Sales tax gone – but it won’t go away

GIVEN THE TIMES AND the political temper, it was probably inevitable that the proposal for a one-half percent Sheboygan County sales tax failed.

At the same time, it’s also probably inevitable that the county sales tax will be adopted at some point in the future.

Nearly 80 percent of the counties across the state have adopted the measure to help meet increased demands for county services since it was authorized by the state Legislature nearly a quarter of a century ago. Sheboygan County has remained one of the handful of counties that has resisted, to this point.

That’s because, for at least the last decade or so, county officials have done a tremendous job of controlling spending and property taxes. They have produced a record of holding the line on taxes and spending that is unmatched among all 72 of Wisconsin’s counties.

But that has not been an easy accomplishment. The number of employees has been cut by more than one-quarter over that period. The county has consolidated nursing home and health care services, privatizing and/or selling off two facilities — Comprehensive Health Care Center and Sunny Ridge — despite emotional protests from a large part of the electorate.

Other county services and facilities have been consolidated, again in the face of vehement protests from those affected by the changes.

Despite that admirable fiscal prudence, the county has been continuously saddled with new or expanded programs mandated by the state and federal governments, which do not provide the necessary funds for the county to run those programs and, indeed, increase their take of revenue that comes into the county through such things as court fines and costs.

The fat has literally been nearly all cut away from county operations. Those who opposed the county sales tax this time around could not suggest things for the county to realistically cut that would answer the millions of dollars of budget gaps the county is faced with, only operational cuts that would result in only thousands of dollars of savings or possible payroll savings that are unachievable in today’s public employee environment.

So county officials are faced with the unenviable prospect of making even deeper cuts that are likely to cause many of their constituents real pain and suffering.

That’s why, at some point, when drastic cuts have to be made in vital services that affect all of us — law enforcement, highways, etc. — it may well be that paying an additional half-cent on every dollar spent on taxable items in Sheboygan County will prove to be an acceptable alternative to the majority.

At issue: Something or other Bottom line: Do something about it