Democracy is afoot in Madison again! Last week, the Madison City Commission approved adding a dollar for every foot of property facing city roadways to local property taxes. Commissioners say the new tax will raise $386,000 per year to fix Madison's streets.
Former city commissioner George Lee told his successors that this new fee would come to a public vote, and yesterday he, his wife Donna Lee, and Dean Kooiker started circulating referendum petitions yesterday to make that vote happen. George Lee says the city has enough money in the general fund to fix the streets. Kooiker says even if Madison needs more money to pour into potholes, this property tax assessment isn't the right way to get it:
Kooiker said that many residents whom he has spoken to about the new fee are interested in signing the petition. He has the opinion that the maintenance fee isn't a fair tax to assess, since it's only assessed to property owners.
"There are a lot of people on fixed incomes who are going to be hurt by this fee," Kooiker said. "We should have a tax that's paid by a larger group of residents. Plus the city has a $19 million budget; how much more do they need?" [Chuck Clement, "Madison Residents Seek Signatures for Fee Referendum," Madison Daily Leader, 2013.05.28]
A fair tax in South Dakota is about as common as a long, mild spring. Their petition and a referendum vote can't address this question, but I'm curious: what tax would Kooiker consider a fairer funding mechanism for local road repairs? Should the city get the county to assess an extra municipal wheel tax on city residents? Should the city add a half-penny sales tax to make sure lake folks like me pay our fair share when we use the city streets to get to JubiShine for groceries? Should the state hike the gas tax and increase aid to all local governments for road repair? What is the best way to pay for our local roads?
George, Donna, Dean and friends have plenty of time to come up with an answer to that question. They have until June 12 to collect 280 valid signatures from registered Madison voters.