Recently, the Door County Finance Committee recommended closing the Ephraim Library because of County budget cuts. The County Library Board decided instead to spread the $14,600 shortfall around and reduce staffing costs and supplies for every library in Door County so that the Ephraim Library could stay open in 2006. Those using the libraries may experience further reductions in service and available hours. This valuable public service does not deserve to be reduced. Libraries provide access to all the people of the community they serve. Libraries are essential for an educated and well informed society where freedom flourishes.
The County has reimbursed the Village of Ephraim $35,000 to operate the library that is managed by the County Library Board. Of course nothing prevents Ephraim [or any municipality for that matter] from providing more funds for the library if there is a desire to do so. The fact that this has not been done suggests to me that other discretionary expenditures are considered to be more important. Ephraim residents are apparently avid readers since it has the highest per capita book circulation in the entire county. So there is some rationale to support the financial needs of the Ephraim Library with additional Village funding.
The Door County Finance Committee's apparent spokesperson, Merrell Runquist, was quoted in the Door County Advocate (Oct. 13,2005) regarding the committee’s recommendation to close the Ephraim Library as follows: “The Finance Committee wasn’t evil it was simply dealing with the hand the state dealt through the mandated tax levy cap. Now you’re seeing an example of how you’re going to pay for those budget freezes.” Was Mr. Runquist blaming the state for the library funding problem? When faced with a choice, point your finger and blame someone else, is the apparent implication of what the Gibraltar Town Board Chairman said.
Paul Burton the Ephraim Village President was quoted in the same Advocate issue: “I wish there were a way to develop a cost sharing plan between our library and the county group.” Tim Nelson, Ephraim Village Trustee was quoted: “One of the few things the village still has is the library.” The sentiments on the part of the Village of Ephraim are clear. So why did the Ephraim Library become the doormat of the Door County Finance Committee only to be resurrected, at least temporarily, by the Library Board? One word suffices---PRIORITY. The Ephraim Library ranked at the bottom of the County Finance Committee Budget for the library system. What ranks ahead of it? The Ephraim-Gibraltar Airport as one specific example does!
Last year, 2004, before the state caps were in place the Village of Ephraim and the Town of Gibraltar both accepted state and federal grants in the amount of $670,000 to “improve” the Ephraim-Gibraltar Airport. This grant required both Ephraim and Gibraltar to pay $57,000 each from your local property taxes. In addition, because of cost over runs, each municipality will have to pay about $10,000 additional in 2005. The grant was applied for in 1999 and finally approved in September, 2004 by Governor Doyle. When first applied for one could argue that economic times were better, as they indeed were. But, both Town of Gibraltar Chairman Runquist, and Village Trustee Chairman Burton from Ephraim, signed the grant application knowing very well that local tax dollars would have to be spent. Their actions suggest that they believed that it was OK to waste your tax dollars on some wealthy airplane owners. The fact that they never terminated the application infers that they believed this at least till Sept. 2004, when the grant was finally approved. Most of the taxpayers in the two communities had no idea that the grant had been applied for and that local property tax dollars were also being committed along with taxes that you paid to the State and Federal Governments.
The Ephraim-Gibraltar Airport has fewer than 2,000 landings and takeoffs ( probably fewer than 1,800) per year and is used by a very elite and mainly out-of-state fliers. These fliers are not charged landing nor takeoff fees. There are about 21 hangers that are owned by individuals, most of whom are out-of-state residents, who also own their own planes worth from about $200,000 to over $1,000,000 for their exclusive private use. They pay about $0.22 per square foot for a 20-year lease of the ground on which their hangers are built. On average this amounts to about $525 annually for about 2,400 square feet of valuable land.
The property-tax payers of both Ephraim and Gibraltar have subsidized the operations at the Ephraim-Gibraltar airport year after year. They also finance the debt incurred for loans taken to pay for capital “improvements”. Operation cost and debt financing subsidies amounted to about $10,000 to $20,000 annually from 1999-2004. If you examine the budget reports and get the source information from each municipality you can verify these numbers yourself. I did just that. Fliers who use the airport pay a small overnight a tie-down fee if they do not use a hanger, and personal property taxes amounting to about about $500 annually is paid per hanger owner.
