Wisconsin Town Government ---How Your $ Disappears Behind the Scenes and What You Can Do About It

On April 13th, 2010 throughout the state of Wisconsin the 1,259 towns in Wisconsin held Annual Town Meetings at which town residents could participate in democracy at its best and sometimes at its worst. The Annual Town Meetings are held on the second Tuesday in April at the same location that the previous annual meeting was held. The Town Board is NOT required to post three notices in the town as is required for all other town sponsored meetings. Posting notification of the Annual Town Meeting is apparently legally not required by statute. Wisconsin legislators must believe that everyone knows the date of Annual Town meetings and keeps note of it, even if they just turned voting age or moved into the community. HA! SURE! Could it possibly be that the Town Boards have made it clear to their local elected state representatives who make the laws, that they prefer doing their work behind the scene and with minimal notice? More on this point later.

The designation of "Town" in Wisconsin refers to a certain category of municipality that usually is lightly populated (generally under 1000 and often less than 500 voting residents) and typically rural. Such WI towns operate under Wisconsin laws that that are very specific. These Towns are governed by a Town Board of Supervisors consisting of 3 to 5 elected Supervisors that includes a Chairperson who is given specific statutory responsibilities. Approximately 1.7 million residents live in the 1,259 Wisconsin towns resulting in an average town population of about 1,350 residents.

The Town of Gibraltar where my wife and I live has a population of about 1,100 that results in a population density of approximately 30 people per square mile. The capitol city of Madison has a population of about 232,000 people and population density of nearly 3,030 residents per square mile, or more than 100 times that of Gibraltar.

Gibraltar has 5 members of the Town Board who serve part time, and an appointed Town Clerk plus a Deputy Town Clerk who are paid for their full time work. The Clerk and Deputy Clerk administrate the day-to day activities, maintain records, and serve at the pleasure of the Chairman of the Board and Board members who set their pay. The Town of Gibraltar also employs three maintenance personnel, one police officer, and a part time fire chief who directs the volunteer fire department. Various committees appointed by the board serve in voluntary capacities for purposes ranging from parks and garden services, historical preservation, marina operations, etc. The Town of Gibraltar includes the unincorporated district of Fish Creek and is contiguous with the very popular Peninsula State Park in Door County, the shoreline of which is still in a comparatively primitive and untouched environmental condition.

Although the Town of Gibraltar is very sparsely populated with full time residents there are many property owner who live elsewhere and maintain vacation homes and cottages for their personal or rental use. Therefore the Town's annual budget of about $1.8 million is bolstered by revenue derived from largely absentee property owners who pay about 60% of the property taxes, a share of which feeds the town budget. The Town Board is responsible for developing the annual budget and overseeing the administration by the Town Clerk and the Deputy Clerk.

Two days ago at 7:00 pm the Annual Town Meeting of the Town of Gibraltar and the other 1,258 towns holding their annual meetings, representing about 30% of Wisconsin's population, convened. The purpose was to review and approve the budget, listen to committee reports, take motions from the floor and vote on them, and decide on how much of a pay raise to give the Town Board. Approximately one and one half hours was consumed by committee reports made my appointed committee members and sometimes paid employees. Aside from the five Town Board members including the chairman, the clerk and deputy clerk those in attendance (total of about 50 of the approximately 1,100 town residents) consisted of large majority of individuals who were essentially part of the Town of Gibraltar "operating group". About 40 individuals are paid something by the Gibraltar Town Board for their work that are included in what I call the "operating group". I estimate that fewer than 15 people attending the annual meeting were unaffiliated with the town or it' paid "operating group". The pay for those in the "operating group" in 2009 ranged from about $100 to nearly $45,000 for the Town Clerk who is also Administrator and Treasurer. The Deputy Clerk was paid about $34,000 plus nearly $3,000 for gardening work. Numerous local businesses and some of the Town employees were also compensated additionally for service work and supplies for the Town of Gibraltar. The total expenditures for all individual salary compensation for 2009 was about $215,000 including pay for volunteer fire department personnel. Purchased services and supplies from local businesses exceeded $100,000. The point of all these $$ and who gets them from the Town of Gibraltar is that the Town Board through its financial reach develops a loyal cadre (that I call "the operating group") in the community who will support the Town Board's requests for more tax money and virtually any action enthusiastically. This support includes the granting of pay raises whenever requested, which is annual and about 6% per year.

