This Just In...
Kevin Fischer is an award-winning veteran broadcaster who has been seen and heard on Milwaukee TV and radio stations for nearly three decades.
Kevin, who is a legislative aide to state Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin), can be seen offering his views on the news on the public affairs program, “INTERchange,” on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, in Franklin.
THE TOP TEN FRANKLIN STORIES OF 2007: #3
By Kevin Fischer
Saturday, Dec 29 2007, 05:00 AM
After the August 27th Franklin School Board meeting, I was convinced Franklin taxpayers were going to get hit with a huge school tax levy increase.
The problem was that I and everybody else thought the increase was going to be 5.6%.
Following the meeting that night, I blogged:
There was no talk or consideration or even thought of making cuts to avoid a whopping 5.6% school tax levy increase.
From the outset it was clear the intent was to label the state as the villain. School Board member Sue (God I wish I could triple your taxes right this second) Huhn started the state-bashing by saying the state “doesn’t always give money when we need it.”
Huhn also offered an ominous note, referring to the “need to revisit how to address that situation,” meaning the capacity of the school buildings. Translation: here comes another referendum.
Then Franklin School District Business Manager Jim Milzer was sent in to spearhead what could only be described as “OPERATION GLAZE THEIR EYES OVER,” giving a loooooooonnnnng numbers-heavy, yawner of a presentation on every single line of Franklin expenditures.
Milzer could have saved a lot of time and energy had he just got up and said, “TAX INCREASES……GOOD! STATE OF WISCONSIN………BAD!"
The Board gave temporary approval to a 5.6% school tax levy increase in August.
Then appropriately, on Halloween night, FranklinNOW blogger Bryan Maersch wrote the following:
About 6:30 tonight did you hear a big sucking sound coming from Franklin.
That was the sound of your Franklin School Board voting a 5.9% increase in your school taxes. No that is not a typo, I said 5.9% not the 5.6% that was projected at the Meeting of the Electorate back in August.
In what seemed to be a perfectly choreographed question and answers session between School Board members and Franklin School District Business Manager Jim Milzer the question was asked, "Is a 5.9% increase our fate for the future?" Jim answered that it would be for the next 15 to 20 years.
The choreography continued with Board President Dave Szychlinski stating that residents would not support those continuous increases and community input would be needed to see what the community would support for cuts in future years.
Just a few weeks ago, I uncovered that the school tax levy increase wasn’t really 5.6% or 5.9% but, unbeknownst to the public, an incredible 11.7%. I was the first to announce this. There was no public accounting or acknowledgment from Franklin officials until I blogged about it. I am in the process of investigating what, if anything can be done about this situation.
School Board President Dave Szychlinski assured me he thought the Board was approving a 5.9% increase.
Here are all the details.
Stay tuned.
THE TOP 10 FRANKLIN STORIES OF 2007
1) ?
2) ?
3) SCHOOL BOARD ADOPTS A 5.9% (NOT REALLY) TAX LEVY INCREASE
4) "ASSEMBLY" AT FRANKLIN HIGH BEFORE ELECTION
5) FRANKLIN ADOPTS A MODEL SEX OFFENDER ORDINANCE
6) THE GRAND OPENING OF SENDIK’S
7) THE EMERGENCE OF THE FRANKLIN BLOGGERS
8) FRANKLIN CITY TAX LEVY GOES UP 5.7%
9) SUPERINTENDENT SZAKACS FORCED OUT
10) THE LACK OF PROGRESS AT FOUNTAINS OF FRANKLIN
