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ABOUT  LARRY  HAMSING

Candidate for Bellevue Village Trustee

One of the first questions I hear from people is "why are you running for public office?"

I feel I have something to offer based on my life’s experience as a business owner and the fact I love living in Bellevue. I work as a desktop publisher and also at the YMCA. I studied political science in college and have always had a desire to run for office. I believe my background as a business owner and my experiences living in various villages in Wisconsin provide a new perspective to the issues in Bellevue.

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This is my second try at getting elected. Last year's "hot topic" was the new wheel tax to help fund infrastructure needs. Those people who voiced an opinion to me were split about 60-40 (60 percent thought it was a bad idea). Quite a few residents said "the people who use the roads should pay for them." Other residents told me the wheel tax did not adequately address heavy duty trucks and the damage they do to the roads.

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One problem with the phrase "the people who use the roads should pay for them" is quite a few people would take issue with that statement because "everyone benefits" from good infrastructure.

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In my opinion, every single person in the Village uses or benefits from the roads at one point or another, even if they do not own a vehicle. The post office, UPS, FedEx, relatives, school buses, rescue vehicles, fire trucks, etc. all use the roads in a given community.

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Another problem with the phrase "the people who use the roads should pay for them" is that it opens up a discussion about who is going to pay for other Village needs. For instance, I do not use the public school system. By that logic does it mean I should not pay school property taxes because my children are all grown?


If elected, I would form a committee of local Bellevue citizens to come together to see what other options are available to help fund the Village’s infrastructure needs. This is a controversial issue and input from the Village’s citizens is absolutely necessary.

TID or Tax Incremental Districts are very popular throughout the US. They have fallen out-of-favor recently for several reasons.

From our Village Administrator: “Money from TIDs can only be used within the b
oundaries of the TIDs. The money is used for items identified in the TID plans… which includes new or improved infrastructure that is necessary to aid in economic development within the TIDs. The money cannot be used outside of the TIDs.”

This means that TID funds cannot be used for the overall general improvement of the entire Village, only the TID District. I don’t claim to know all the ins and outs of TIDs but I did read the article published by David Merriman, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago in which he states TIDs have not lived up to their promise and should be re-evaluated.

 

My opinion of our two TIDs is that the Village may need those dedicated dollars somewhere else in the Village as the Village grows and therefore the TIDs should be re-evaluated periodically.

All of this boils down to money. Doesn’t it always? In my opinion the impact fees, licensing fees, and various other fees charged to the public and especially builders are on the low side. Bellevue’s liquor tax is the lowest in the area and I do not understand why bartender’s licenses are for two years instead of one. Impact fees in particular are too low in my opinion. This may sound like small potatoes but when considering revenue sources nothing should be off the table.

And finally, if you are upset with the actions of the Village Board, then maybe it’s time to elect a fresh face. I don’t claim to know all the answers but occasionally a change is called for and maybe this is one of them.

 

One other suggestion: In researching the topics above, I reached out to other Villages the size of Bellevue to see how they funded the financial needs of their communities. I discovered that Bellevue has one of the smallest Village Boards among Villages our size. For instance, Marshfield has 10 Board members, Beaver Dam 11, Middleton 8, and Menasha 8. My recommendation is to expand Bellevue's Board to seven or possibly nine members. This can be done at a minimal cost and would help to infuse new ideas to help solve the future issues in Bellevue.

Thanks for reading and please remember to vote April 7th!



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