Two days ago at 7:00 pm the Annual Town Meeting of the Town of Gibraltar and the other 1,258 towns holding their annual meetings, representing about 30% of Wisconsin's population, convened. The purpose was to review and approve the budget, listen to committee reports, take motions from the floor and vote on them, and decide on how much of a pay raise to give the Town Board. Approximately one and one half hours was consumed by committee reports made my appointed committee members and sometimes paid employees. Aside from the five Town Board members including the chairman, the clerk and deputy clerk those in attendance (total of about 50 of the approximately 1,100 town residents) consisted of large majority of individuals who were essentially part of the Town of Gibraltar "operating group". I would estimate that fewer than 15 people were unaffiliated with any of the committees or town operations, based on my observations of local meetings, probably very characteristic of most of the 1,258 other Annual Wisconsin Town Meetings. As a result of the poor and biased attendance, the annual Town Meetings that represent about 30% of Wisconsin population are actually controlled by fewer than an estimated 0.5% of the residents of these 1,258 towns. The public attendance at the monthly Town Board meetings is even less, probably representing fewer than 0.1% of the represented population. Yet these towns in total are responsible for an estimated annual expenditure of tax dollars amounting to an estimated one billion dollars plus (more likely about 1.5 billion dollars). Fewer than about 6,000 residents from the total of 1.7 million total residents (or a total of 1 million eligible voters) decide for almost all the remaining town residents how much of our tax dollar should be spent to run the town as the very small minority determines. This is not democracy but boarders an oligarchy or near monarchy doing as it pleases. Clearly, town government as practiced in Wisconsin towns are democratically operated. They are not democracies even though the intent is stated in Wisconsin laws. In practice local town governments (and villages likewise) operate under the guise of democracy while in practice, because the populace seems not to care, local town government in Wisconsin operates behind the scene doing whatever the elected boards think is appropriate with the full support of the "operating group".

To illustrate the latter point what happened at the recent Town of Gibraltar Annual meeting is rather typical and illustrative of how behind the scene tactics operate. Each year at the annual meeting a motion is made near the conclusion of the meeting to increase the pay of the elected members of the Town Board. At the Town of Gibraltar Town meetings this motion is usually made by the deputy clerk. At last years Annual Town Meeting the deputy Clerk made a motion to increase the pay of the Town Board members by 6% (this becomes effective after the 2010 Annual Town Meeting) and it was approved unanimously.

At this years Annual Meeting I made a motion to rescind the 6% pay increase approved last year, that was seconded, and a short discussion followed. My reasons for making the rescind motion was:1)The town went into the red during 2009 spending about $200,000 more than income, 2) All state and county employees were required to take a total of eight week unpaid furloughs in 2009 and 2010 amounting to a 4% annual pay cut for each year. 3) Social Security recipients are not getting any cost of living increase this year or next. Hence, why should the Town Board get the 6%, particularly during a high unemployment and deficit in the Town of Gibraltar? A discussion followed that voiced almost total opposition to my motion (one other person spoke in favor) to rescind, by members of the "operating group" including some board members and the Town Clerk who is appointed by the Town Board along with the Deputy Clerk,the marina manager, and some others who are on various committees, my motion to rescind was resoundingly defeated with only two in favor and almost all others voting to retain the 6% pay raise. If that was not a enough of "nepotism-like behavior" at work, another 6% pay raise was approved for next year. If this ludicrous action continues with 6% compounded annually, the total compensation (not including per diem expenses that typically range from about $35 to $50 per day on official business) of the five board members will increase from about $29,000 now (or about $100 per hour of Town Board meeting time per year)to about $51,000 (or about 2+% of the annual budget) by 2020. This average about $10,200 per year, per board member, to attend approximately 25 Town Board meetings per year (lasting around 2 hours apiece), and equals about $200 per hour plus per diem and tax deductions for expenses. Compare this to the typical part time worker in Door County who is fortunate to be paid $15 per hour and only for the four month tourist season. The full time workers in Door County have been severely economically impacted since the recession began in 2008 and many remain unemployed as elsewhere. This matters naught to the Town of Gibraltar Board and the "operating group" who seem very willing to grant and accept more money from our tax dollars.

The lesson is: Watch out for your tax dollars or a very small minority of Town officials and and the "operating group" will certainly try, and probably succeed, in extracting more from your pocket and wallets as you stand unknowingly on the sidelines harboring the possible illusion that local government is looking out for your interests only. To assure that this is reality you must get involved and let the local "operating group" and Town Boards hear from you. Vote for your interests not theirs, unless you are certain that they respond to all the community. The Town Board of Gibraltar and the "operating group" seem to be interested in their own benefits. Its up to the ordinary residents of Gibraltar to change this attitude. DO IT!