Abele: Make The Poor Pay For Bucks Arena!

Last summer, Scott Walker and his little mini-me, the plutocrat and Milwaukee County Emperor Executive Chris Abele, wanted to help build a new Bucks arena. Even though the new owners are worth more than $5 billion, Walker and Abele promised that the taxpayers would pay for half of the arena.

When Walker couldn't get the deal done with his fellow Republicans, Abele stepped up with a truly maleficent idea:

When this plan appeared to be dead in the water, in comes Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, a plutocrat who just happened to buy a $2 million condo next to the proposed development site, with an even worse idea. Abele's plan is to increase the county's share of the cost by handing over cases of uncollected taxes and court fines to mercenary debt collection agencies, who would add 15% to the money they collect from already indigent people. On top of that, Abele would sell county-owned land worth $9 million to the Bucks owners for a buck.

Even with Abele promising to stick it to his poorest constituents, Walker and the Republicans couldn't come up with enough votes to get the deal passed. So the Republicans did something that was almost unheard of in Wisconsin - they reached across the aisle to ask the Democrats for their help.

To get enough Democrats to vote for this bill, State Senator Chris Larson got everyone to agree to take out the part about sticking it to the poor. Thanks to Abele, Milwaukee County was still on the hook for $4 million per year for 20 years for the arena, but it did not have to be built squarely on the backs of the poor.

Now fast forward to this past Friday.

Abele paid off a couple of Republican and a couple of Democratic state legislators to reintroduce that portion of the deal. But this time, he made it even worse by making the burden on the poor $5 million per year instead of the previous $4 million.

Not only did Abele stick it to the poor even more, but he had the legislators rush the bill through as fast as they can. He did this partially because this is the last week the state legislature is in session - for the rest of the frickin' year.

Abele also had the bill rushed through because he might not be in office long enough to see it through otherwise.

Abele is up for reelection this year and is facing a very strong opponent in Larson, the same guy that fixed the Bucks deal last year. In fact, Larson pulled an upset victory over Abele, who had outspent Larson by more than a 20-1 margin.

I really don't know how Abele thinks that attacking his own constituents is going to help his chances. Then again, Abele, who is willing to spend more than $5 million of his own money in an effort to buy his reelection, probably doesn't care.

Call To Action! Stop Abele's Attack On The Poor!

A few days ago, I reported that Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele wanted a special bill passed in the state legislature that would allow him to go after Milwaukee County's poorest of the poor to make them pay for his share of the cost of the Bucks arena.

Over the past few days, I have learned a bit more about this awful bill, including these facts:

• The County could already enter such an agreement if they wanted.  The reason they haven't is because the County Comptroller, the County Treasurer and the County Clerk of Courts - the three elected county officials that deal with unpaid debts - are all opposed to it.
• The deal would add a cost of $1 million per year that the county would have to pay for a local workforce development board. That means that the cost to the county for the arena would be $5 million per year instead of the $4 million.
• The $1 million add-on has no sunset day.  Even though the arena portion should end by 2036, the extra million could be perpetual for all time.
• The county's uncollected debt isn't enough to cover the original $4 million, much less the new $5 million per year cost.
• The county would be responsible for the $5 million whether there is enough uncollected debt to cover it. The balance owed would be taken from the county's revenue, meaning big cuts to services.
• The county must certify all debt past 90 days old.  If a county department fails to meet this deadline, their budget would be cut by the amount of the debt that could have been collected.
• Only the county executive could approve payment plans for debtors and only under certain conditions, such as the debtor will be below 150% of the federal poverty level due to hospitalization, disability or unemployment and only if that condition existed before the debt was incurred.
• The courts would no longer be able to approve payment plans because of the restraint that only the county executive can approve the plan.  That means if a person is fined an amount more than they could pay at once, the court couldn't approve a payment plan.
• As noted before, the state could charge an extra penalty in the form of a collection fee, making it a usury type of deal.  It could also lead to the cost to the county being much more than any money received.

