Nov. 5, 2015

                Woodman, Wis.

Editor:

Last summer I heard one of our local politicians comment on the radio. He said he was open to any new revenue. I have the perfect solution to his statement. We as homeowners have had enough of this taxing our property to pay for grade, high, and vocational schools. We received letters and read articles in local papers in the past few months asking for a tax increase to pay for updates on the River Ridge, Bloomington, and now Boscobel schools. At the time we were not in those school districts, but the request was for something like $13,000,000. The next statement in this letter was it will only cost you about $140 a year on a house valued at $100,000. Well, Mr. and Mrs. School Board members, the last I looked, I don’t have a sign in front of my house saying that this home is a bank and whenever you need a few million just come knocking on my door. Enough is enough; I don’t want to pay your kids or my neighbor’s kids to go to school any more by taxing my home. I have paid all my life for my kids and my grandkids to go to school and it has to end.

My new tax is very simple. Start taxing everything that is not taxed today at two percent. Yes, Mr. Farmer, that means the new tractor, all your fencing supplies, and I mean everything, including groceries at your grocery store. This would generate tens of millions of dollars for our state. All money generated from this tax must stay in each county. One percent would go to the school fund and one percent to each county’s road fund. Now, I don’t want to hear any crying and whining from the farmers that they are producing our food either. Times have changed and things are rough, and it is about time everything in this state is taxed equal, including the buildings, corn bins, milking parlors, groceries, etc. What is the difference of going to a restaurant and ordering a hamburger, French fries, and malt? You are charges sales tax at 5.5-percent. Now you go to a grocery store and buy two pounds of hamburger, buns, five pounds of potatoes, and ice cream. There is no tax on that, but it should also be taxed, but only at two percent. Think about this. It’s about everything and everybody being taxed the same.

- William Manogue