LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - County needs to take a tougher TIF stance

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

What makes the wheels of commerce roll in Marathon County? Frequently, it is tax incremental finance (TIF). In 2023, the county had 39 tax incremental districts (TIDs) where business tax subsidies were lavished on $1.4 billion of property. These TIDs have spurred economic activity, true, but taxpayers have been left behind.

The county’s TIF record is atrocious. Over a third of county TIDs have had to be extended because scheduled development didn’t happen. These extensions have bumped the average expected lifetime of current TIDs in Marathon County to 26 years.

Don’t kid yourself. Taxpayers pay for bad TIF planning. The average Marathon County homeowner in 2023 paid $374.22 in extra property taxes because of TIF.

This shouldn’t be. And we can do better. To this end, I presented a resolution in spring to the Extension, Education and Economic Development (EEED) Committee of the Marathon County Board of Supervisors to improve this county’s TIF culture and practice. The resolution calls for two things. The first is to direct the county’s finance director (who represents the county at a fivemember Joint Review Board) to vote no on any TID that fails to meet best practices promoted by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. The second thing is to have the finance director vote no on any new TID that doesn’t fully repay taxpayers within 38 years from the base year of the project.

I thought my resolution would get support from the committee. Instead, it was hijacked.

Randy Fifrick, vice-chairman of the EEED Committee, introduced and passed a substitute resolution that reads a lot like my resolution, but does not do the two major things my resolution would do. His resolution would merely ask the finance director to “consider” the DOR’s best practices, not insist on them. That means they can be ignored. Second, the Fifrick resolution would have the finance director set the termination date of any new TID without regard to taxpayer repayment.

I call on my fellow county residents to contact their supervisors and ask that they either block the Fifrick resolution or amend it to protect the interests of taxpayers. The resolution is on the county board’s June 19 agenda with a possible vote slated for June 24.

We don’t need a county TIF resolution that simply keeps the status quo. We need real TIF reform.

Peter Weinschenk Edgar

Please join the newspapers of Wisconsin in thanking the Wisconsin State Senate for supporting transparency in government.

On May 15, the Senate approved Senate Bill 194 without opposition, paving the way for the Assembly to consider this important piece of legislation.

SB 194 allows for the awarding of attorneys’ fees and costs in Wisconsin Open Records Law cases if the threat of a lawsuit was a significant factor in obtaining the records.

Sponsored by Sen. Van Wanggaard (RRacine) and Rep. Todd Novak (RDodgeville), SB 194 will go a long way toward ensuring transparency in government in Wisconsin.

The bill is necessary after a 2022 Supreme Court opinion, Friends of Frame Park, U.A. v. City of Waukesha, held that if a governmental entity releases records after a suit has been filed and before a court acted on the case, the requester is not entitled to seek attorney’s fees. The court based its decision on a narrow interpretation of the word “prevail” in the existing public records statute. The court ruled a judge must affirmatively order a unit of government to turn over public records for a requester to “prevail” and, therefore, be eligible to seek reimbursement for legal fees.

That narrow interpretation of what it means to prevail allows governmental bodies to hold onto public records until a requester files a lawsuit, knowing they face no penalty if they turn over the records before a judge even has an opportunity to act.

Pursuing access to public records can require litigation and litigation can be expensive. The denial of the payment of attorney’s fees in cases where the requestor prevails prior to the case being fully litigated is having a chilling effect on the media and the public’s ability to pursue public documents.

SB 194 is one step closer to becoming state law, but we need your help!

We hope you will contact your state representatives and request that they act quickly to take SB 194 up in the Assembly. Final passage requires the approval of the Assembly if it is to make its way to the desk of Gov. Tony Evers for his signature.

Newspapers believe in open government, and we hope that you, our readers, do too! SB 194 will go a long way toward ensuring that government in Wisconsin remains open and transparent.

Don’t wait, call your state representative today! And, while you’re at it, please thank Sen. Wanggaard and Rep. Novak for championing the cause of open government.

The Wisconsin Newspaper Association