An Original Idea in Milwaukee

Wisconsin's tax laws allow cities that rely heavily on tourism to levy a special "premium resort area" sales tax. Governor Jim Doyle's new budget would rewrite the tax laws to declare parts of Milwaukee a "premium resort area." This would give Milwaukee officials the authority to levy a half cent sales tax within the "resort" area of the city. If adopted by local officials, Doyle's idea would help to diversify the city's revenue structure — but an equally welcome option would be reforming the taxes collected by the state government. As the Institute for Wisconsin's Future's Jack Norman documented last fall, two thirds of the corporations doing business in Wisconsin pay no corporate income tax right now.