OPINION

Bob Ziegelbauer: Why we hold the line on taxes

Bob Ziegelbauer
Manitowoc County executive

We have been working together with the county board to make decisions to hold to two important priorities: continuing to hold the line on property taxes while delivering high-quality services. The two goals go hand-in-hand.

Bob Ziegelbauer

At Manitowoc County, we work hard to hold the line on taxes. We talk often about this.

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Why do we set this standard? We do it because we want to get better. Some say this a bad plan, that government needs to grow regularly. I don’t agree with that.

We could raise taxes bit by bit, according to what the market would bear and nobody would be the wiser. But Manitowoc County would miss out on a lot of opportunities for improvement. We accept the challenge to make things better. By having limited resources, we have a mission to be more efficient every day. When there is no more money to spend, we have to get more productive, because there’s no other way to do it.

The “status quo” is our enemy. Local government must continually improve. We have the capacity to do it. Raising taxes would simply get in the way of the needed decisions by giving us an out.

Popular support in this time is important, too. When we set a standard for holding the line on taxes, you support us more, and we can improve our operations daily. You count on us more for this, and we can deliver for you.

Continuous improvement and political popularity are important, but the really vital reason we hold the line on taxes is that it’s your money. It’s private property. You earned it. You have the right to spend it. Government should take your money sparingly and only as the last resort. And it’s in the community’s interest that you spend your money, because you are in the best position to decide how it will be spent and because you earned it.

I am grateful to the county board for their willingness to join me in making difficult, but necessary, decisions that have allowed us to be successful. We have worked well together, aggressively and continuously restructuring Manitowoc County government in a positive way that serves our community well.

We have kept government affordable and have modernized daily operations, while always staying focused on the future.

Bob Ziegelbauer is Manitowoc County executive. He can be reached at 920-683-5107 or bobziegelbauer@co.manitowoc.wi.us.