Good Cop—Bad Cop

Alderman Steve Taylor’s stance on the 2012 City budget posted last month on his FranklinNOW blog “From the Fourth” read like a  “good cop—bad cop” scene from NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," with Alderman Steve Taylor taking one for Mayor Tom Taylor while simultaneously throwing himself and fellow aldermen and Finance Committee members Tim Solomon and Kristen Wilhelm under the proverbial bus.  Political ambitions take no prisoners.

Alderman Taylor writes:

[All emphasis added.]

The Finance Committee’s proposed budget which the Mayor has vetoed had a levy increase of 2.3% but savings of $35 on a home assessed at $235,000. Unlike the “shell game” which the Mayor boasts as a levy decrease the approved budget is extremely transparent with actual savings.

Common Council president Steve Taylor—as noted earlier— also serves on the City Finance Committee.  It strikes me as rather odd that Steve Taylor would boast that a committee he serves on, and has served on for several years, would openly “boast” that the Finance Committee proposed a budget with a tax levy increase of 2.3 percent; taking care to note in the same paragraph that the mayor vetoed the Finance Committee’s proposal, adding “Unlike the ‘shell game’ which the Mayor boasts as a levy decrease the approved budget is extremely transparent with actual savings.  Again, Finance Committee: BAD—Mayor Tom Taylor: GOOD.

Common sense would dictate that none of the current members of the Finance Committee should be renominated by Mayor Tom Taylor for appointment to this committee when their term is up, considering the fact that Mayor Taylor vetoed their proposed budget increase.

We also found it interesting that Alderman Taylor found it necessary to printout that the “… approved budget is extremely transparent...,” begging the question: Why wouldn’t it be?

Alderman Taylor continues:

The Mayor proposed a budget in September which lowered the tax levy but placed a separate fee for garbage pickup on your tax bill. The levy decreased by 2.4% which resulted in $101 savings on a home assessed at $235,000. However, a $104 dollar fee, also known as a tax, for garbage pickup would be added to your tax bill and it is also not tax deductible. There may be a time when the City of Franklin has no choice and has to separate the garbage service cost from the tax levy but now is not the time.  Shout it from the roof tops with me..."Finance Committee: BAD—Mayor Tom Taylor: GOOD."

Three months or so later, it was time to add a NEW garbage pick-up tax, which Alderman Taylor fails to explain what exactly has changed in the previous few months to make it necessary to create a new tax on Franklin homeowners.

Being a cynic of government and particularly Mayor Tom Taylor's arguably long-time corrupt administration, I ask you to consider this question: Is it possible that the Mayor’s proposed budget which, Alderman Taylor claims, lowered the tax levy by 2.4 percent, amounts to the City’s annual cost for garbage pick-up and in a budget shell game the 2.4 percent "savings" was appropriated somewhere else, necessitating the a separate fee for garbage pickup on your tax bill?

Franklin’s Public Hunting Grounds and what You Have Been Told—or Not

 

In separate stories published on November 22 and 23 we asked readers if they could identify the Wisconsin DNR Public Hunting grounds pictured in the story.  To-date we have not received the correct answer from among these choices: Tichigan, Vernon, Franklin or Oconomowoc.

Give up?  Well, the correct answer is Franklin.  We doubt that many Franklin and Milwaukee County citizens realize that there is a state-owned public hunting grounds within Franklin’s city limits on 116^th street, and wonder how many members of the Franklin Common Council are aware of this fact?  Depending upon how you feel about this we suggest calling your alderman or Mayor Tom Taylor with any questions or concerns you may have over this unique situation. 

We have a couple of concerns of our own on this subject.  First, the close proximity of Alderman Skowronski’s home to this state-owned land.  Secondly, we recalled the following statement by Mayor Tom Taylor in a September 26, 2010, JSOnline story favoring the now-controversial $41 million Ryan Creek Interceptor Project in what Taylor referred to in the article as the overdue period of growth for the city's southwest quarter, predicting with confidence that the sewer project:

“[Would open] much of the land to a building boom [and] would add more than $1.2 billion to the city's property tax base by 2025,” and that the added businesses would take some of the local tax burden off the shoulders of homeowners.”  Taylor added, “there’s little room for new businesses elsewhere: Only a few acres are left for sale in the city's business park at S. 51st St. and Ryan Road.  If a company came in and said they wanted a significant size property, we'd have to say no."

