Another Big Project

The STP‐Urban Program is designed to improve Wisconsin’s federal aid eligible roads and streets in urban areas. Projects under this program must meet federal and state requirements. Cities located within the urban and urbanized areas are eligible for funding on roads functionally classified higher than “local”.

WisDOT Regional Offices solicit STP‐Urban projects in the spring of odd‐numbered years, with approval occurring in the fall of odd‐numbered years. WisDOT is about to start the upcoming STP-Urban application cycle for 2013-2018.  Applications can be submitted starting in January, however the program is full of projects through at least 2014 right now.  For now we’ll plan on Mulberry Street being the preferred street to apply for funding.  Probably looking at 2016 at the earliest for construction.

Will There Be a 2013?

Budgets went out to Department Heads for comments, review, corrections and additions.

Here We Go!

Well, the reengineering of the State can definitely be defined as a drastic process. I have to believe that most employees are now experiencing a groundswell of emotions, including shock, fear, denial, anger, and anxiety. There are a few employees that think they’ve been exempted, but I think they are wrong. The slash and burn of the State’s governments is going to be a long, painful, and even confusing process.

The Little Brother

Municipal finance always needs to be viewed in the context of the overall state and local government relationship. That is because the two wings of government are closely tied in theory and practice. Municipalities are creatures of the state, it does not seem to matter how much home rule authority a city has in some states nor how vocal the intergovernmental squabbles. Not only that, sorting out which level of the government is supposed to do what is often not easy, nor is where one level of responsibility leaves off and the others starts up. For example, many local government expenditures are nothing more than pass through of activities mandated by and frequently financed in part by the states. Also, certain local taxes may be nothing more than local add-ons to state-collected revenues.
The City of Lake Mills’ second largest source of revenue is from the state. The economic factors influencing state politics and the nature of the state/city relationship always makes this a tentative revenue source. Many state aids originally replaced local revenues to allow for special exemptions or to install state mandated programs. Local policy makers need to understand the changing political landscape at the state level. The warning trend is designed to inform policy makers about over dependence on state revenues and encourage them to diversify their own revenues rather than become over reliant on the state. The state revenue sources that make up the city’s intergovernmental revenues are primarily sales, gas and income taxes. These revenue sources would generally be considered more elastic than property taxes, but because they are distributed by formula and the state caps the total amount distributed, they cannot be considered elastic to a Wisconsin municipality.