Fiscal Note
[Enter Fiscal Note Here]
Title
ALTERNATE: Requesting information, studies, and plans regarding the authorization of a local sales tax.
Body
WHEREAS, since 2011, the State Legislature has strictly limited the amount of revenues available to pay for City services; and,
WHEREAS, despite being a primary driver of the state economy and contributing over $1 billion dollars in state taxes, Madison residents get only 18 cents for every dollar they pay in state taxes; and,
WHEREAS, Madison receives less than 15% of the statewide average and only 3% of the highest amount paid to any community in the state and if Madison received the per-resident average for Wisconsin cities, it would receive $54 million, enough to close the current budget deficit more than two times over; and,
WHEREAS, the City of Madison has faced a structural deficit each year in its budget since 2011 with the growth in the cost to prove services to a growing city exceeding the allowable rate of growth in City revenues under state law, including a projected $22 million deficit in 2025; and,
WHEREAS, Wisconsin cities have the highest reliance on property taxes to fund services of any Midwestern state; and,
WHEREAS, City revenues remain nearly 10 percent ($33 million) below pre-COVID levels, despite strong economic growth in the City, due to State prohibitions on a local sales or income tax, combined with strict State limits on growth in property taxes; and,
WHEREAS, despite the largest increase in shared revenue from the State to municipalities in decades, Madison received the smallest amount per capita of any community in Wisconsin; and,
WHEREAS, the state currently has a $3 billion surplus which it refuses to spend and yet communities around the state are forced, every year, to balance budgets with higher costs and stagnant revenue; and,
WHEREAS, as a result of these policies, record numbers of local governments across the state have had to go to referendum in recent years, i...
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