MADISON – Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) – the combined state chamber and manufacturers’ association – announced on Friday its opposition to Gov. Tony Evers’ plan to allow counties and many municipalities to increase the sales tax.
Wisconsin currently allows counties to impose an additional 0.5 percent tax on top of the state sales tax of five percent. The governor’s plan would allow counties and municipalities with greater than 30,000 residents to increase the sales tax by an additional 0.5 percent each. These additional increases would need to be approved via referendum.
If the governor’s plan became law, many Wisconsinites could see their local sales tax jump to 6.5 percent.
“Wisconsinites are still reeling from the worst economic downturn in a generation, and the governor’s response is to make it more expensive to purchase everyday items,” said WMC Executive Vice President of Government Relations Scott Manley. “Our state already has some of the highest tax rates in the country. Now is not the time to make our national reputation as a high-tax state even worse.”
Wisconsin already has the 11th worst individual income tax burden in the country. Additionally, the state has the sixth highest property taxes and 17th highest corporate income taxes.
“Hard-working Wisconsin families and small businesses have had to make tough decisions about their own budgets this past year,” added Manley. “Instead of having similar discussions about how to make government more efficient, this plan just takes more money from taxpayers at a time when they can least afford it.”
