Conservatively Speaking
State Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) represents parts of four counties: Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, and Walworth. Her Senate District 28 includes New Berlin, Franklin, Greendale, Hales Corners, Muskego, Waterford, Big Bend and parts of Greenfield, East Troy, and Mukwonago. Senator Lazich has been in the Legislature for more than a decade. She considers herself a tireless crusader for lower taxes, reduced spending and smaller government.
It is time to end taxation without representation
By Mary Lazich
Saturday, Aug 4 2007, 07:35 AM
Before America was born, the people of the original thirteen colonies went into an uproar that Parliament imposed taxes without the approval of colonists. Having no representative in Parliament, the colonists rebelled against taxing decisions made in London without their consent. The colonists wouldn’t stand for taxation without representation, and soon the greatest country in the world was founded.
More than 200 years after the American Revolution, taxation without representation continues to pervade Wisconsin’s political environment. All around Wisconsin, appointed boards have authority to tax residents. Taxpayers are seeing their taxes raised by people they never selected or voted for. Right now, those taxpayers do not have recourse. That is fundamentally unfair, a violation of one of the basic concepts of good, open, clean government, that if you are going to raise taxes, you should have to stand up and defend the increase and then take a vote on it.
It appears from all the data, the increases being hoisted upon taxpayers are substantial. Consider the total tax levies for the state's 16 technical colleges. According to he non-partisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, the technical college tax levies have increased from $251 million in 1992-'93 to $622 million in 2005-'06. That’s an increase of almost 150 percent compared to a 75 percent increase in overall levies during the same time period. Governor Doyle exempted technical colleges from levy limits in the 2005-07 state budget. Technical college boards were free to raise tax levies, and taxpayers were powerless.
This practice needs to end. I am introducing legislation to require appointed boards in Wisconsin that have taxing authority be elected bodies. The legislation includes the technical college boards and boards like the Metropolitan Milwaukee Sewerage District and the Wisconsin Center District Board. If these boards are going to raise taxes, they must be accountable to the people paying those taxes.
My proposal is not an indictment of all appointed boards. Many do a very good job. But others are placing an unfair burden on Wisconsin taxpayers, already some of the highest-taxed citizens in the country, by just about any study you want to examine.
This legislation should have bipartisan support. Taxation with representation should be a laudable, transparent, universal goal in a state with a long, proud history of honest government.