Taking the mayor at his word concerning the business (warehouse) park at S. 51st St. and Ryan Road, the mayor needs to explain to Franklin citizens how the state of Wisconsin became the owners of the 100 acres of land now designated public hunting grounds, being that, in his words ”there's little room for new businesses elsewhere.”  If the mayor is really serious about 'tak[ing] some of the local tax burden off the shoulders of homeowners.”  As Alderman Solomon likes to say, “It ain’t gonna happen.”  The state does not pay taxes to the City on the 100 or so acres it owns.

Speaking of development, we find it very “interesting” that the state-owned hunting grounds—baring its sale to a private party—prevents development of that property which just so happens to be just hundreds of yards from  Alderman Ken Skowronski’s home.  Yet, the City is preparing to take land (potentially by eminent domain) from Franklin citizens in order to build the Ryan Creek Interceptor for future sale to MMSD; which will tax property owners within its taxing boundaries, quite the oposite of Taylor's statement "...that "it will take some of the local tax burden off the shoulders of homeowners."

It must also be noted that Franklin developer Jim O’Malley, whose development company, O'malley Development, LLC owns land involved in the RCI project area.  In addition, campaign finace records filed with the Franklin City Clerk's office revealed O’Malley was a contributor to Mayor Taylor’s and Alderman Steve Taylor’s last campaigns.  In fact, O’Malley was a volunteer for the alderman’s reelection run.

RELATED MEDIA

• MMSD Public Hearing Regarding New District Boundary for the City of Franklin
• Ryan Creek Sewer Project Stinks to High Heaven

Ryan Creek Sewer Project Stinks to High Heaven

The City of Franklin: Where Honest and Transparent Government Goes to Die. What you don't know can hurt you

According to the NewBerlinNOW, it is highly likely that the New Berlin, like Muskego, is looking to take advantage of Franklin tax payers thanks in-part to Mayor Tom Taylor’s highly controversial $31 million Ryan Creek sewer(Interceptor) project. Much like Mayor Taylor’s plan, New Berlin seeks to extend a sewer so that an area with the biggest chunk of remaining farmland in eastern New Berlin could be opened up for development. The plan is expected to win Common Council (New Berlin) approval Tuesday night. The Agenda for Franklin’s Common Council Meeting, also on Tuesday, August 2, makes no mention of the actions taking place in New Berlin. Will New Berlin and Muskego reimburse Franklin for the expenses the City has incurred to-date for this project? Read more.

Some observers see New Berlin’s controversial move as “back door” preparations to buy Lake Michigan water in a few years by side-stepping the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewer District (MMSD), aided and abetted by Franklin Mayor Tom Taylor and his staunch supporters on the Franklin Common Council; Aldermen Steve Taylor, Timothy Solomon and Ken Skowronski.

Unanswered Questions

Is New Berlin, a suburb of Waukesha County planning to connect to Franklin’s Ryan Creek Interceptor with its project? Since this is technically a MMSD project, will New Berlin residents pay a portion of their property tax to MMSD, like Franklin taxpayers and other MMSD customers throughout Milwaukee County, or are taxpayers in various Milwaukee County cities footing the bill for New Berlin to receive Great Lakes water?

To voice your support or opposition to the New Berlin project or the Ryan Creek Interceptor Project, or for answers to these or any other questions related to either project, we suggest you contact Mayor Tom Taylor or your Alderman.

RELATED STORIES

• Click to read previous FRANKLIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL stories pertaining to the Ryan Creek Sewer Project.
• Click to read previous stories pertaining to the Ryan Creek Sewer Project posted on our sister publication BATTLE JOINED.

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