There’s an observation from 2011 from Whitewater’s city manager to consider about the distressed status of tax incremental district 4. (I came on the observation while reading this week about Generac.) Before going further, I’ll observe that when one talks about distressed tax incremental districts, one’s talking about rare birds. By the assessment of the…
Government Spending
Business, City, Corporate Welfare, Government Spending, Taxes/Taxation
A little consistency would be in order
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Around two years ago, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue changed the method by which municipalities valued private properties. The state concluded — correctly — that municipalities were often over-valuing and thus over-taxing private properties. For businesses, a correct, lower assessment meant less in taxes; for municipalities, an over-valuation was useful to extract as much in…
Business, City, Development, Government Spending
Meet the New Public-Loan Applicant, Same as the Old Public-Loan Applicant
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
From Whitewater’s city manager and acting Community Development Association director comes word of a second public loan for DR Plastics. To follow the agendas, proceedings, and minutes of the CDA was to see this a mile away — CDA Approves Business Development Loan to DR Plastics The Community Development Authority (CDA) this week approved a…
Government Spending, Planning, State Government
Update on the Spectrum Brands State-backed Deal
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
I wrote earlier about the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s millions for Spectrum Brands (Rayovac, among other brands). The professed purpose was to keep the company in Wisconsin. As it turned out, they took they money, as part of a relocation to Middleton, Wisconsin. There’s scant credible evidence that they truly were prepared to leave. A…
Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, State Government
The Spectrum Brands State-backed Deal: Either Shameful Negligence or Shameful Dishonesty
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Consider how profligate the State of Wisconsin is with public money. Millions spent on a business relocation for a corporation that (1) withheld its identity, (2) was already in Wisconsin, (3) used flimsy worries about protests at the Capitol as way to curry favor with the Walker Administration, (4) where the head of the Wisconsin…
Government Spending, Libertarians, Poverty
How Selfish Politicians Use the Poor or Children to Protect Wasteful Programs that Have Nothing to Do with the Poor or Children
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
It’s a cruel game to defend government spending on the well-fed with the lament that spending cuts must be stopped, lest the poor and vulnerable suffer. The poor and vulnerable will not suffer in a society that reduces spending on corporate welfare, sham job-creation programs, so-called business-development grants, and spending on weapons so expensive and…
Government Spending
What Causes a Budget Shortfall?
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Of all items in an organization’s over-spending, which ones might cause a budget shortfall? One might say, of course, that a 2% increase in X, or a 5% increase in Y, would be the cause an expected shortfall. There’s a simple answer, though: each and every expenditure contributes to the overall shortfall. An organization might…
Education, Federal Government, Government Spending
No Child Left Behind: A Decade of Failure
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Neal McCluskey contends — accurately — that No Child Left Behind legislation has been a failure. He makes arguments against the decade-old federal law in a brief video, embedded below. It’s a summary only, but a good summary of a bad law. (For an earlier post on NCLB, see Whitewater Has No Reason to Worry…
Federal Government, Government Spending, Open Government
Feds get low marks for online spending transparency
by JOHN ADAMS •
Crime, Government Spending, Police
Officers Punished for Supporting Eased Drug Laws
by JOHN ADAMS •
These officers can expect to be hounded out, as so much federal and state money depends, not on solving the problem of addiction, but on waging an ineffective, endless campaign, all the while insisting that this time – yes, this time – everything will be different and better. Those challenging their dismissals are buoyed by…
City, Economy, Government Spending
On Whitewater, Wisconsin’s 2012 Municipal Budget
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s mid-November, and on schedule, Whitewater (pop. 14,622) has a budget for 2012. There’s some good in this year’s result, but other challenges lie ahead. (A pdf copy of the budget is available online. For my remarks on the 2011 budget, see Whitewater, Wisconsin’s Next Municipal Budget.) A few remarks on the ‘12 budget: With…
Economy, Education, Government Spending, Planning, Wisconsin
Additional State Budget Cuts, Lapse Provisions, and the Failure of State Planning
by JOHN ADAMS •
A reader kindly passed along an email from UW President Kevin Reilly to the entire UW System about additional budget cuts proposed for Wisconsin’s public universities. I’ve included the content of Reilly’s message below. Readers may have different opinions about all this, but even staunch supporters of the Walker Administration should see this as (at…
Business, City, Economy, Government Spending
The Housing Market and Public Budgets
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a story in the Washington Post about Pres. Obama’s latest initiative to help underwater homeowners (Government announces new program to help ‘underwater’ homeowners), following an earlier story — anticipating today’s announcement — about failed, past efforts (Obama’s efforts to aid homeowners, boost housing market fall far short of goals). The former story pours cold…
City, Government Spending, Planning, Wisconsin
Whitewater’s Municipal Administration Reports that North Street Will Be Closed Through Winter
by JOHN ADAMS •
Of course it will be; if it takes years to install an adequate traffic signal near campus, one could not expect quick headway on the North Street Bridge. They’ll resume in the spring. The delay itself is not the biggest problem here. Note, instead, how odd is the delay when considered after reading the Walker…