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May 2005 Newsletter
If you haven't heard from us lately, it's not because we haven't been busy. CART members have been attending, monitoring and sponsoring meetings throughout the first quarter of 2005. First and foremost, the University of Wisconsin Barron County Campus in Rice Lake continues to be the issue of primary concern for the CART membership. The proposed $7.5 million expansion and remodel program has now crept closer to $9 million. This is without the benefit of formal bids from contractors that will not be available until July or August. However, because of CART's involvement and the media attention we bring to the meetings, the County Board is beginning to look more closely at the impact their actions have on the taxpayers of Barron Bounty. At the April 19th meeting of the County Board, Don Buerkley (CART member) presented alternate financing plans for the UW project. He also pointed out that the current proposal would cost Barron County taxpayers an additional $700,000 per year for the next 20 years to cover principal and interest for this construction project! This seemed to have an effect on the board, and the proposal to continue, as originally proposed, was voted down. The board will now review the costs and the scope of the UWBC project. When you see Don Buerkley be sure to give him a well earned "at-a-boy". Our concern is that the county already has a debt of about $20 million dollars without adding on $9 million more for the UWBC expansion. THAT IS MORE THAN $600 DOLLARS OF DEBT FOR EACH MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD RESIDING IN THE COUNTY! There are so many items to keep an eye on it's often hard to determine where to spend our time. Here is a list of things that require Barron County citizen's attention and input. 1) TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) - This proposed constitutional amendment was introduced in the legislative session on April 15th by Frank Lasee and Jeff Wood. More than 25 members of the legislature have agreed to co-sponsor it. Those who attended our meeting in March heard the facts and left with a positive feeling about TABOR. We need to continue to talk it up and promote TABOR as it will put controlled spending in place from the state down to the local level. CART's motto is "Committed to Managed Spending". TABOR and CART support the same goals! 2) HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES - This is the largest chunk of the tax dollar in Barron County. It deserves our attention, looking for waste, looking for efficiencies, looking at need, controlling new programs and evaluating old ones. 3) SCHOOL BUDGETS - It's a huge task just sorting out the information. It would be nice if CART had someone who could dedicate their free time to this effort. Gov. Doyle is proposing $850 million additional funding for education in his budget, and if it really went to the kids in program instead of teacher's salaries there probably would not be much noise about it. However, the average teacher wage package in Barron County is over $60,000 per year now, and under Doyle's plan, 80% of the new spending would go the teacher salaries. The taxpayers pay over 90% of their health insurance premium and 100% of their retirement. The government was never clever enough to set monies aside that could earn interest and help relieve the tax burden. 4) COUNTY BOARD SUPERVISORS - We have had success, but to insure that we don't get back to business as usual, we need to work on changing the board. We are in need of candidates for 2006, it's now less than a year to election time - it will get here quick! 5) WITC - This school currently has a Board of Directors that writes their own budget. There are no elected officials on that board, it is appointed. So, if you don't like the way they spend your tax money, there is nothing you can do about it. We need to change that, we need to elect those people-so we can fire them. Last year they had a 7% levy increase and all we can do about it now is shut-up and pay. We have accomplished a lot during our first year as a watchdog over the county government spending and could not have done so without your support. CART is nearly 350 members strong and will continue to grown with your help. So, keep talking with your family, friends and neighbors about CART. We welcome all new members with new and fresh ideas for monitoring the tax concerns for the citizens of Barron County. The CART Team UPCOMING MEETINGS: Plan to join us: Monday, May 16 7:30 pm Barron County Board Meeting (Old Courthouse - Barron) Tuesday, June 7 7:00 pm CART Meeting - Almena VFW Tuesday, July 5 7:00 pm CART Meeting - Almena VFW Tuesday, August 2 7:00 pm CART Meeting - Almena VFW Back to C.A.R.T. Newsletters and Meeting Minutes page. | |
