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Monday, December 18, 2006

Thanks, Gov. Doyle, belatedly

I'm a bit late to the party--what? I have a life--but I just finally looked at my property tax bill over the weekend. And, despite having seen another increase in our home's valuation, our tax bill was down. Only about $70, but still.

The Cheddarsphere buzzed quietly last week when Governor Doyle announced that the median home's tax increased just $7. I imagine the response was so muted because most Cheddarsphereans didn't see big increases themselves. The exception seems to be Michael Caughill:
Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle claims that the property tax bill for the “median” homeowner in Wisconsin is only going up $7 this year.

Mine went up $300 for the second year in a row.

I need to find out where Mr. Median lives and move in next door.
Clever joke indeed. But the only other complainer I can Google up--besides a commenter at Caughill's place--is Steveegg, who is just upset about taxes in general. (Talk to Barry Orton, Steve.) There is also some speculation about why median instead of mean as a measure, speculation which is not unwarranted (I'd like to see both numbers myself). But, really, it's been very quiet.

It is almost kind of funny to discover quite so many crickets, as rapping Doyle for his tax policy is as reflexive to conservatives in this state as, say, worshipping Charlie Sykes (who was also oddly silent on the tax issue last week).

Anyway, here's my point. Can you guess why, despite the increased valuation in our home, we're paying less in taxes? Is it the leadership of good Republican Scott Walker? No, our County taxes were up. Is it the lottery credit? That barely makes a dent. No, the big decreases came from the leadership of that horrible Democrat Tom Barrett (our city taxes were down more than $20) and a 5% drop in the school taxes--a drop directly attributable to Governor Doyle's budget vetoes two summers ago.

So, thank you Governor Doyle. A little late, I know, but it's better than the silence from your opponents who doubted you.

(Related: See Mike Plaisted on the Journal Sentinel's continuing anti-Doyle bias.)

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