MOSINEE, WI (WSAU) — You can count Mosinee Mayor Brent Jacobson among those that are thankful for the recently implemented change in the state’s shared revenue formula.
“I’m very thankful for our legislators who worked very hard to advocate for that,” said Jacobson. “This was long overdue. [Shared revenue] has [stagnated] for over 20 years. We were stuck in a formula that wasn’t going anywhere.”
Mosinee will see an increase of more than 10% in its share of that revenue, which comes at the perfect time as the city prepare to bond for several street projects over the next few years. Jacobson says previous budgets have focused on other areas of the city including public safety, so now is the time to re-shift that focus as they prepare for at least one major highway project. “We have to bond for that. And when we have to bond it’s a good opportunity to rope in smaller street projects to that borrowing.
“Now an increase in shared revenue and a slight increase in transportation aid will help us pay the debt service on that borrowing. The more we have to work with in paying our debt service, the more we can get done in bonding,” he added.
Jacobson says there was a time when communities like his could set aside money to pay cash for major road projects, but that doesn’t work with today’s costs.
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The new shared revenue plan was signed into law during a ceremony in Wausau in late June. The new formula calls for 20% of the state’s sales tax to be split up among counties and municipalities. The previous formula had the state taking all of that money before distributing a lesser amount to those bodies.
You can hear last week’s complete discussion in the above audio file, including Jacboson’s reaction to the news of a new direct flight to Orlando from the Central Wisconsin Airport.
