There's Still Hope, Green Bay
/by Barbara Dorff and Lynn Gerlach
Everybody’s a little nervous about money and the cost of living these days, and we know our property tax bill will arrive soon. However, Brown County can’t print our tax bills until Green Bay sets its property tax rate in support of the annual budget. For the first time in recent history, the Council has been unable to agree on a budget – after two meetings and ten hours of deliberation!
When the Council met to approve the budget on November 10, the original increase in the levy had already been reduced to $5.2 million, about a $2 million reduction. After seven alders voted “no” on the budget presented, Council passed a motion charging the mayor and department directors to cut another 20%($1,040,000!) for the Council to consider.
Before we consider how that additional budget cut might affect you, we’d like to remind you where our tax money goes – or what it takes to run our city. Take a look:
As you can see, the overwhelming portion of your tax bill goes to police and fire protection, public works (such as streets, bridges, garbage collection…) and parks/recreation/forestry. That means those four fundamental city functions are the first to suffer from budget cuts. And those are exactly what the citizens of Green Bay prioritize:
Speeding is the #1 traffic complaint – Do you really want fewer police?
How did you feel in 2021 when we couldn’t open all of our city pools?
Do you care about yard waste pick up and treatment of Emerald Ash Borer disease?
Are you comfortable being short a fire truck or two?
Are the uneven sidewalks in front of your house important to you?
Now let’s consider exactly what that extra $1,040,000 removed from our budget will save YOU, a typical taxpayer:
Removing another 18% of our city’s proposed budget will reduce the tax rate by 12 cents. That means the owner of a Green Bay home at the “average” value ($172,500) would see a reduction of annual property tax of $21.35.
You save twenty-one bucks – and our city? What does the city lose? An ambulance? A bridge repair? Life-saving firefighting gear? Lifeguards for our pools?
Don’t let people, even elected officials, fool you. Sometimes stonewalling at budget time is simply political posturing rather than true fiduciary responsibility.
There’s still hope. Call your alder and reassure him or her that you want our city’s budget to match its needs, keeping Green Bay the successful, thriving city it’s been. Tell the Council to pass the budget on November 15 without further cuts.
Contact your alder now:
District 1: Jennifer Grant – 920-510-6861, district.1@greenbaywi.gov
District 2: Jim Hutchison – 920-819-8015, district.2@greenbaywi.gov
District 3: Bill Morgan – 920-510-5939, district.3@greenbaywi.gov
District 4: Bill Galvin – 920-639-4640, district.4@greenbaywi.gov
District 5: Craig Stevens – 920-396-8249, district.5@greenbaywi.gov
District 6: Steven Campbell – 920-639-1607, district.6@greenbaywi.gov
District 7: Randy Scannell – 920-609-9820, district.7@greenbaywi.gov
District 8: Chris Wery – 920-490-9282, district.8@greenbaywi.gov
District 9: Brian Johnson – 920-242-2206, district.9@greenbaywi.gov
District 10: Mark Steuer – 920-494-4494, district.10@greenbaywi.gov
District 11: Melinda Eck – 920-621-9827, district.11@greenbaywi.gov
District 12: Jesse Brunette – 920-327-2726, district.12@greenbaywi.gov