Bingo! Amen to that Str8shooter.

Steve -

Do you understand the meaning of the word PROJECTED?

In politics it means the government has moved money from one pile to another pile to demonstrate that they have done a great job; it is only money figures moved around on PAPER...

Wait for the next PROJECTION...

Very astute of John Wilson to point out that this is a "PROJECTED" number.

Apparently, the 'League of Wisconsin Municipalities' does not understand the meaning of the word "PROJECTED".

The League of Wisconsin Municipalities is comprised of 190 cities(All of the 190 cities in WI) and 393 villages(of the 406 villages in WI).

Does anyone care to wager on the understanding of the word "PROJECTED", by the 425 school districts in Wisconsin?

http://www.lwm-info.org/index.asp?SEC=9A231008-3B79-4E72-A17F-11C72F2707BC&Type=B_BASIC

Where you and John saw "PROJECTED budget surplus", they saw "projected budget SURPLUS". I was distracted by "PROPERTY TAX RELIEF". I'm just glad I didn't have a mouthful of diet coke at the time.

Steve, as a business owner, do you rely solely on "projections?" We can "project" anything.

John Wilson, I couldn't agree more. There's also that little issue about the $20 million in new interest charges that Walker's debt restructuring will incur. Until that's been dealt with and cuts across the board restored, we're not running clear. We're on a starvation diet. Those tend to end in more expense as needed services are ignored to the point where more damage is done.

Starvation diet? Hmmm, I have not noticed a drop in any of my gubmint 'services'

Yes, well, the students at that MPS middle school that's going to have to cut 6 teachers this year might disagree with you. But who cares about kids, they're just the future.

@Bren -

MPS wouldn't have to cut workforce as drastically as they've had to if the teacher's union had agreed to some concessions. And if the unions are 'all about the kids,' as you seem to believe, and if cutting teachers results in harm to the students, then why isn't the union willing to make such concessions? Must not be all about the kids after all, right?

So how can you stand with and support the union if you're as concerned as about the kids as you now claim to be?

When is the scum bag Walker going to give up the money that he stole from the Feds that was suppose to go to those people for home foreclosures ?

What an Idiot!

AWD - Wanting to "CRUSH" and "vaporize" unions is just the same ol', same ol' from the core constituency of Romney/Ryan supporters. Repetition is boring. Got any new rhetoric?

@AWD...You are a piece of work. blame everything on unions. If your wish comes true and there aren't anymore unions, who you going to blame then?

AwD ... Your the perfect example of the scum that crawls on this planet. Someone should have stopped the breeding proccess long before you were hatched.

Speaking of smoke and mirrors: The GASB accounting rules, that all government pension systems follow, are being updated effective 2013. Under the new rules, WRS will be required to recalculate the funding formula to more accurately reflect 'actual' returns. It is expected that WRS will report funding, under the new rules, in the 91%-93% range, rather than the current 100% funding claim.

If the WRS were required to follow the FASB rules, as all private employer pensions, one would expect the reduction in funding to be about double what the GASB rules require. WRS would be expected to report 82%-86% ,following the FASB rules.

WRS is in much better shape than most goverment pension systems. Some state retirement systems are expected to report 55% funding under the new GASB rules.

Just another layer of lobbyists and lawyers digging for a piece of the pie.

Hoffa doesn't understand ... how true.

“Hoffa doesn't understand what all the hoopla is about!” Not the only thing Goofa doesn’t get.Yes, your hard earned tax $$ sucked out of your pocket by the state going towards state debt rather than being returned to your community in the form of shared revenue and highway aids as required by state statute and flaunted by this governor and his predecessors. If you want to give your money away to someone else’s debt because it meets your political agenda, have at it. I would love to manage your money and milk you dry, fool.
“If the municipalities were serious about saving the taxpayers money, they'd stop spending it on stupid crap like the damn league!!!”
Goofa, the League is the watchdog, call it the Better Business Bureau, of local government (that’s city councils, village and town boards), that looks out for the best interests of the local taxpayer. They have no political affiliation. They just care about protecting local taxpayers against the likes of unions and other usurpers of taxation including intrusive governors like Doyle, Walker, etc. This is their website: www.lwm-info.org
“This is so outrageous! We're still about 3B in the hole with previously acquired debt, and these idiots hear projected surplus of a meager $126.6M and they go and stick their cups out right away - it's absolutely pathetic!!!”
Your ignorance is absolutely pathetic.

