Council votes tonight on Mayor Kabat’s veto of $250,000 “insurance” in spending plan

Kabat proposed a $69 million spending plan for 2017

Roughly .0003 percent of a city spending plan has caused Mayor Tim Kabat to veto La Crosse’s budget for next year. 

Kabat had proposed, roughly, a $69 million operating expense plan next year. The council wanted $250,000 extra to deal with unforeseen expenses and to protect the ability to increase spending in the future.  

And that’s what Kabat is hung up on. It’s an amount that means a slight property tax decrease. ‘So why not stick with that?’ Kabat wonders.

“I do think the practical matter is, we’ve been able to demonstrate the last several years is meet these priorities without increasing the tax rate,” Kabat said. “We have another opportunity to do that for next year.”

It’s a simple concept behind Kabat’s veto.

“It really comes down to taxing what we need but not more than what is needed,” he said. “The arguments that we should have a cushion or more flexibility, I just don’t agree with.

“We should be levying what is needed for our programs and services and not more than that.”

The council votes tonight on whether to override Kabat’s veto.