Posted August 13, 2004.

Waukesha County Reneges on Library Tax

Officials in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, cited concerns about increased government spending to defend their reversed position on a proposed property tax hike that would have generated $350,000 a year for library construction and maintenance. Although the county board of supervisors had voted 25–9 in favor of the capital cost reimbursement program July 27, County Executive Daniel Finley vetoed the measure August 5. After an hour of debate August 10, the sharply split board sustained the veto on a 17–16 vote, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported August 11.

Some officials acknowledged they had been lobbied by Finley to change their vote, while Supervisor Bonnie Morris of Dousman said she was swayed by phone calls from constituents who were influenced by a radio talk-show host. Supervisor Carl Seitz of Eagle said he changed his vote because libraries were becoming obsolete in the Internet age. “We shouldn’t be building libraries, we should be promoting the new way,” he told the newspaper.

Waukesha Alderman Larry Nelson called the flip-flop “politics at its worst,” adding “I was disappointed that that many supervisors did not have the courage of their convictions.”

The measure would have raised money from property owners in municipalities that have no library, providing tax relief to residents of Waukesha, Brookfield, Oconomowoc, and other communities with a library. In the Waukesha County library system, all county residents can use the 16 public libraries for free. The board had voted against a tax cap on library funding proposed by Finley in September 2003.

Posted August 13, 2004.