BTW, continue to support your local badge union ACT 10 exemption which the League opposes too.

They're looking for you again...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/26/jimmy-hoffa-remains-roseville-dig_n_1917396.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl2%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D211478

@$$andNonsense -

"If you want to give your money away to someone else’s debt"

Are you not a Wisconsin resident? The quicker WE pay down OUR debt, the less interest WE incur, thereby saving all of US money in the long run! The way it sounds like you prefer public budget management to be handled is to keep on pushing off our problems and debt onto future generations, so long as you get yours in addition to some of the futures, right? So selfish!!!

So, the question then becomes, why do you hate our yet unborn future so much for???

"Goofa, the League is the watchdog"

Watchdog Hoffa's rear end! The PEOPLE are the watchdog! We don't need to be spending our money for a third party group to do what WE elect our public officials to do! That's absolutely insane! As Greg correctly pointed out, it's "just another layer of lobbyists and lawyers digging for a piece of the pie." It's an unnecessary expense that WE shouldn't be spending OUR money on!

"Your ignorance is absolutely pathetic."

Thanks for the laugh and proving once again that you're full of nothing but nonsense!

And for the last time, Hoffa is against all public sector unionization!

@Bob -

They're always looking for Hoffa ;-)

But anyone who's seen 'Nothing But Trouble' (1991) already knows what happened to me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enUo-1TjdEs

Even more elusive than Hoffa's body is the fifty ($50) that Schmitzy owes Hoffa and refuses to pay! Maybe Patch should do a story on that, the headline could read - Low Life Schmitz Reneges On Friendly Wager With Hoffa!

@Greg... I Haven't seen this before. Got a link? A mileage tax sounds complicated (read:expensive) to administer, they should just add $25 to the current $75/ $84 most cars/lite trucks/SUV's pay now.

@Jay Sykes...I agree completely that let's just add to the vehicle registration fees. If you want to make it reflective of fuel used, then create a fee structure that reflects average mileage per type of vehicle and age. Of course we would have exempt commercial vehicles, but gas guzzlers would take the biggest hit. No problem with administrating such a program and can be done at minimum cost.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/panel-looks-at-mileagebased-fees-for-state-drivers-fq6uvpc-171266741.html

@Jay Sykes -- That's going to tax me for miles I never have driven and don't plan to. We drive a Jeep because we need the 4WD and the hauling capacity, but we drive as little as possible. A tank of gas lasts us two months.

@Lyl -- How about just adding onto the gasoline tax so that a driver gets taxed for the fuel he or she actually burned?

Gas guzzlers already pay the lion's share through the gas tax.

As Greg correctly points out, in the non-commercial vehicle category, gas guzzlers pay most of the gas tax, and ultimately the largest of the cost of roads.

Vehicles wear out the roads as a function of their 'weight class', not due to their fuel usage. A road traveled by only the Prius' will show a similar wear-out timeline to a road only used by the Jeep Grand Wagoneer V-8.

Heavier commercial trucks cause most of the premature wear on our highway system, and they pay a significantly higher portion of the cost to maintain the roads, in both their high fuel tax payments and yearly registration fees.

@Randy... If everyone only filled up their tank six times a year,like you, the usage based fee system(gas tax) would fail. We could not afford to build or maintain any roads. Then the registration fee for your Jeep might need to be $2000.00/year. What is the value of the road to you? It's there when you want to use it. That might be worth something?

