December 22, 2017 at 4:14 p.m.
Thanks to Lakeland area supervisors for their land-buy vote
Thanks to Lakeland area supervisors for their land-buy vote
At every level, this is a horrendous public policy decision, but, to their credit, supervisors representing Minocqua and Woodruff did the right thing and voted no, in a tally that was 17-4.
Specifically, Mike Timmons, Billy Fried, and Lance Krolczyk voted against the spurious land purchase and did right by their Lakeland area constituents, as did Scott Holewinski for his constituents in Sugar Camp.
For the most part, this has been an effort by Sorensen to impose his radical aestheticist will and way on the whole of the county. He wants to protect two lakes from any development forever - save for the impervious surfaces his own projects there will lay on the ground - and this is his way to thwart personal property rights and the private sector.
For one thing, the land buy is bad policy because it won't protect the water quality of the lakes, which is wholly dependent on the quality of water in the regional watershed in which they are located. The state's new impervious surface rules already regulate for that quality, and our watersheds are unpolluted, so the purchase means nothing from an environmental perspective.
As such, with those protections in place, development on those lakes would have no impact on water quality, though development might offend and pollute Sorensen's aesthetic sensibilities.
What's more, the idea, espoused by proponents, that the buy will help attract more tourists to Oneida County is just silly and embarrassing. Given the substantial inventory of outdoor recreational opportunities and sites in Oneida County, the idea that Joe and Agnes down in Illinois will decide to vacation here just because these good-old-boys added a patch to the county forest is absurd.
Somehow we can't envision this conversation: "Hey, Agnes, that does it. I'm canceling our trip to the Grand Canyon so we can go picnic at Jack Sorensen's new park in Enterprise!"
That new park or whatever will be built there might - and we emphasize might - divert a handful of people already visiting the county from one place to Enterprise, but even that we think is doubtful. More likely the only visitors will be Sorensen and Bob Mott, as they stand on the shores of the lakes and congratulate themselves for a big-government job well done.
But here's what foreclosing development on those lakes and putting that land into government ownership will do, and it's not good for the economy or the people of Oneida County.
First, it takes the land off the tax rolls and raises taxes for everybody in the county, for those revenues will need to be replaced and collected by ticking our taxes upward. As we have observed before, timber stumpage from those parcels almost certainly will not cover lost tax revenues, and the gap will grow in future years.
What's more, the county will come looking for more cash to develop whatever the forestry department decides it wants to put there. You heard it here first, there will be most costs coming down the pike.
Second, as supervisor Scott Holewinski pointed out, Oneida County has serious infrastructure needs that must be addressed. That's where hundreds of thousands of dollars from the general fund should go, not to buying property willy-nilly. As Holewinksi said, it's like having a leaking roof and bad windows at home but instead of fixing those, Joe and Agnes decide to buy some extra land.
Sooner or later, those infrastructure needs will become emergencies, and the county will be forced to spend to fix them, and that will push taxes even higher.
How about sooner rather than later: At this same meeting, supervisors approved up to $120,000 to replace failing water heaters in the law enforcement center. That's $120,000 the county didn't count on spending in 2018.
If the county tended to its priorities instead of dabbling in Sorensen's land follies, the $158,000 he says the county will pay for that property (we could and will argue that cost later because it's too low) could pay for those water heaters. Now, taxpayers are on the hook for both.
Finally, Sorensen likes to talk about economic development in Oneida County. He's all for it, apparently. He wants all sorts of projects to relocate here or stay here and create jobs and growth.
Too bad he doesn't want these workers to have anywhere to live. His pursuit of restrictive zoning in shoreland areas, and outright advocacy of government ownership of land, is strangling the ability of this county to provide the kind of affordable housing that is a prerequisite to economic development.
The purchase of the 231 acres forecloses even more shoreland areas to housing possibilities, helping to raise the inflated values of shoreland properties even more so only the wealthy can live there.
But that's not all. As the shoreland areas become ever more exclusive and ever more off limits to the middle class, that drives up demand and housing costs in non-shoreland areas, too.
It's the same mistake many urban areas make, and in a county where government owns 28 percent of the total acreage, the possibilities for affordable housing become ever fewer and ever farther between.
Sorensen and his allies on the county board are helping to abort the very economic growth they say they like.
So we thank supervisors Fried, Timmons, and Krolczyk for acting responsibly and standing up for their constituents in the Lakeland area, and to Holewinski for supporting his in Sugar Camp.
These four supervisors voted against higher taxes, for economic development, for affordable housing, and for responsible funding for the county's infrastructure needs, and without any harm to the environment.
We also express disappointment that supervisor Ted Cushing voted for higher taxes and lower growth for his constituents in Hazelhurst, and the same disappointment we express that supervisor Lisa Zunker voted the same harm for her constituents in Minocqua.
Finally, we ask that state Sen. Tom Tiffany of Hazelhurst and the other members of the Joint Finance Committee reject state Stewardship funding for this land buy, for the foregoing reasons.
Given the long-term economic damage it will contribute to Oneida County's economy, which is already suffering from over-restrictive zoning and too much government ownership of land, this simply is not a wise use of state Stewardship dollars.
It is, in fact, an egregious use. By vetoing that funding, this project can still be stopped, as in the people's interest it rightly should be.
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