Aug. 7, 2024 7:15a
(WGTD)---A Racine County Board committee will hold a hearing later this month on a proposal to institute a county sales tax. Racine County is just one of three counties in the state without one.
Under the proposal, the county would piggyback on the state’s 5% sales tax by adding another one-half of one percent. The move would generate $20 million in additional revenue for the county.
Just before his unexpected death earlier this summer, County Executive Jonathan Delagrave made several references to a sales tax while discussing a $120 million package of capital improvement projects.
In a phone interview with WGTD Tuesday, Interim County Executive Tom Roanhouse said he supports a county sales tax, saying the county is boxed in by state-mandated levy limits and shared revenue from the state that hasn't kept up with inflation. "Just how we fund government needs to be revisited," he said.
Counties which have implemented a sales tax use the revenue in part to ease the burden on property taxpayers.
Racine County’s current property tax levy is $62 million.
The hearing—before the county board’s Finance and Personnel Committee—will be held Wednesday evening, August 21st in the county board chambers in Ives Grove. The meeting will also include a full briefing on the proposal, Roanhouse said.
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