Our office has been
hard at work over the last few weeks trying to find a legislative solution to
the issue of property tax exemptions for low-income housing providers. I
personally met with the Governor and several members of the Legislature and
conveyed our interest in having this matter resolved as soon as possible.
I know that some Alders and others also contacted
members of the Legislature and the
Governor.
I am pleased to
report to you that it appears that a legislative solution is close to being
enacted. I attach language that leaders in the Assembly and Senate, as
well as the Governor, have agreed to include in the Budget Bill, which will
likely be voted on by the Joint Finance Committee shortly. As with any
negotiated compromise, the attached language is not perfect. However, it
does resolve the important issue of preserving property tax exemptions for
low-income housing projects by incorporating the legislative language that was
part of last year's budget repair bill, which was vetoed.
I would like
to thank Governor Jim Doyle, Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker and Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan for their work in reaching agreement on this
very important issue. Senator Decker's tireless work on this issue over
the last four years is deserving of special
recognition. I also want to thank members of Madison's legislative
delegation --in particular, Rep. Terese Berceau, Rep. Mark Pocan and Sen.
Mark Miller-- for their work. Furthermore, I want to thank Alder
Julia Kerr, Alder Satya Rhodes-Conway and Alder Michael Schumacher, for
their direct lobbying efforts, as well as the Common
Council as a whole for supporting a legislative solution to this
issue. I would like to thank the Third Sector Housing Group and
Attorney Tim Radelet for their efforts and
their patience in achieving this result. Finally, I want to express my profound
appreciation to Mario Mendoza of my office who worked tirelessly on this issue
for the last four years.
Sincerely,
Dave
Cieslewicz
MAYOR