Dear editor,
Did you know that in 1998 the Village of Weston Board made a decision to open the Weston Industrial Park with a tax increment district (TID)? There is currently a proposal in the Village of Weston to expand TID. You might ask, what is a TID and why should I care? A TID impacts the amount and purpose of your taxes. A municipality has an existing tax base that is used for the general budget to support basic operations such as police, fire, road maintenance, snow removal, schools, county government, technical colleges, etc. When a TID is implemented, incremental taxes that arise from increased property values in that district are used only as an economic development tool, with none of those incremental taxes funding the general budget.
Currently, in the Village of Weston budget reports, the property tax amount in the general budget, which is used to fund basic operations, is $5.2 million. The incremental tax amount going into the TID, which does not support basic operations, is $6.6 million annually, which is clearly higher than the general budget. The bottom line is that the majority of Village of Weston residents are paying higher taxes to the general budget in order to subsidize land owners in the TID because incremental taxes in the TID do not fund the general budget.
If you feel that more of our tax dollars should be supporting the general budget for basic operations, contact the Village Board. Board of Trustee members are found at www.westonwi.gov/246/Board-of-Trustees.
Be informed, Weston.
Tanya Riehle of Rib Mountain
Editor’s note: Wausau Pilot & Review gladly publishes commentary from readers, residents and candidates for local offices. The views of readers and columnists are independent of this newspaper and do not necessarily reflect the views of Wausau Pilot & Review. To submit, email [email protected] or mail to 500 N. Third St., Suite 208-8, Wausau, Wis. 54403.
