When does it end?

SOURCE: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Posted: Sept. 18, 2009
That's a question for the Fond du Lac County Board to answer, after it approved a new sales tax without a sunset clause. The board should take another crack at this one.

The Fond du Lac County Board gave Mercury Marine Inc. a big vote of confidence when it approved a $50 million government-financed loan, one of a basket of incentives the company received when it threatened to move operations and hundreds of jobs to Oklahoma.

The board was right to approve the loan, which was a key reason jobs are staying in Fond du Lac. But board members also need to ensure that a new sales tax backing the loan won't be levied in perpetuity and that any additional money raised by the tax will be spent wisely.

The board approved a 0.5% sales tax on county residents to pay the debt service on the year loan. The board decided not to attach a sunset clause to the ordinance after the county's corporation counsel warned that doing so might run contrary to state statute.

William Bendt, the corporation counsel, is expected to seek an opinion from state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen on whether the ordinance can be amended to add a sunset provision. We favor such a provision. Taxpayers should not have to pay any more than is necessary. At the very least, the board should signal its wishes to future boards in a resolution.

The new Fond du Lac County tax is expected to raise twice as much money as is needed to service the loan, but because state law gives counties only one option - 0.5% - a smaller tax bite wasn't possible, said Fond du Lac County Executive Allen J. Buechel. Counties that want to exceed 0.5% must have state legislative approval.

Buechel said he would recommend that some of the excess tax dollars be used to replenish the county's revolving loan fund for economic development. That's fine with us. But we think that most of the rest of the leftovers should be fed to property owners in the form of tax relief.