April 26, 2021 at 11:25 a.m.
State government comes to Hodag Dome
Joint Committee on Finance holds listening session in Rhinelander
State government comes to Hodag Dome
Over the course of seven hours, a myriad of topics were touted as worthy of either funding or increased funding compared to the budget proposed by Gov. Tony Evers in mid-February. These included such items as turning the Lincoln Hills/Copper Lake juvenile correction facilities in Irma into and adult facility, a renewal of funding for the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, increases in state aid to 4K-12 education and the UW system, more state aid to local governments, fast tracking the establishment of standards and treatment plans for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and the legalization of marijuana.
"Our job here today is to listen to you, there is no question and answer exchanged here today," said committee co-chair State Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green). "Our job is to listen to your thoughts and ideas on the Wisconsin state budget."
Individuals were given 2 minutes to speak while groups of three or more people were given 5 minutes.
School District of Rhinelander superintendent Eric Burke and Board of Education president Ron Counter were among the first to address the committee, touting the joint effort between SDR and the community that made the dome possible.
"We are excited to have you here today," Burke told the assembled state legislators and senators. "We are here today in this great example of what is possible when a community and school district come together."
Burke asked the committee to find the money in the next budget to help districts in the northern part of the state like SDR who have high property values, but also high levels of poverty.
"Broadband access for pupils, the state funding formula and state aid for special education are some of the big items," Burke said.
David Heck, president of the Rhinelander Schools Foundation who spearheaded the fundraising effort behind the dome, told the committee that the district suffers under the present school funding formula.
"Our economy under the funding formula has got to be fair and equal for the entire state," Heck said. "Rhinelander is one of the lowest-funded districts in the state, and it has put tremendous stress within the past 20-30 years on the community ."
He said the district must continuously go to the voters with referendums to exceed the revenue limit to offset the lack of state aid because of the property values in the area are high, yet the number of families living in poverty is also high. He urged reforming the funding formula to be more fair to all school districts.
"The number of students receiving free and reduced lunches on our district is high, yet the majority of our tax dollars go to the southern part of the state," Heck said.
Rhinelander mayor Chris Frederickson said that the aid the city gets from the state is also negatively impacted by the high property values but low income level of a large portion of its residents, which has resulted in cuts to services the city provides its residents such as police and fire protection due to the decline in shared revenue from the state.
"We've been doing this for years," Frederickson said.
He said while the Premier Resort Area Tax (PRAT) revenues have helped with redoing some streets over the past few years, the city can't get all the needed work done in a timely manner using just that funding source.
Frederickson also asked that the so-called Dark Store Loophole that allows big box stores to argue their open stores should be taxed at a rate similar to what a vacant store of equal size. Rhinelander has had to cut the assessment on three such stores - Walmart, Home Depot and Menards - in recent years.
The mayor also asked that the state work with the city in finding a way to treat the water that could be pumped from wells 7 and 8 which were taken offline when high levels of PFAS were discovered in them.
"With independent control, you (the state) can come alongside us in fixing this problem," Frederickson said. "Focusing on the non-litigation, non-blame idea we can address fixing the problem immediately."
He said in response to a request for quotes (RFQ) for ways to filter the contamination from the water from those wells has resulted in 14 different proposals involving new technologies. The mayor urged the state to find the money to allow the city to try some of these new methods in a pilot program that might find a method that could be expanded to other municipalities facing the same problem.
"By fixing this for our people who cannot wait any longer for the litigation and the rest of the government processes to play out, you can be the gravity, not (part of) the drama and chaos," Frederickson said.
Jim Gossage, City of Rhinelander wastewater utility foreman also asked for the committee for help with getting the two wells back online. He said the city is taking a "no fault, no blame" approach to finding a solution because of the importance the two wells play in the overall water supply.
"When these two wells were online, the combined output from these two wells equaled 25% of the city's supply," Gossage said. "Removing these wells from service left the utility with some very serious supply capacity challenges."
He said the city is asking for "supplemental resources" to assist with exploring the experimental processes that have come up in the RFQ process. This could be accomplished by establishing a fund in the next biennial budget that could act as a matching grant toward creating treatment pilot programs.
"This could be used as a model around the state in fixing municipal water supplies contaminated with these compounds," Gossage said. "These wells are the city's newest, and we believe that it is to everyone's advantage to not squander public resources by decommissioning and capping these two wells, but rather, implementing a fix in the form of treatment."
Three youth counselors from Lincoln Hills/Copper Lake told the committee about problems at the two facilities, including the lack of repairs on items causing fire hazards, staffing shortages and an increase of attacks by students on staff. They urged the committee to approve additional funds to speed up moving the youth to a new facility and transitioning the facility into an adult prison.
Several members of the committee huddled with the three speakers and other staff members for over 20 minutes to get additional information.
"I believe they are concerned about the youth and the staff and are looking for ways to improve the situation," said David Tinker, one of the three to address the committee, after the group broke up.
Minocqua town chairman Mark Hartzheim asked that his town be allowed to hold a referendum to institute a half-percent PRAT to fund much needed infrastructure repairs.
Several staff members and three students from the Lakeland STAR Academy asked the committee to find room in the budget to increase funding for the charter school dedicated to students with cognitive disabilities, particularly autism.
Numerous speakers urged the committee to urge the rest of the state assembly and senate to legalize marijuana, citing the medical benefits as well as the potential to raise tax revenue from its sale.
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at jamie@rivernews online.com.
Comments:
You must login to comment.