigan has gone to the Roses more recently than the Badgers, who have gone more-recently than the Buckeyes.

– Speaking of bad news, it’s all over in Hen¢AR. Jimmie Johnson took 2nd at Phoenix to take an almost-insurmountable 63-point lead over Matt Kenseth. They’re cheering in Daytona as they won’t have to alter either the Chase or the points as a whole next year.

– Crow time; after only 9 games, the Packers have matched their win total from last year. Even more shocking, they got win #4 against a team that many people (not me though) considered a challenger to the Bears, and who already got 4 wins.

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