May 22, 2012

Higher tipping fees hurting landfill

When state lawmakers voted to increase tipping fees at Wisconsin landfills in 2009, the goal was to reduce the amount of trash from neighboring states that was being dumped in Wisconsin. The higher fees are causing problems though for operators of the Pheasant Run Landfill in Kenosha County.

Officials with the landfill, located near the Town of Paris, says there has been a 76-percent drop in the amount of solid waste coming into the landfill from Illinois. As a result, revenues have dropped sharply and now Waste Management, the operator, is hoping to work out new tax deals with local officials.

Waste Management recently asked to renegotiate an agreement with Kenosha County for payments that are largely used to defer property taxes for area residents. Waste Management pay 68-cents per ton dumped in the landfill, along with a $250,000 gift to the county. The County has approved a new deal that keeps the 68-cent fee, but drops the gift to $75,000 and makes other concessions.

County Supervisor Joe Clark says, without that help, Waste Management may not be able to stay in business.

AUDIO: Supervisor Joe Clark (:09)

The company is still seeking a new agreement with officials in Paris, where it pays substantially higher fees to offset local property taxes.

Janet Hoff, WRJN

DOR hopes to cut printing costs

The state Department of Revenue is hoping to cut back on the number of income tax forms it plans to print this year.

About 80-percent of Wisconsinites filed their state income tax returns electronically last year. State Department of Revenue spokeswoman Stephanie Marquis says the growing popularity of e-file means the agency can save some money this year by printing fewer paper forms.

Starting next year, the department will no longer automatically mail out forms to taxpayers, even if they filed a paper return last time. Marquis says individuals who still would like a hard copy of the forms will need to contact the Department or go to a local library. However, the agency will also be reducing the number of forms sent to local libraries by 25-percent as well.

Homestead tax credit forms for those over 60 will still be mailed out, if they filed on paper last year.

Marquis says the changes should save the state over $106,000 annually.

Residents who still want paper forms can request them after January first.

AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:07)

Roll your own shops get reprieve

Efforts by the state Department of Revenue to collect tobacco taxes from shops offering the use of cigarette rolling machines face a roadblock in court. A Dane County judge on Friday issued an order prohibiting the state from collecting higher taxes from the stores while a legal challenge from several of the businesses is pending. [Read more...]

Legal action over roll your own smokes

“Roll your own” smoke shops in Wisconsin are taking the state to court. Several of the retailers have filed a lawsuit in Dane County Court, challenging a decision by the state Department of Revenue requiring the businesses to get state permits and charge Wisconsin’s hefty cigarette taxes.

Kurt Kruchten owns a business called “Smokes for Less” in Slinger, northwest of Milwaukee. He says the agency is wrong in its claim that the outlets are manufacturing cigarettes and tobacco products. Kruchten says it’s the customers who make the smokes and they just use a machine that’s owned by the store. [Read more...]

Amendment could ease mergers

A proposed constitutional amendment could make it easier for Wisconsin school districts and local governments to merge, and enjoy greater efficiencies. One thing standing in the way now is the state’s uniformity clause and the fact that different units of government have different tax levy rates. “They’re both on board, but they have a situation where because of the different levels of equalized values . . . as well as the actual tax rates themselves, the merger itself becomes impossible,” said Milwaukee Democrat, Representative Josh Zepnick, who cited several instances of proposed mergers that foundered on the rocks of differing tax rates. [Read more...]