STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAU) -- Now that Wisconsin has an unexpected surplus, Republicans are asking residents for ideas to ease tax burdens. Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch met with about fifteen people at the Lincoln Center in Stevens Point Monday to get their ideas. “We’re considering all ideas to lower the overall tax burden in the state of Wisconsin. Today specifically, we were eager to hear from seniors, because we want to keep our seniors here. We want to keep their vibrant ideas and contributions to their communities here in Wisconsin.”
Kleefisch and Revenue Secretary Richard Chandler received suggestions from eliminating the income tax to the state’s Forestry Tax on property taxes. The idea offered by three of the participants was to consider no taxes on 401K’s and other retirement funds.
Kleefisch says when you start changing how you tax, we have to remember that changing one will affect the others. If you imagine four circular dials, and label them each “property tax”, “income tax”, ”sales tax”, and “government spending,” for every one of those you turn down, let’s say you want to turn down the income tax, you’re going to have to correspondingly adjust a different dial, or maybe multiple dials, so you’re going to have to either dial down government spending or dial up one of the other taxes.”
On the subject of the state’s surplus, Kleefisch supports Governor Scott Walker’s tax relief proposals while many Democrats and some Republicans are urging them to pay down debt often called the structural deficit.
Kleefisch says Wisconsin’s economy still grew, even through the deep recession. The state had over 3 percent growth, and she says we need only 1.8 percent growth to wipe out the so-called structural deficit. “We know that the economy is going to be growing in Wisconsin. We know that there will be growth. We know that we will grow out of this political term that folks are calling a structural deficit.”
The Lieutenant Governor and Revenue Secretary are stopping at several Wisconsin communities to get feedback and suggestions about possible tax code changes.
(Our interview with Rebecca Kleefisch can be heard on our website, here.)