Pretty horrible stuff, right?  

Ah, but there's more. There's always more.

Abele is apparently feeling very nervous about his chances of being reelected this spring and is pushing to have this bill passed before the end of the legislative session on Thursday.

He has convinced his Republican friends to have this bill moved to the State Committee on State Affairs and Government Operations.  The Republicans have agreed to have the bill heard on Tuesday.

Abele also got them to agree to the idea that they would take the unusual step of making it an executive session, meaning that they would have the hearing on the bill and vote on it on the very same day.  That way, if it were to pass, it could go before the entire assembly on Thursday, the last day of this session.

That's where we come in.  We have to stop this bill in committee.  

Sadly, Representative Joshua Zepnick and Senator Lena Taylor have already sold out their constituents by cosponsoring this dreck.  Now, word is another one of the Milwaukee representatives, who sits on this committee, is considering supporting Abele's latest power grab.

Please call or email the following Milwaukee representatives and ask them to support Milwaukee County taxpayers and citizens by opposing AB 885.  

The representatives we need to contact are:

• Representative Jonathan Brostoff : 608-266-0650 and/or Rep.Brostoff@legis.wisconsin.gov
• Representative JoCasta Zamarripa: 608-267-7669 and/or Rep.Zamarripa@legis.wisconsin.gov
• Representative Christine Sinicki: 608-266-8588 and/or Rep.Sinicki@legis.wisconsin.gov

Please call and/or email these three today and ask them to support the people and not the plutocrats!

We need to have the Milwaukee delegates oppose this bill.  The representatives from outside of Milwaukee don't really give a damn about these types of bills and if the Milwaukee three show a unified front opposing the bill, there's a good chance that it won't pass.  But all three Milwaukee representatives have to be opposed.  One voting in favor of it could doom the county.

Abele Still Pushing To Make Poor Pay For Bucks Arena

Last year, when the powers that be were trying to hammer out a deal for the Bucks arena, Milwaukee County wasn't going to have to pay anything extra for the arena.  When Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele entered the room, he showed off his fiscal conservatism and shrewd negotiating skills and walked out with the county having to pay $80 million for the billionaire's playground.

Abele's plan for coming up with that money was to make poor people in the suburbs pay for it:

To cover $55 million in bonding for the arena, which balloons to $80 million when interest is figured in, Abele plans to turn over the county’s bad debt to the state, which will be responsible for collecting at least $4 million a year for the next 20 years. If the state cannot collect $4 million annually, it will likely deduct the shortfall from the county’s share of state aid, decreasing the county’s revenue.

One of the sources of the county’s bad debt is $16.9 million in unpaid property taxes.

But those delinquent taxes on the county’s books are only from the suburbs—not from the city of Milwaukee, which is responsible for collecting its own unpaid property taxes.

The city’s delinquent property taxes are not part of the Bucks deal at all. Mayor Barrett specifically rejected that source of funding, saying he didn’t want to finance the new arena on the backs of the city’s hardest-hit residents.

That means that suburbanites who are behind on their property taxes will be forced to pay for the new Bucks arena, to be located in Downtown Milwaukee.

In addition, under Abele’s plan the county will lose a lucrative source of income, the 18% of interest and penalties imposed on delinquent property taxpayers. According to a report prepared by County Comptroller Scott Manske, $7.8 million of unpaid interest and penalties is available for collection.

The county expects to collect $3.5 million of interest and penalties this year, which goes directly to the county’s bottom line and offsets the property tax levy.

Manske’s report shows that the county ultimately collects 95% of its delinquent suburban property taxes and 92% of the interest and penalties on those taxes.

If the state takes over the collection of this debt, it could force delinquent taxpayers to pay more quickly. The state can also use collection tools unavailable to the county, including garnishing wages and bank accounts. The state also imposes a 15% fee on collections.

When the arena scheme went to the state legislature for approval, the Republicans couldn't muster enough votes to get it done. So they turned to the Democrats for help.