Another blatant waste of tax dollars at the airport was for a large snow removal tractor and accessories costing a total of about $132,000. In addition the tractor has to be stored. So another grant is being sought by Gibraltar and Ephraim to pay an estimated $200,000 for a 3,600 square foot " maintenance building" that will be used to store the tractor, and who knows what else.Other items included in a pending grant are a bathroom, septic system, well, a new office, security fence, and enlarged parking area. This additional pork will cost the taxpayers about $200,000 more. All of this to provide the approximate 700 to 900 aircraft that land at the airport annually additional freebies.
The combined cost for the tractor and "maintenance building" will, if approved, offset approximately $2,000 that has been paid to the Door County Maintenance Dept. ,annually, to plow the air strip whenever needed. On a simple payback basis, about 300 years would be required to return the estimated $300,000 "investment" of tax dollars! Only total pork barrel spenders would even consider such a ludicrous expenditure. Well, we seem to be well endowed with these types in Wisconsin government at the state, county, and local municipality levels. The airport is seldom used during the winter so the tax payers will end up paying an estimated $300,000 foe equipment and storage to plow a strip that doesn't even have to be plowed if it were simply closed during the essentially dormant winter months.
Let's consider the library issue in light of the $670,000 Airport grant and the related expenditures of tax dollars. Ephraim and Gibraltar Village and Town Board members have never "blamed" the State for granting them the pure "pork" for an elite group of fliers for a quasi-private facility that is paid for by taxpayers. But, somehow, the $14,600 dollars required to fully fund the library is not available, and is blamed on the State caps that have been imposed upon property taxes. Put the blame on the priority setting decided by the local politicians, who seem always eager to accept "grants" as if they come from heaven.
If you own property in either the Village of Ephraim or the Town of Gibraltar or pay taxes to the state and federal governments you have seen about $670,000 of your tax dollars already spent in 2004 and 2005 and probably will see an additional $300,000 or more to be spent in 2006 or 2007 for the Ephraim-Gibraltar Airport. The approximately $1.2 million dollars represents pure “pork” for a few thousand out-of-town tourists and less than two dozen Door County airplane and helicopter owners (most of whom do not live in Ephraim or Gibraltar). Certainly your money could have and should have been spent more wisely or returned to you. Perhaps, a library fund should have been established. At minimun the elite fliers should foot the bills not the taxpayers as a whole. The tax bonanza in the form of government giveaways ( called grants to calm the inner voice) will amount to about $1,500 of your taxes essentially donated to each of the approximately 700-900 aircraft owners who use the Ephraim-Gibraltar Airport annually.
Your taxes represent money that you have earned, and must not be taken by politicians and government bureaucrats to squander as they wish.These politicians and bureaucrats are paid salaries (and generally expenses and benefits) from your tax dollars as well. The Ephraim-Gibraltar Airport is one illustrative, albeit small, example of the every day massive waste of your money by politicians that you have elected and the bureaucats that they appoint.
Speak out now and tell your elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels to stop wasting your tax dollars. Our country was founded based upon the belief that there should be: “No Taxation without Representation.” These words represented the battle cry before our country became independent from the British monarchy. Now the clarion call must be: “STOP WASTING OUR TAX DOLLARS” or better ,"GIVE BACK OUR MONEY"! Wake up Wisconsinites and Americans before the glutinous, pork barrel spending, uncaring politicians that we elect will drag us all into the collective poor house as they continue their spending orgies. Demand accountability for every tax dollar that you are forced to pay to your local, state, and federal governments. If you fail to do so , then do not point fingers later when their bottomless appetite for "pork" and misguided priorities becomes too voracious to satisfy. I hope that we are not at that juncture already.
Contact Merrell Runquist at 868-1714 and Paul Burton at 854-5501 and ask them to stop applying for and accepting pork. Call Governor Doyle at 608-267 8983. Please call now to help stop the next wave of pork for the Ephraim-Gibraltar Airport.
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