SERTA Plan Calls for New Tax Monday; Doubling Tax March of 2012

On Monday, leaders of the un-elected Southeastern Regional Transit Authority want to pass a $9 tax on every car rental. The plan is to more than double the tax by 2012 (see Agenda Item 7c).

The tax will fund --- in part -- the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail line. SERTA is proceeding with applying to the federal government for the project even though they said in December it wouldn’t be considered without passage of still more tax increases by the legislature. Those taxes failed, but SERTA may raise taxes anyway.

The jumbo rental car tax is part of the plan.

Buried on page 12 of a 19-page PowerPoint presentation for the unelected board, is the plan to approve the tax at the May meeting at Mitchell Airport.

The tax will double in March 2012 to $18 per car plus inflation. That’s right, in less than two years the tax will double.

SERTA is a board appointed by local politicians and the Governor to do their dirty work of raising taxes. The unelected board has the sole authority to levy the car rental tax up to $18, and sole authority under law to apply to the federal government to support the KRM line.

The new tax is hidden in the materials for Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee Rail line application to the federal government.

The tax will replace the lapsed $2 per rental car tax. You remember the tax that was established, and then used by KRM proponents to hire lobbyists and consultants to raise the tax even more.

So far the tax that was supposed to fund a rail line has mostly been spent on lobbyists and public relations experts who have been paid over $1.4 million of tax dollars to try to pass more tax increases.

Wisconsin residents need to call Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett at 414-286-2200, and tell him to stop the tax increase. Also, call Milwaukee County Board Chairman Lee Holloway at 414-278-4261 and tell him to oppose the tax hike. Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker was denied an appointee to SERTA by the Democrat Legislature because he wouldn’t play their game.

Make no mistake, elected politicians like Barrett control their appointees on the board. Will Barrett prove to voters he’s really not “Tom the Taxer” by telling his appointee to vote “no” and publicly speaking out against unelected appointees raising taxes? And, if elected Governor will Barrett allow the unelected SERTA to continue to run wild over the taxpayers?

Waste Watcher Bottom line: Milwaukee leaders had opposed raising the rental car tax because it wanted a sales tax for buses and other government spending. They were holding KRM hostage to get support for their tax increase. Now that the sales tax failed, they are falling back on the rental car tax. And, thereby proving: If you give unelected bureaucrats the power to "tax to the max" - they will do just that - tax to the max!