Taxes, state spending and proposed data centers took center stage Wednesday night as Republican Tom Tiffany and Democrat David Crowley faced off in their first and only televised debate in the race for Wisconsin governor.
A major point of disagreement was how to use Wisconsin’s nearly $3 billion budget surplus.
Tiffany argued the state should return the entire surplus to taxpayers through permanent tax cuts.
“We should return all of that to the taxpayers. They’ve overpaid into the state of Wisconsin. So I want to see long term tax reductions that are going to people are going to benefit from not just next year, but in the future also,” Tiffany said.
Crowley said the surplus should be used to invest in public services while also easing property tax burdens.
“We could be using this surplus to actually put towards our public schools to make sure that we’re buying down the property tax rate that so many folks are struggling under because they’ve had to go to referendum after referendum because of decisions that Congressman Tom Tiffany have made,” Crowley said.
The candidates also clashed over the future of proposed data centers in Wisconsin.
Crowley said local communities should have the final say over whether projects are approved and stressed the need to protect natural resources.
“When it comes down to data centers, we need to make sure we’re protecting our environment, protecting our land, protecting our farmland, protecting our waterways. But communities need to have a seat because if they don’t want a data center, they shouldn’t be forced to have a data center. There’s no if, ands or buts about that,” Crowley said.
Tiffany said he opposes taxpayer subsidies for data centers and wants assurances that new developments will not increase utility costs for residents. Tiffany also pushed for local control.
“No data centers, unless they make sure that our utility rates will not go up. No subsidies for these data centers. That there be local control. Local people should have input in whether a data center is being located in their local community,” Tiffany said.
The debate, hosted by WISN-TV, was the only scheduled meeting between the two candidates before Wisconsin voters head to the polls on November 3.