August 23, 2022 – Kewaskum, WI – As a former legislator and Vice-Chair of the Public Safety Committee in the Wisconsin Assembly, my family and I support our local law enforcement 100%. While I agree that we could use a few more servants in blue patrolling the streets, permanently raising our county taxes by nearly 10% will not reduce crime. I will be voting NO on the Washington County Board’s Anti-Crime Plan tax referendum this fall.
It is blatantly obvious that our county government leaders have begun actively campaigning for this behemoth tax increase. They are regularly publicizing the types of individuals being apprehended while traversing our county. I have no doubt that our taxpayer funded county newsletter will also be actively shilling for our YES vote in the near future.
Crime is a real problem and there are real solutions. We just need to be engaged.
Many families, including ours, do not have the means to perpetually shell out money. Washington County used to be the most conservative county in Wisconsin. Pushing referendums on residents with no studies or data, however, is reckless, especially when our families are all experiencing:
- Rampant inflation and “COVID-excuse” supply chain issues increasing our grocery bills by 30%.
- Spiking energy costs, twice this year already, to cover supply shortages and subsidize the “renewables” being purchased by energy companies.
- A 250% increase in fuel bills from just a couple of years ago.
But what if some of the initial funds are “free money” – grants from the state or federal government? Free money does not exist. After the funds are gone, we, the taxpayers, will still be on the hook to cover the costs of a government program that once established, will not be eliminated.
While I am extremely concerned with the rampant crime in our state, it is not because we do not have enough local law enforcement – or enough laws from Madison. There are real solutions:
- In modern-day American, there is no deterrent for crime. Judges and prosecutors are not locking up offenders to the fullest extent of the law. Case in point (2022WA000414): Recently there were several high-dollar, commercial thefts and burglaries in Washington County. Our public servants did their job and arrested the perpetrator. Washington County Judge, Sandra Giernoth, a Gov. Evers appointee, turned around and released him on a $10,000 bond allowing the criminal to simply skip out on his hearing and continue to terrorize the community. It is time to hold our judges and prosecutors accountable. We must kick them out via the election process if they are unable to keep our communities safe!
- There is no sense of morality. Over the past 70 years our government and many of our public agencies have actively campaigned to destroy religious institutions and take a wrecking ball to the nuclear family. This has to stop! Strong families must be encouraged, and our religious organizations allowed to thrive.
If we must increase taxes to fight crime it would be better invested in additional prisons resulting in more, and longer, incarcerations. This may be the one solution that the 2-3% of thugs who are destroying our society, and the Mayberry lifestyle as we knew it, can comprehend.
Jesse Kremer
Kewaskum, WI
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A huge no to the county !!!!!!!, they must live within their means just as the rest of us must
***”If the referendum is approved it would be an additional $3.6 million tax every year moving forward, forever!!!”*** Jesse, I completely agree with you and I am voting “NO” to this levy scare tactic. Where are the details and data? Why the rush to push it through? WE Energies is increasing our rates. The county wants to implement a road tax. 401K’s are dwindling. The courts are failing us, no amount of money can rectify that. The wording for the ballot is not clear.
“Supervisor Brian Gallitz questioned the wording that will appear on the ballot, noting ‘fiscal year 2023’ and how the public may think this is just a one-year charge of $3.6 million. Schoemann said, “As they were asking about the language about the next fiscal year, there is an amendment that is going to be made. So, it’s clear this is perpetual.” Which means, if the referendum is approved it would be an additional $3.6 million tax every year moving forward, forever.
https://www.washingtoncountyinsider.com/3-6-million/
There is probably nothing more wasteful in county government than having law enforcement competently serve the public, just to have those efforts completely undone by an overly lenient court system. The whole process ends up getting repeated over and over again, only with more people getting victimized in the process. That routine serves no one’s interests.
A modest increase could be justified, if backed by facts, data and sound reasoning. Yet we don’t seem to be offered any of this and instead are expected to support a large increase based on a few official’s endorsements. Regardless of how much you may support a particular aspect of government, none should escape its due scrutiny of funding and scope, let alone accountability.
Yes, support local law enforcement, but fund it responsibly, with purpose and justification.
Please no tax hikes
A lot of us are already drowning