Notes from the West Wing: New Tax on Utilities

Posted on 29. Oct, 2009 by in News

State Representative Garey Bies

Good day to everyone out there in the First Assembly District!  For today’s edition of Notes from the West Wing, I’d like to comment on a subject that has caused my office to receive a flood of contacts from constituents the past few weeks.

Recently, Wisconsin Public Service (WPS), the utility out of Green Bay, included with their most recent bills to customers, notification of a new tax on utilities as a result of Wisconsin Act 28, the biennial budget bill which I voted against, passed by the Democrats in the legislature and signed by Governor Doyle.

The notification to customers about the new tax has generated a lot of unhappy phone calls.  Residents are more than justified in their anger.  This new utility tax is just one of $4.7 billion in new taxes the Democrats have enacted since the beginning of the current legislative session – all at a time when the state and national economies are reeling and unemployment is high and continuing to rise. Raising taxes is never a good idea, but when our families are facing pay cuts and unemployment, higher taxes are the last thing we need.

The kicker regarding the new utility tax bill, is the claim by Democrats that it is going to pay the salaries of District Attorneys. District Attorneys should not be the target of the people’s ire. The DAs did not request this tax, nor did they lobby for it. In fact, the tax doesn’t even go to pay for the DA’s salaries! The revenue from this tax goes into the General Fund where it can be used for anything.

It is similar to another new tax I talked about in a previous Notes from the West Wing that the Democrats implemented on cellular phones. That new tax was claimed to be used for funding emergency services. Of course, in the same swipe of the pen that created the new tax, the Democrats re-routed the proceeds of that tax to… guess where? That’s right, the General Fund where it can be used for anything.

The bad news for residents is that new utility tax and the new cellular phone tax and many others, like the 127% tax increase on nursing home beds, were part of the budget bill that is already signed into law. We tried to remove these (and other) taxes from the budget and ultimately I voted against the budget bill, but unfortunately the Democrats had the votes and passed it. Now, it is going to take a new legislature to undo the damage done.

By the way, anyone notice their new garbage tax yet?

Well, that is all for this update. As always, I can be reached by e-mail at Rep.Bies@legis.wisconsin.gov or by telephone, toll-free at 1-888-482-0001. You can also visit my website at http://www.legis.state.wi.us/assembly/asm01/news/.

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