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BREAKING NEWS
June 08, 2009
Voters Oppose Unelected Boards
Kenosha Racine Milwaukee_6-4-09 [Compatibility Mode].pdf
A survey commissioned for the Wisconsin Club for Growth and the Independent Business Association of Wisconsin (IBAW) found that after voters in Southeastern Wisconsin were informed about details of the plan to build the Kenosha-Racine – Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail system, they oppose the plan by a margin of 59% - 31%. More significantly, voters overwhelmingly oppose the creation of unelected boards with the power to raise taxes, issue debt and seize private property.
80% of the respondents state they were more likely to oppose the KRM plan when told the plan allows an unelected board to raise taxes and issue debt without voter approval by referendum, with 62.4% strongly so. 79% were more likely to oppose the plan because it gives an unelected board the power to seize private property, known as eminent domain.
Respondents were also concerned to learn the plan will not serve enough people to pay for itself, and that it will cost taxpayers $25 dollars for each rider per trip. After being informed of the cost and other factors, 59% said they opposed the KRM commuter rail plan and 55% said they’d be less likely to support a legislator who voted for the plan.
IBAW Board member Tim Peterson said small business owners like him are worried that tripling the county sales tax in Milwaukee will have a negative impact on job creation throughout the region. Peterson also wonders why legislators would abdicate the power to raise taxes and issue debt to an unelected board rather than giving voters to the power to decide.
“The survey clearly shows that voters don’t support unelected boards empowered to raise their taxes and seize private property. Legislators who support this plan will have to answer for it,” Peterson said.
The state budget recently approved by the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee creates an RTA in Milwaukee County funded by a 1% increase in the county sales tax and a second RTA for Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee counties, funded by a $16 increase in the car rental fee to cover local funding for a 33 mile commuter rail system.
The survey of 500 likely voters was conducted on June 3 and 4, 2009 and has a margin of error 5.8%.