State Senator Chris Larson, who is running to against Abele, took the opportunity to make sure the proposal still passed but that the poor were taken off the hook for footing the bill.

So, thwarted once again, Abele did what he always does when he doesn't get his way - he ran to his Republican friends in the state legislature and got them to introduce a bill giving him what he wants:

This bill requires that a county having a population of 750,000 or more and containing a first class city enter into an agreement with the Department of Revenue (DOR) to have DOR collect the county's debt, including debt owed to the county circuit court. Other counties are allowed, but not required, to enter into agreements with DOR to collect debt. All such agreements must provide that DOR charge a collection fee to the county for collecting the debt. Under current law, counties may enter into debt collection agreements with DOR, and DOR may charge an administrative fee for collecting debts.

The bill provides that a debt collection agreement between DOR and a county having a population of 750,000 or more and containing a first class city may take effect by the county executive's written proclamation, without any action being taken by, or approval needed from, the county board. The county must certify for collection all debts that are more than 90 days past due, except the county may not certify for collection restitution owed to a person other than the county. If DOR determines that any certified debts are uncollectible, DOR will notify the county of the uncollectible debts and the county may contract with another debt collector to collect those debts.

The bill also authorizes the county executive to establish a division of revenue within the county's department of administration that is responsible for the efficient collection of accounts receivable and the administration of debts collected by DOR. The division is required to establish payment plans for debtors who meet certain income limitations. In general, the division may offer payment plans, including installment plans, to a debtor whose annual household income is less than 150 percent of the federal poverty line for the size of the debtor's household.

Finally, if DOR determines that the county has not certified its debts to DOR to the fullest extent possible, DOR will notify the county of the revenue that it would have collected had the the county completely certified its debts. In addition, DOR will notify the county of the units of county government responsible for not certifying debts and the county must reduce its funding to such units in proportion to the amounts not collected.

There's a few key things to note in this awful piece of legislation.

One, in the first paragraph, it clearly points out that this bill is targeting Milwaukee County and only Milwaukee County.

Secondly, the wording in the third paragraph is Abele's fingerprint on the bill, usurping even more power into his hands. After all, one can't expect Abele to allow the county board to have a say in the matter. They have this nasty habit of listening to the people and representing them. That's a major obstacle for Abele's plutocratic agenda.

Thirdly, as pointed out in the first excerpt, the county doesn't have enough bad debt to cover the cost, so the rest of the bill will be taken out of the county's shared revenue.  Given Abele's love of austerity, the gentle reader knows he's not going to raise taxes.

Instead, Abele will cut services and continue with deferred maintenance and repairs of county assets.  After all, it's not like we have iconic county assets falling apart before our eyes or anything.

Lastly, it should be noted, especially by Milwaukee County voters, that Larson did try to stop Abele's economic jihad against the poor and the taxpayers.  Furthermore, Larson was key in getting the referendum on a sales tax dedicated to the parks and transit systems introduced to the ballot and passed by the voters.

Yet another reason why we need to Toss The Boss and elect Chris Larson as the next Milwaukee County Executive.

Who Lobbied The Most For The Bucks Debacle?

The Milwaukee Business Journal has an interesting article reporting about who lobbied the most for the massive corporate welfare scheme for the Bucks arena:

Although the Milwaukee Bucks spent by far the most money of any organization on lobbying for arena funding in Madison, the city of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce all devoted more hours to lobbying on the issue.

The city of Milwaukee logged 876 hours of lobbying on behalf of winning legislative support for a $250 million arena public-funding package, according to a report released Aug. 21 by the Government Accountability Board. Milwaukee County lobbyists logged 271 hours and the Bucks devoted 208 hours lobbying the bill.

The MMAC recorded 277 hours to the general arena-funding issue and the specific Assembly bill, said Steve Baas, senior vice president of governmental affairs and public policy.

Marquette University registered 93 hours of lobbying on the arena-funding legislation. Marquette’s men’s basketball team is expected to be a tenant in the new arena.

