Property taxes favor one particular breed.
Wolves.
Wolves love the scent of increased property taxes.
Wolves watch for stragglers. They watch for the weak, the vulnerable.
Wolves watch for the elderly.
Wolves circle the herd, waiting for their chance. They keep up the pressure.
Wolves keep their eyes on the prey. They hunger for the inevitable.
Wolves want something they can sink their teeth into. They are ambitious. They hunt in packs and know if they can approach downwind, the unsuspecting less agile domesticated ones they hunt will have little or no chance resisting the attack. The herd won’t know what hit them.
Wolves sometimes disguise themselves in sheep’s clothing. They appear gentle and well intentioned, even friendly and obedient, but they go for the throat. They prowl as a law unto themselves. When they spring there is no defense, no help, no appeal to reason or restraint. It’s too late.
Wolves take what they want and go away. They leave a mess. Wolves don’t care.
Wolves know there is always another peaceful fold of defenseless, unsuspecting tax payers grazing nearby, heads down and munching oblivious to the sudden onslaught of terrifying assessments and snarling taxes due.
Is this a mere exercise in anthropomorphism?
Another tax payer crying Wolf?
There are four Taxing Jurisdictions listed on the Real Property Tax Bill 2025: Dane County, MATC, City of Madison and Madison School. The Total Due I hold in my hand includes a column entitled % Tax Change and in that column Dane County taxes have increased 9.9% in one year and another Taxing Jurisdiction has increased over 30% from last year. Those tax increases cast a shadow over the remaining two Taxing Jurisdictions and discredit the argument any of them can make for taxes at their current levels or further tax increases to cover deficits and projected budgets.
Tax rates and increases on this scale are no longer evidence of a Good Shepherd or Shepherdess keeping watch over the flock. They are predatory.
Wolves become less a figure of speech. They become a reality.
As candidate for the Dane County Board of Supervisors from District 7, I seek the opportunity to represent voters and tax payers who demand and have every reason to expect strict financial accountability from those entrusted with the task. The election is April 7. Mark your calendar. Then mark your ballot.
Wolves huff and puff.
Dane County must build hard budgets with brick and mortar.
If tax dollars are used to build with straw and twigs, you know what will happen.