Doyle's Tax 'Freeze' No Freeze at All

Can it be? Is Governor Jim Doyle’s state property tax ‘freeze’ too good to be true? Sadly, in spite of the minimalist bit of hope possible that he had changed his evil liberal ways, it is true. Actually, to be honest, there was never any sense amongst the mainstream conservative base of Wisconsin that Lord Doyle would fulfill his obligation to ‘freeze property taxes while protecting schools’, but that is neither here nor there. I have no doubt he sought to protect the teacher unions … I mean, the ‘children’ of the public school system since they stand to serve his best interests in the upcoming gubernatorial election. The tax payers of this state on the other hand he can manipulate easily while at the same time driving the screw into their backs for all they are worth. ‘Major’ Tom Barrett has certainly caught onto the loopholes evident in the governor’s recently released budget, particularly in the area of his supposed property tax ‘freeze’. First, the budget calls for the state property tax to be lowered only by five percent. This is just me talking here but simply lowering the percentage and not eliminating the necessity for the property tax entirely is not considered a freeze. And secondly, the slick language of the state budget includes nothing to protect property owners from fees imposed by city officials. These fees, which are not tax deductible by the way, can more then compensate for the money lost in lowering the state property tax, something of which ‘Major’ Barrett is more then willing to take full advantage of. With the inclusion of Doyle’s property tax ‘freeze’ and the fees imposed by the city of Milwaukee, Milwaukee property owners can expect an increase of about fifteen percent in their taxes this year. Where’s a decent chiropractor when Wisconsin tax payers need one?