GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Not everyone is on board with the half-percent sales tax proposal by Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach.
His plan was laid out on May 2.
President of the Brown County Taxpayers Association, Rich Heidel, says urging the County Board to approve $147 million dollars in new taxes in a 15 day period is absurd.
“I’ve talked to a number of county supervisors and after having done so, I don’t believe there’s any consensus among them as to how much property tax relief is represented by this proposal,” said Heidel.
Heidel doesn’t feel the proposal has been adequately vetted and suggests taking the plan to a referendum.
“I know in the past when sales tax has been proposed, county supervisor’s suggest going to a referendum then as well. So, this is not a new concept.”
He says the 25-30 percent of sales tax revenue coming from out-of-county residents stated in the proposal, is greatly exaggerated and there are no facts to back that up.
“We have gone to a number of sources to understand how that number was built and nobody could substantiate for us,” explained Heidel.
Heidel has a lot of questions that have yet to be answered.
He wonders how the proposal can guarantee property tax relief and what happens to the extra money if the proposed 8 infrastructure projects come in below budget.
The County Board is expected to consider the proposal Wednesday night.
