OUTAGAMIE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Outagamie County officials do not seem to be quite on the same page on how exactly to spend the estimated $20 million in revenue from a new sales tax.
County Executive Tom Nelson initially vetoed the proposal, but the County Board overrode his veto. Now, Nelson says he hopes to redistribute the money back to the people, including a boost for nearby schools and municipalities.
“Residents in this county, especially the property taxpayers, oppose the sales tax. And the best solution I have is to do a dollar-for-dollar reduction,” Nelson says, “we should evenly split up the proceeds from the sales tax between the county government and the municipalities and school districts. It’s the fair thing to do.”
Nelson says his proposal is different than the board’s plan to return the revenue through lower property taxes. Supervisor Kevin Sturn questions Nelson’s new ideas.
“The budget proposal that was presented to us initially was zero. There was zero percent sharing with the municipalities. Tom Nelson chose to use the full $20 million for levy reduction” Sturn says, “the goal of the sales tax was to ensure that future boards have a path and a way to continue financial success. I believe with this budget and the implementing of the way we’re allotting the funds of the sales tax, we’re achieving that.”
The new sales tax will go into effect January 1st.
