It looks like a tale of two county budgets.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Budget cuts spending, boosts taxes
Levy would rise under Dwyer's county plan
Waukesha Freeman:
Budget proposal lowers county tax rate again
But increased home values could bring higher taxes
What has actually happened is that the proposed rate is lower by $.14 per $1000 property value. The levy, which is the amount actually collected, would climb $2.8 million. Overall, Waukesha County spending is down from $254 million to $251 million dollars.
What the Freeman doesn't tell you but the Journal Sentinel does is that the decrease in spending is "attributed largely to completion of a $34 million county jail expansion, a project that is scheduled to conclude this fall after more than two years of construction."
Dennis Shook of the Waukesha Freeman writes, "property valued at $200,000 would have paid $422 in taxes for 2005, compared to $394 for property of the same value in 2006."
What Scott Williams of the Journal Sentinel tells you but Dennis Shook does not is that "the owner of a typical home with an equalized value increasing from $235,300 to $256,700 would see his or her property tax bill for county government rise about $10, to $506." In other words, Waukesha residents can expect to pay more because of the increased value of their homes.
So, despite a hot campaign for County Executive centered on taxes, despite having an ally as chairman of the county Finance Committee, County Supervisor Patricia Haukohl of Brookfield, Acting County Executive (and County Executive candidate) Jim Dwyer has given us a $2.8 million dollar tax increase. Haukohl assures the budget is "very, very lean."
You'll forgive me if I find it hard to swallow.
