Monday, April 12, 2010

An Honest Referendum Question

There will be a kerfuffle tonight as the Racine County Board considers asking voters the following referendum question:

"Should any new tax to support transit or rail services, such as a sales tax or local vehicle registration fee, be permitted in any part of Racine County?"

KRM proponents are not in favor of this non-binding referendum, which is all you need to know.

Since both sides of this issue know that voters would reject the tax increases that would come with KRM, perhaps a better referendum question would be:

"Should we, as your elected representatives, knowingly reject the wishes of you, a member of the ignorant masses, and build a train that you won't use and can't afford, because we possess a superior vision for Racine County that you can't possibly comprehend?"

1 comment:

George Meyers said...

I just got back from the County Board Meeting, Denis, and you were right about the pro-KRM people. They showed up in force opposing the proposed question. They had various excuses for their opposition.

1. It is premature. Wait until the Wisconsin legislature makes its decision.

2. The question is unfair. It should emphasize the benefits (?) of commuter rail. Not the tax.

3. An advisory referendum is a waste of time and money. We should wait and do a binding referendum.

Most of the other comments were pro- and anti-commuter rail, which was a bit off topic—the topic being whether we should have a referendum.

I threw a libertarian argument in for holding the referendum that I don’t have room for here. But you can read it on my County Considerations blogsite.