Lake County voters don’t see any budget crisis. Despite (or perhaps in spite of?) the Madison City Commission’s thinly veiled advocacy, 82.4% of voters in Tuesday’s special Lake County election rejected the county commission’s request for an opt-out that would have allowed the county to impose another $2.8 million in property taxes each year for five years.
316 people voted for the tax increase. 1,483 voted against. One person submitted a blank ballot, bringing total turnout to 1,800, 22.4% of the registered electorate.
Unlike Congress, the Lake County Commission was able to meet Thursday morning and approve a budget for next year. The county will try to get by on $9.2 million in the coming fiscal year. Maybe they’ll want to pay the Governor’s Office of Economic Development $10,000 so they can get their hands on the Governor’s Freedom™ Works Here database and recruit some out-of-staters to come work in Madison, build big new houses at Lake Madison, and increase the tax base.
Can’t wait for Tru Shrimp to bring those bucks into Madison. That way there will never be a need for opt out or anything else other than put another shrimp on the barbie or maybe a wombat. When oh when??
The fact is, the Commission put itself in this bind by spending the Covid money on giving raises to themselves and employees, and making those raises permanent. Then the bucks dried up, and now they want the people to pay for what they (the people) should have gotten in the first place and more. And 82% of Lake County knew it, and voted against it.