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State Senate ‘tinkers around the edges’ of dark store loophole

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The Wisconsin state Senate has passed a bill dealing with – but not closing – the dark store loophole. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) says the measure – making the tax assessment appeal process easier – was one of three bills to come out of a study committee.

“This is a complicated, tedious issue,” Fitzgerald said.

The loophole allows big-box retailers to have their property assessments based on those of vacant competitors. Democrats like Dave Hansen of Green Bay are impatient.

“How many sessions is it going to take to get this passed, before we start looking out for the residential taxpayers of this state?”

Senator Janis Ringhand, (D-Evansville) who served on that study committee, said none of the bills that came out of it, including the one passed on Tuesday, actually close the loophole.

GOP says state is undercharging employees for rent on state properties

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Legislative Republicans say the state is undercharging its own employees on rental fees in state-owned housing.

Employees for the DNR or the UW-System live on site in those properties at parks and research stations. Representative Samantha Kerkman says a number of properties haven’t had their prices adjusted since 1995.  

“They’ve been complying with some of the law, you know some of the statute, but they haven’t been following through on their own procedures to actually set the market rate for rent.”

Kerkman says there are both rental and tax implications here. 

“When somebody does receive a benefit for their employment, that does have tax implications as well, so again we need to make sure we’re checking all the boxes.”

Republicans say the state undercharged employees over 60-thousand dollars in rent last year. 

Baldwin backs bill to improve housing for volunteer first responders

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Senator Tammy Baldwin wants to make it easier for volunteer firefighters to find a place to live.

The Volunteer First Responder Housing Act will make it more affordable to find a home for people who volunteer as a firefighter or EMS.

“It would basically make two programs that already exist open to volunteer first responders,” says Baldwin.

Those programs offer low cost loans to the families of responders, and also allows them to purchase homes for half price in certain parts of the country. 

Baldwin says retaining volunteers is vital since 90 percent of the state’s fire departments include volunteers. 

“Many young families can’t afford to live in the communities in which they want to volunteer.”

The bill currently has bipartisan support in the Senate.

Get charity donations in order before end of year, says IRS

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It’s nearing the end of the year, and if you’re looking to make some donations to offset taxes, now is the time to do it.

IRS Spokesman Christopher Miller says you should be sure to keep a record of what’s been given. 

“And of course for larger donations, beyond a certain dollar amount, you should be getting a confirmation from the charity.”

You should also make sure that if you are looking to deduct your donations, that you’re allowed to do so, says Miller.

“You can go to our website at IRS dot Gov, and there’s a tool on there where you can find out whether or not an organization is a 501(c)(3) or qualified charity.”

Miller says they’ve been seeing many people forgo the itemized deductions for charity, simply because the standard deduction is now much larger for most people. 

Five-county Brewers stadium tax will end next year

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It’s the bottom of the ninth for the Brewers Stadium tax. Governor Tony Evers signed a bill Wednesday to end the penny-per-dollar sales tax at the end of August next year. Shoppers in Milwaukee,

Ozaukee, Washington, Waukesha and Racine counties (the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball District)  have been paying the tax since 1996. It’s raised $600 million towards the cost of the ballpark.

School board discusses tax hike for Milwaukee Public Schools

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Milwaukee Public Schools are getting ready to ask voters to support a property tax hike for the first time in nearly 20 years. 

One version would almost double the tax levy so about two-thousand teachers could be hired.  That 640-million dollar proposal is called the “gold standard.”

A 320-million dollar referendum would add just under one-thousand teachers and staff members to the district.

Wisconsin House Dems slam Trump on taxes and trade

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Wisconsin House Democrats charge the president’s tax and trade polices are harming families, farms and businesses in Wisconsin. U.S. Representatives Ron Kind, Gwen Moore and Mark Pocan issued a statement Monday criticizing Donald Trump’s tax changes, which they claim have not benefited working families as Trump promised. The Democrats also said the trade war with China is increasing the likelihood of a recession, something Trump has denied.
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Evers signs state budget, increases education funding through line item vetoes

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Governor Tony Evers has issued a partial veto of the state budget. At Wednesday’s signing, Evers said he’s excited to be able to return some of the things he promised to bring to Wisconsin residents when he was elected, including more school funding.

“And through the veto promise, I am adding nearly 100 million dollars more in per pupil aid for our schools compared to the budget that was passed by the legislature.”

Evers’ version of the budget restores funding for state youth prisons, allows the state prosecutor’s office to decide where new staff positions will be filled across the state, and cuts back on work requirements for food and health assistance programs.

Evers said his veto power couldn’t bring one of his biggest promises to fruition: the expansion of federal Medicaid funding for the state. “That’s why I’ll continue to fight for Medicaid expansion through separate legislation, future budget bills, and otherwise through every executive power I am afforded.

“Vetoing this budget in its entirety would have been more of the same divisiveness and petty political theatrics that the people of Wisconsin have had to put up with for far too long.”

Legislative Republicans say the relatively low number of vetoes shows that this was a good budget with lots of potential.

Assembly approves bill to end 5 county Miller Park sales tax

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Miller Park WRN image

The Miller Park Stadium tax is a step closer to ending. You could say the roof is nearly closed, on the five-county, one-half percent sales tax that funded construction and operation of the Brewers stadium.

It’s been in place since 1996 in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, Waukesha, and Racine counties and has been generally unpopular the father one gets from Milwaukee.

An Assembly passed bill specifies the tax must end no later than August 31 of next year, with any excess collections going back to the counties. The bill now goes to the state Senate. The Miller Park Stadium Board decided earlier this year to end the tax by March 2020.

Republicans cut 600 million from building budgets, face Democrat criticism at Joint Finance Committee

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Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee approved a package of budget items last night, but not without some controversy.

They voted to require the UW System to appear before Joint Finance in order to get 8 million dollars for dairy research. Democrat Representative Evan Goyke says that just adds government where it’s not needed. “Senator Marklein’s comment was ‘What they is certainty.’ ‘What they need is certainty.’ That is what you just said, Senator Marklein, and this motion doesn’t give them certainty.” That brings the total that JFC is reserving to $109 million. Democrats are calling it a slush fund.

Republican Representative Mike Rohrkaste says it’s a minuscule amount of the state’s budget. “Point one percent. I just listened to about 10 minutes of blasting us for putting $109 million into an appropriation that’s at most point one percent of the total budget?”

Republican Representative Amy Loudenbeck chided Democrats and Governor Evers for not funding the project in their budget. “This is the Dairy Task Force Plan and we’re going to have them come back to us with a plan. Because you don’t have one. This is our plan. And we’re going to fund it.”

Republicans also cut 600 million dollars in building projects from the Evers budget, including the funding for new youth prisons.  The Joint Finance Committee will be back on Thursday to hopefully finish out the budget process.