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Robert M. La Follette
School of Public Affairs
1225 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706
Telephone: 608.262.3581
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Last updated:
August 18, 2011
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Alumni and Friends: La Follette Notes: Fall 2008
Policymakers adopt student proposals
The City of Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin are reaping the benefits of the La Follette School’s workshop reports.
More Information
Workshop reports are available online.
Governor adopts recommendations in student workshop report, July 10, 2008, La Follette School News
Milwaukee adopts students' recommendation on vehicle registration fee, September 13, 2008, La Follette School News
The Milwaukee Common Council overrode a mayoral veto to adopt — in part, anyway — a May 2008 recommendation to establish a local vehicle registration fee.
The project determines how a $20 municipal vehicle registration fee in addition to the state fee would affect vehicle owners in the City of Milwaukee with and without a property tax offset. While the council did not include a property tax offset, the city plans to use the fee, sometimes called a wheel tax, to eliminate assessments for redoing side streets and to reduce assessments for sidewalk and alley projects.
One of the authors, Jake Miller, wasn’t surprised when the mayor vetoed the registration fee in August. “When we presented our report to Mayor Barrett in May, he mentioned that he’d prefer to modify property taxes and assessments over having the vehicle registration fee,” says Miller, who later joined Milwaukee’s budget office as an analyst.
In addition, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle’s decision to make a record purchase of renewable electrical energy from state utilities was based on recommendations students made in a 2007 workshop report to the Department of Administration.