The figures are for the period ending June 30 and do not include lobbying in July when both the state Senate and the state Assembly approved the arena-funding bill. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed the bill into law Aug. 12.

The gentle reader could expect that MMAC and Marquette would lobby hard since they would only benefit from feeding at the trough of taxpayer money.

The huge number of man hours that Barrett devoted to the debacle is a little surprising, but he was probably looking at his election next year as well as trying to justify his streetcar.

Then there is Emperor Abele:

A spokesman for Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said working on the arena-funding issue "involved a complex and time-intensive process for county personnel." The county "produced many ideas for arena funding and conducted much of the analysis that was necessary to ultimately get a deal done," spokesman Nate Holton said.

"Although the final deal was far from perfect, the county executive is proud that the county’s commitment to getting a deal done ultimately resulted in Democrats and Republicans coming together to produce a monumental outcome that will provide a once-in-a-generation benefit to Milwaukee and the entire state," Holton said via email.

Keep in mind that the only reason Abele thinks that the deal is far from perfect is because he didn't get to stick it to Milwaukee - especially to the poor - as much as he wanted to.

My only question is this: Given that we know Mike Tate was in Madison a lot to lobby for this deal, which faction or factions was he working for?

A Public Apology To Representative Jonathan Brostoff

A while ago, I got very upset with something that Representative Jonathan Brostoff had done.  I though he had turned corporate on us and lost my temper.  I was really rather boorish and out of line with him.

It turns out, he was the last one I needed to worry about, considering that he was on of the few Democrats that didn't go along with selling out Milwaukee to the plutocrats involved with the Bucks arena deal.  From his press release on the arena vote:

I want the Bucks to stay in Milwaukee and do not oppose building a new arena, but I could not support today’s proposal. It is a bad deal for my neighbors in this Assembly District and for Milwaukee County.

Governor Walker and his legislative allies argued that the Bucks will leave Milwaukee if public funding is not given. They claimed that we “cannot afford” the negative economic impact of the Bucks’ departure from Milwaukee and that there will be a huge positive economic impact if the team remains, but sports economists found that there is no evidence to support a connection between sports facility construction and economic development.

There have also been estimates of lost revenue as well as job creation projections, but these numbers vary greatly depending on the source. Of course no one opposes economic development, but our community would be far better served, in contrast to the current arena proposal, by not slashing the funding of UW-Milwaukee and the UW System as a whole– a system that generates $24 in economic activity for each $1 spent.

The hundreds of millions cut from UW System funding should be restored; that will produce jobs in the state. Our public education, criminal justice system, environmental protection efforts, road maintenance, public transportation, and so many other public services all cry out for greater support, yet all of them are diminished by the subsidies and tax breaks that anchor this proposal. Wiping out decades in public investment to support our community's most vulnerable and needy to pay for this arena is wrong.

Milwaukee County, which has had more than its fair share of recent struggles, is now being asked, via the arena proposal, to shoulder an additional $80 million in legacy costs. It would be taken from some of our community's most vulnerable and needy by further cutting services such as Milwaukee County's mental healthcare system. I could not support such a plan.

I understand this is an emotional and important issue. I have listened carefully to neighbors, consulted with colleagues, and worked to get a better deal, one that would build the arena with consideration to the needs, interests, and values of our community. The proposal today was a bad deal for the residents of this Assembly District and for Milwaukee County. I am saddened, because I know that we could have done better, but absolutely resolute in my decision to vote “No.” Many people want to see this arena get built, myself included, but not like this.

It was with great relief - and embarassment - that I realized that Brostoff was one of the few Democrats that isn't afraid to step on Emperor Abele's silk-stocking clad toes or the toes of any of the other plutocrats.

He obviously did not deserve my harsh words much less my doubt. For my bad behavior and my doubt, I apologize to Representative Brostoff and only ask that he continues to represent his constituents and all of Milwaukee as well as he did in this vote.