Doyle’s Budget Has $1,780,620,800 Tax and Fee Increase

Well, now it’s not just Republican rhetoric.

Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle’s proposed two-year budget includes $1.74 billion in higher taxes and fees, according to a report by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau made public today.

That is about what Republican legislators estimated after the governor gave the Legislature his spending plan on Feb. 13.

When Doyle presented his 2005-‘07 budget two years ago, it included $304 million to be raised from tax and fee increases, according to the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. That was the last budget he presented before his re-election last November.

The Fiscal Bureau report said the largest tax increases were $506 million from raising the tax on cigarettes from 77-cents to $2.02 per pack; $417 million from a new tax on hospitals to attract more federal Medicaid dollars; $272 million from a tax on oil company profits; and $142 million by doubling the real estate transfer fee paid when property is sold.

But it’s actually even worse than that.  The budget also includes a $32.6 million tax increase from “measures included in the bill to enhance the collection of current taxes/fees.” 

It gets worse.  There are several things in the budget that will result in higher taxes and fees, but the LFB couldn’t determine the impact.  For example:

Circuit Court Automated Information Systems Fee [Page 523, Item 7]. Authorize the Director of State Courts Office to establish and charge fees for use of the circuit court automated information systems.

The budget would allow a new fee to be created and levied, but leaves the amount up to a bureaucrat.  Since no amount is specified, the LFB can’t tell us the fiscal impact, but there will be a fiscal impact. 

Governor Doyle sure likes to spend our money.  The question is, can we afford it?