"The state's tax burden has long rankled business groups and property owners. And taxes are likely to emerge as a key issue this year in the governor's race and other state elections, as Wisconsin often comes out near the top in national rankings of tax burdens. An effort to impose constitutional limits on taxes died in the state Senate in April."Surely, we should be proud of our state's ability to tax and spend. Our quality of life is so superior to the other 43 who have less of a burden!
Another study, intended I presume to downplay the "tax burden", takes fees and service charges into account. While this may "normalize" the burden per capita, I for one would rather pay a fee or service charge for the service I use, rather than have my tax go to a general fund to be used at the discretion of the politician and bureaucrat!
"Andrew Reschovsky, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, also broke out the census numbers and showed Wisconsin ranks No. 14 nationally. His calculations, however, included other government fees and service charges that each state assesses in addition to the revenue that state and local authorities collect through taxes. "In Wisconsin, we have made a choice to finance government by relying more heavily on taxes and less heavily on fees and charges than the average state," Reschovsky said."
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