@Jay Sykes -- I wasn't saying that people should fill their gas tanks only six times a year. Some people obviously have to drive more. But honestly, don't you think the ones who use the roads the most and burn the most fuel should pay accordingly?

Gotta love them "conservatives", eh Greg?

I just call it as I see it. One would have to be pretty stupid to think that one side of the aisle is always correct, or the other side is always incorrect.
After following the Hwy. 33 reconstruction project, I would conclude that there is a lot of money that could be saved, rather than just hitting us up with more taxes.

@$$andNonsense -

Township board, and Hoffa doesn't see how providing their names will prove anything, so he's not going to indulge in your nonsense!

FYI - At the insistence of many, and out of his own personal concern for the future of our community, Hoffa is considering running for public office in the next election cycle!

BTW - Don't you find it a bit ironic and extremely hypocritical for someone who hides behind a screen-name himself to call out someone else for doing the exact same thing?

And yet, Hoffa's the wannabe???

Your doctors definitely don't have your prescriptions figured out yet, do they?

I didn't know you felt that way about Towns.

@$$andNonsense -

Honestly, Hoffa could care less about his farmer neighbors that spread manure - he's never complained about that a day in his life. Given that Hoffa's abode is completely surrounded by nothing but farm fields for two square miles in all directions, yes, Hoffa gets along quite well with his farmer neighbors!

Hoffa's house is 1,750 sq. ft., he has an 18'x36' in-ground swimming pool, a 32'x44' framed roof barn with concrete floor, a 24'x20' framed wood shed with concrete floor, a large vegetable garden, and a total of 3.64 acres of land. Hoffa is thinking about putting in a large reflecting pond! Currently, Hoffa's yearly property tax bill is roughly $900 with the homestead exemption and we do not have trash collection.

So just because Hoffa prefers not to have neighbors, a piece of land bigger than .5 acres or smaller, to use his own water and septic systems instead of a shared inefficiently run system, less regulations and encumbrances on how he can use his property, etc. - this all somehow makes Hoffa "a property tax cheapskate who uses village's and cities as a whore?!?!" WRONG - it's call maximizing freedom!

And Hoffa supposes that you prefer the modular construction communal highrises, right?

OK comrade!

Hoffa's political ambitions would actually aim higher than the town board!

Again, Hoffa doesn't see how naming the township or location of township is at all relevant, except to stereotype, so Hoffa will not indulge in your nonsense!

Doofa
You are an urbanizer and developer by the acre or township that is destroying the fabric of our rural countryside for your selfish needs. No where do you note the agricultural or other rural use of the land other than to meet your antisocial needs to keep people away from you. Yep, a city and village moocher by admission. A 34 year old Gen Xer that got property form daddy or gandpa for nothing. Do you let people hunt or trap on your propery? I would guess not.

@$$andNonsense -

Hoffa's homestead is not familial and was not given to him by anyone! Hoffa purchased it himself with funds he earned, obviously a foreign concept to you.

It's obvious that you have no respect for private property ownership rights, except of course when your neighbor's cat dare trespasses on your little slice of heaven! And even then, as opposed to dealing with the neighbors, you commit an act of barbarism by killing the innocent cat - great lesson for your kids!

Is it honestly that hard to leave your trailer and knock on the door of your neighbor's trailer and deal with that situation like a man??? Or at least lodge a complaint with whatever trailer park you're currently parked at?

Or were you too busy getting drunk and listening to old Skynyrd albums?

Hoffa doesn't allow trapping or hunting on his land. Do you allow Jehovah's Witnesses into your trailer when they visit the trailer park?

I got me a 21 HP tractor to cut my 1/4 acre lot and blow the snow in front of my 1960's ranch home. I got a trailer up nort der hey on da lake too. But hey, I don't pass judgement on anyone- unless they got less teef than I do.