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Governor Jim Doyle promoted his state budget proposal in February by vowing to protect middle class taxpayers. He told lawmakers that we can find new revenues and fund our priorities “without raising taxes on middle class families.” He continued, “so, I am not going to raise taxes in the ways that some have suggested. Some say we should raise the sales tax. I’ve never done that, and I’m not going to now.”
Without the political doubletalk, this is what Doyle said: “I will raise taxes billions of dollars. The only taxes that I will not raise are the state sales tax and the individual income tax, unless I think your family makes too much money.”
To fuel an explosion of new state spending, Doyle cast a wide net that trapped middle-class families with a creative assortment of tax and fee hikes. Their tax burden ballooned when Democrats on the budget writing Joint Finance Committee gave the green light to an amended version of the governor’s budget Friday morning.
Do you own a house? Your property taxes will go up $316, according to the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimate of the increase on an average home.
Do you use a telephone, cell phone or fax machine? Add 75-cents to your monthly bill for each one ostensibly to fund 911 systems, although the governor and the Democrats are siphoning $100 million from the fund. Your bill will increase still more to fund an $11 million increase in the existing $30 million Universal Service Fund.
Do you have a child in daycare? Child care tuition and fees can no longer be deducted from your state income taxes. In addition, the per-child licensing fee your child care provider pays to the state is increasing 39 percent.
Do you pay a portion of your health insurance premium? It can no longer be deducted from you state income taxes.
Do you pay for automobile insurance? Your rates will go up about 33 percent due to higher mandatory coverage amounts.
Are you getting married or having a baby? The marriage and birth certificate fees are doubling.
Is your teenager looking for his or her first summer job? The work permit fee is doubling.
Do you turn on the lights, heat or air conditioning at home? Your utility bill will go up so that you can chip in to fund a $9.1 million annual increase in the existing $105 million low income energy assistance fund. The governor and the Democrats will then drain $18.2 billion from the fund in order to pay for Wisconsin Works benefits.
Do you have a child attending a University of Wisconsin school? Tuition for the 2009 school year will go up at least 5 percent while financial aid is held flat.
Do you have a family member in a nursing home? The nursing home bed tax will double this year and then increase another 13 percent next year.
Do you invest in stocks or real estate? You’ll share any earnings with the state treasury now that the capital gains exclusion is slashed.
Do you depend on municipal garbage collection? The “tipping fee” charged to your local government by the state more than doubled.
Do you buy cigarettes? You’ll pay 75-cents more per pack.
Do you download music, ring tones, videos or books from the Internet? You’ll now pay a 5 percent state sales tax on these digital products.
Do you ever fill your tank with gas? You’ll pay 6-cents more per gallon.
As the analysis of the amended version of the governor’s budget continues, this list is apt to expand, and with it, your tax burden.
When the Joint Finance Committee took it’s final vote, Democrats declared victory. Over what, I can’t be certain. The deficit? The Republicans? The taxpayers?
Their top priority was to put a budget on the governor’s desk by the end of the state fiscal year on June 30. But the fact that they got it done doesn’t mean they got it right.
State Rep. Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, represents the 94th District.
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