Holly Gilvary
Supervisors voted 13-5 to approve the ordinance adopting the tax, which will take effect April 1, 2025.
Supervisors Valena Coleman, Tom Rutkowski, Melissa Kaprelian, Jody Spencer, Q.A. Shakoor II, Brett Nielsen, Eric Hopkins, Tony Veranth, Don Trottier, Scott Maier, Gary Kolb, Greg Horeth and Tom Preusker voted in favor of the sales tax; supervisors Renee Kelly, Ernie Rossi, Robert Miller, Tom Kramer and Taylor Wishau voted against it.
Preusker offered an amendment to the ordinance that reduced the general obligation debts that will be allocated to property tax relief from $5 million to $2 million, saying it would not be fiscally responsible to pass the ordinance as is based on the county's proposed 2025 budget, the county's current deficit of $17 million and the projected $20 million of anticipated sales tax revenue.
"If we commit five million of the expected 20 (million) to general obligation debt, that means there's only 15 (million) left to solve a gap of 17 million," Preusker said. "I don't think it's responsible to knowingly, tonight, pass an ordinance that knowingly creates a deficit."
The board voted 11-7 in favor of the amendment.
The county will begin allocating some of the sales tax revenue to property tax relief in 2026.
Supervisors Robert Miller and Melissa Kaprelian also offered amendments to the ordinance, but both failed.
Miller proposed allocating "approximately 50%" of the sales and use tax revenue to the portion of the county budget devoted to debt service on general obligation debt to affect direct property relief.
"If we do not do this sales tax in a responsible way with a lot of direct property tax relief, many of our constituents will be justifiably unhappy," Miller said.
The board voted 10-8 against Miller's amendment.
Kaprelian proposed changing the amount of revenue committed to property tax relief from "not less than $5 million" to "up to $5 million based on operational needs, debt services, borrowing for capital projects and state municipal aid approved in the state budget."
Kaprelian said the change would maintain the $5 million target for property tax relief but would allow for more flexibility so that the number could be adjusted through the county's budget process if necessary.
"By binding ourselves to this rigid allocation while facing a $17 million deficit, now we risk sending this contradictory and fiscally irresponsible message," Kaprelian said. "How can we tell our constituents that we're implementing a sales tax to resolve the deficit while simultaneously committing to a specific allocation that could perpetuate that deficit?"
The board voted 9-9 for the amendment, so it failed.
In other business, supervisors:
- Authorized and approved the memorandum of agreement between the National Association of Conservation Districts and Racine County to accept the Urban Agriculture and Community Conservation Grant for $60,000 to be used at the Racine County Youth and Development Care Center micro-nursery.
- Authorized the purchase of up to five capital asset vehicles and a transfer of $120,000 within the Public Health 2024 Budget.
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