Gas Pains
Tom grew up in Milwaukee, bartended in Wauwatosa in the '70s and moved here in 1984.
Commentary, observations and musings about the outdoors, life in general and maybe Tosa politics and personalities will be the order of the day. He savors a lively debate as much as terrific cooking.
Senior Housing - A Taxing Issue?
Curious to learn more about the possibility of taxing high-end senior independent living facilities I stopped at City Hall recently.
I took the time to peruse a pile of letters and emails, measuring about an inch and a half thick, that had been received by the mayor, the assessor and members of the City Council on this subject.
Many of the letters bore evidence of the unsteady hand of age. Correspondence from Harwood Place and San Camillo uniformly complied with the talking points provided to the author of the letter. There were a handful of ranting emails and one promise to move from Wauwatosa over this issue.
Curiously, much of the correspondence implored the mayor and the council to vote no. This struck me as odd.
Hasn't anyone informed these folks that there will be no vote? Do they know that the city hasn't the power to act on this matter or that the assessor is charged under the law with the enforcement of state statutes?
Why haven't these people been told that neither the mayor nor the council - past, present or future - can unilaterally rewrite state law?
Coincidentally, I purchased copies of a stack of relevant documents and resolutions detailing committee discussions and votes on this issue dating back to March of 2004.
Yep, more than three and a half years ago.
It would appear to me that management at Harwood Place and San Camillo should have been burning the midnight oil in Madison for the past three years to remedy this situation.
A certain mayoral candidate has made this a campaign issue. Nobody should be exploiting old folks over a counterfeit issue like this.
That stinks.
PS - Since becoming a member of the Common Council, guess who voted for this reassessment project?
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