Door County is among spots where housing is beyond reach |
Sturgeon Bay — Aaron LeClair admits that he and his wife, Tara, just got lucky to find a home they could afford when he came back to Door County in 2004.
He wishes all the emergency medical services staff who work for him — and can’t afford to live anywhere in Door County — had the same kind of luck.
“They can’t afford to live where they work,” he says. “It’s changed. A starter house that used to be $100,000 is $200,000 and it needs a lot of work, if you can find one. They aren’t the kind of homes you can raise a family in. Of the 13 who live outside the county, I’d say four of them have stopped looking for a home. They have zero interest in trying.”
LeClair’s home is one of the few old homes remaining in his neighborhood that hasn’t been razed and replaced with something bigger and grander. “I see people walking outside and I don’t know them,” he says. “I really like to know my neighbors.” |
Wisconsin’s Assembly Committee on Ways and Means held an informational hearing on tax policy on Feb. 20. In addition to the Badger Institute’s own written testimony, Katherine Loughead — Senior Policy Analyst & Research Manager for the Tax Foundation and contributing author to the Mandate for Madison — provided verbal testimony on what’s best for Wisconsin businesses and residents alike.
Taxes in the Badger State are simply too high and too uncompetitive — which is why Wisconsin must consider a low, flat-rate individual income tax. |
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Given the state’s strong budget surplus and projected continued revenue growth, Wisconsin is in a prime position to enact pro-growth reforms to improve the state’s competitive standing for decades to come. |
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After reaching an all-time high of 14.85%, the share of people who work from home has come down to just over 12% in 2023, still about three times the percentage of remote workers in 2015. An overwhelming number of Wisconsinites still drive themselves in their own car to work, data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics show. |
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If Gov. Evers really wanted to support small business, he would reduce, not increase, Wisconsin’s top income tax rate. |
| The data also show that the cost of owning a house relative to income has taken a dramatic turn upward in Wisconsin. |
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Weekly survey: How many cities, towns and villages are in the state of Wisconsin?
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Do you think a police officer needs 40 hours of training from the National Association of School Resource Officers before having the skills to work in a local MPS high school? |
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Milwaukee, WI 53204 |
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