Editor’s note: In advance of Tuesday’s election, Jefferson County Republican Party Chairman Brian Norby has released the following statement.
The Jefferson County Republican Party encourages residents to be informed and vote on the important local referendum issues on the ballot this Tuesday. Of the four levels of government, municipal government is the most responsive to the people. It is where leaders are most accountable to you. Jefferson County has been an affordable place to live, with historically strong schools, and fiscal responsibility for important public services. But that seems to be changing.
Wages and social security checks have not kept pace with President Biden’s inflation policies. Residents are making difficult choices. A Waterloo woman tells us she can’t afford eggs to make her daughter’s birthday cake. Yet, local leaders are proposing taxes increases as if we were billionaires.
The Jefferson County Republican Party offers our guidance to voters and taxpayers on these important questions:
Fort Atkinson, vote ‘no’: Fort residents cannot afford the recurring $3 million annual budget increase with no sunset, plus another $5 million/year for four years. The School Board has relied upon one-time funding solutions like COVID funds to artificially increase the budget. With falling enrollment, we encourage creative solutions, reducing non-teaching staff and eliminating programs that detract from the schools’ core mission.
Jefferson, vote ‘no’: The fire department’s 11% tax increase request to hire 6 new full-time fire fighters is hardly justified for a department that responded to only 234 fire calls in 2022. That’s less than a call per day.
A paid fire department often dissuades volunteerism, resulting in less protection, not more. Money alone will not solve the statewide firefighter and EMT shortage and the City has not made the case that serious volunteer recruitment has been attempted. While mutual aid responses to neighboring communities in the past ten years have nearly doubled, full-time positions here will only further reduce protection to its neighbors and city leaders may well ask to transition to an entirely full-time department in the future. This is Jefferson, not Milwaukee.
Leaders should engage in a neighborhood-oriented recruitment and training drive for a stable pool of EMT’s and volunteer firefighters. This will ensure more reliable response and protection throughout the county at a reasonable price tag on par with similar sized communities.
Johnson Creek, vote ‘yes’: One of Jefferson County’s biggest draws is enjoyment of our natural resources. Allowing ATV’s and UTV’s travel between trails and homes further the responsible enjoyment of our environment. Johnson Creek will follow course of neighboring communities if it approves this advisory referendum.
Waterloo, vote ‘no’: After rejecting a $700,000 referendum in November, the School Board is trying again with few attempts to reduce its spending side of the ledger. This spring $590,000 referendum question should likewise be rejected.
File photo.
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