Looming Deficit

The next governor and legislature is going to have some hard choices to make thanks to Doyle’s reckless budgeting. 

The projections by the Legislature’s non-partisan budget office show the expected shortfall for the 2011-2013 budget has grown by $462 million from the just over $2 billion that was expected a year ago.

It is one of the biggest expected shortfalls over the past decade, nearly as large as the $2.9 billion shortfall that Gov. Jim Doyle faced in his first budget in 2003.

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau said the potential deficit increased because taxes and fees now aren’t expected to grow as quickly and because lawmakers approved some additional spending at the end of the legislative session in the spring.

Sporcle of the Day, 9 Jul 10

10 minutes to name the Monarchs of England. 

Sounds difficult, but the naming conventions make it easier.  I got 39/41.  If you get 1135-1154, congratulations.

No Relief From the Tax Man

Of course.

For the first time in at least 18 years, total property tax levies in the seven-county Milwaukee area are climbing even as property values are on the decline, according to a report released Friday.

Property taxes levied in the region rose 3.9% in 2010, the Public Policy Forum study found, even though property values dropped for the first time since at least 1992.