MADISON – While the City of Madison provides services residents need, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said what the city needs are options.
That’s as the city faces tough budget cycles in the coming years, according to Rhodes-Conway. “In part because of the coronavirus pandemic, in part because of the structural issue in how severely the state limits impact our budgets,” she said. “What we’ve seen is just a really precipitous decline in revenue.”
Wisconsin’s sales tax is at 5%, making it the lowest of its Midwest neighbors. Throughout most of the state, the sales tax is 5.5% because of the majority of counties opting for the additional .5% sales tax already allowed under current law.
“It’s one of the only taxes that Wisconsin has that’s actually low,” said Nick Novak, vice president of communications and marketing at Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state’s chamber of commerce and largest business trade association. “Every other tax you look at, whether it’s property taxes, income taxes or corporate taxes, we have some of the highest in the country.”
From WMC’s standpoint, the focus should be on lowering taxes rather than raising sales taxes. “That is just making it more costly to buy everyday items,” Novak said. “We don’t want to see that here in Wisconsin. Small businesses are struggling. Families are struggling.”
Watch the full segment at Channel3000.com.