Saturday, October 17, 2009

Another Tax/Fee Hike

Thanks again, state Democrats.

The latest reason that utility bills are going up around the state has nothing to do with keeping the lights on.

A new surcharge on utility bills, tacked on as part of the budget that was passed in June, will be used to pay the salaries and benefits of district attorneys in counties across Wisconsin.

The prosecutors are being paid from a fund originally designed to help poor people pay their utility bills and weatherize their homes. The extra fee, which hits We Energies customers in December, is the latest in a series of budget maneuvers that have sent a total of $166 million from electricity ratepayers to non-energy-related state government purposes since 2002.

(3) Comments
Posted by Owen at 0815 hrs
Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

  1. Absolutely disgusting.  So my energy bill is not only paying for my consumption of energy, but for other things that are completely unrelated?  I’m so glad that I have a choice of energy providers… oh wait, that’s right, I can’t vote with my wallet :\

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 17, 2009 at 1249 hrs


  2. Perhaps the most interesting nugget is that WE and Alliant (the old WP&L) do NOT ‘break out’ the charge on their bills, whereas WPS (NE Wisconsin) does.

    Kinda smells like WE and Alliant are maybe intimidated by the Doyle machine…

    Posted by dad29 on October 17, 2009 at 1426 hrs


  3. My WE bills have been showing a “State Low-Income Assistance Fee” since July 2008.  Been about $2.50 a month on bills of about $90.00

    Also, this new surcharge for district attorney isn’t going to be charged to WE customers until December.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 17, 2009 at 1512 hrs


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