APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson has pulled out his veto pen and put a temporary stop to a plan to raise the county’s sales tax.
With full support, Nelson signed the veto in front of residents at Oneida Heights Apartment Complex in Appleton.
He says the proposal fails to address a purpose.
The tax would charge consumers an extra penny for every $2 in the purchase price of taxed items.
“The public, by and large, is opposed to this tax and for good reason, no one asked their opinion.”
The county board approved a .5% sales tax last week, but Nelson had argued the process was rushed and there was no definitive plan for spending the estimated $20 million the tax would bring in.
“It is a regressive tax, and it will cost every citizen about $100 dollars each year,” Nelson explained. “That is especially harmful to senior citizens, single parents, and working families.”
He says it will impact those living paycheck to paycheck, small business owners and those drowning in debt.
Nelson took action which he says is not about winning or losing, but about doing what he felt was the right thing to do.
“I believe it hurts more than it helps. This is the opportunity to use my position and to exercise my right. It is guided by doing the right thing.”
Outagamie County would become the 67th of the state’s 72 counties to have a sales tax above and beyond the state’s 5% tax.
The 36-member county board would need a two-thirds majority, or 24 votes, to override. The original vote on the sales tax last week was 28-4.
Nelson said he has talked to some supervisors and a few are looking into reconsidering.
“In my eight years, this is far and away the one issue in which there has been a lot of disagreement.”
