RACINE—The Racine County Board of Supervisors voted Thursday to implement a new 0.5% sales tax to address the county’s financial deficiencies.
The tax on purchases made within county lines will take effect in April. County leaders say there will be exceptions to the tax, and that it won’t apply to food or medicine.
Supporters say without a new tax, critical county services will face severe cuts to stay afloat. Opponents argued Thursday that the tax discussion was rushed.
An earlier draft of the sales tax would have allocated roughly half of the projected 20 million dollars a year earned to property tax relief; however, supervisors voted Thursday to amend the proposal so that only 2 million dollars of taxes raised would be used for that purpose.
Racine is one of three Wisconsin counties that does not currently have a 0.5% sales tax (Waukesha, Winnebago). Earlier this week, Waukesha County leaders tabled plans to vote on their own 0.5% sales tax so that more discussion on the proposed ordinance could take place.
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