Understanding Milwaukee's Regional Tax Plan (Which I Stopped) to Fund the Trolley

Milwaukee cannot afford the trolleys and commuter rail lines they want to build, so they are looking to find ways to tax the outlying counties.  I knew this, so when I saw the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission's (SEWRPC) 2050 regional transportation plan, I knew I had to carefully scrutinize it for any hint of funding for Milwaukee's trolleys and other rail lines.

I want you to be able to verify on your own everything I am about to share, and you can do so by going to the Vision 2050 website at https://www.vision2050sewis.org/.  Make sure to click on the "Funding the Plan" link.

The plan proposed a regional increase to 6 existing taxes, as well as a new tax for every mile driven.  Here is the breakdown:

• Vehicle Miles Traveled - This new tax would tax motorists $.01 for every mile traveled.  For a 2-car family where each car is driven 20,000 miles each year, that would be a $400 per year tax.
• Sales Tax Increase - The sales tax would be increased across all 7 counties.
• Vehicle Registration Fee - The fee to register your vehicle would be increased if you live in any of the 7 counties in the plan.
• Gas Tax - Gas stations in all 7 counties would be forced to charge an increased gas tax.
• Property Tax - Property taxes in all 7 counties would be increased.
• Rental Car Tax - An additional tax on rental cars would be imposed for all 7 counties.
• Hotel Tax- An increase in the tax paid on hotel room stays would be imposed across all 7 counties.

Here is the tax structure, straight from SEWRPC's website:

I saw this, and at the September County Board meeting I raised this issue, I made a motion withholding our support for any passenger rail program in the plan, any regional tax proposed in the plan, and any mass transit that relied on taxes from Washington County.  My motion passed unanimously.

Read more about this here: http://district3bossert.blogspot.com/2017/09/to-mayor-barrett-no-we-wont-fund-your.html. 

Even though any regional tax would need to be approved by our board at the time of implementation, I did not want Milwaukee to even get a foot in the door in relation to regional taxes to fund their trolleys.  25 other supervisors missed this part of the plan, as SEWRPC had encouraged us to review the details listed under the link titled "The Plan."

For as long as I am on the board, I will always scrutinize anything that relates to regional transportation planning, to make sure we don't let Milwaukee even get their foot in the door on regional taxes for their trolley program.