By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
As far as surprise visits go, Oct. 20’s to the Rice Family Farm by Gov. Scott Walker to sign a property tax relief law managed to sneak in pretty well.
The Rices got a few days notice on the visit, but found themselves with a yard full of people on a Sunday afternoon as Walker signed a $100 million property tax cut.
“It was kind of a surprise, and it was kind of neat,” said Town Board Chairman Ralph Rice, who also owns the farm. “It was really nice.”
Rice said he found out last week that the governor “might come into the area.” Rice said he didn’t mind – and the next day, the governor’s staff called.
“They said, ‘We’ll be there Sunday,’” Rice said.
The couple cleaned up the farm – including clearing a bumper crop of walnuts off the ground and mowing the grass – and filled the request for a tractor and some bales of hay. The group arrived at the farm around noon, and the governor showed up shortly before 2 p.m.
Rice estimated there were more than 100 people on the farm, which included about 10 or so of Rice’s family.
“I would say he was here about an hour, and he visited with a lot of people,” Rice said. “It was really nice.”
But while the visit was pleasant and non-controversial – and the bill passed 28-5 – area politicians were split on partisan lines.
Republican Speaker of the Assembly Robin Vos, who was at the event Sunday, called it a proud moment that the state Legislature met quickly and passed the legislation.
“Our smart budgeting and reforms are helping to produce repeated surpluses and a healthy rainy-day fund,” Vos said in a statement. “Taxpayers now get to enjoy the dividends.”
Democratic Rep. Peter Barca said last week, though – before the assembly passed the tax cut – that property taxes had already gone up, and that the current plan simply meant some would pay less in that increase. A Democratic plan, he said, would have allowed for a cut for all property taxpayers.
“Days after Gov. Walker got a strong election opponent, documents show he rushed to draft a bill as a political stunt to distract from his failures on job creation and his budget that raised property taxes,” Barca said.
According to an analysis done by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, the tax cut will have “disparate effects” on taxpayers. The $100 million cut is over two years, with $40 million set for this year. The WTA added that, “in general, the cut will be fairly uniform across the state, about 10 cents on the school property tax rate. However, residents of districts with very high per student property values will see little, if any, relief.”
The tax bill, on average, will cut anywhere between $16 and $22 off property tax bills for people in the Burlington Area School District (on homes valued between $148,000 and $200,000), according to the WTA analysis.
By comparison, Union Grove and Waterford were looking at cuts between $5-7 for the high school districts, while Union Grove and Waterford grade school districts were at $11-14.
-
-
-
-
-