Re-inventing the Wheel Tax: Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is attempting to convince the populous that a proposal by 10 aldermen to charge an extra $20 for every vehicle is the city is a bad idea.

Aldermen want the extra $20 to be used in place of special assessments that property owners pay for road repairs in front of their property. It would raise registration costs from $75 to $95. And like his counterpart in the County Courthouse, County Exec Scott Walker, Barrett used the classic buzzwords "tax island."

"While I agree with the need to increase the street paving program to address the deteriorating street condition, I am opposed to any tax levied solely on City of Milwaukee residents. I do not want Milwaukee to become a "tax island" and I think it's unfair for residents to carry the sole burden on street repair when commercial business owners and others benefit from street repairs," Barrett said in his regular "Barrett Report."

Barrett is proposing that the city reduce assessments by 37 percent, which he says would raise bills by $5.12 rather than the $20 aldermen are proposing. "Commercial, manufacturing and property tax exempt properties would pay a portion of the cost and not be given a free ride as they would under the wheel tax proposal," he said.

Tax Facts: The state of Wisconsin has been taken off the "tax hell" list, but the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance notes that the Badger State still ranks ninth in the country in terms of property taxes.

Net property taxes in Wisconsin rose 5.7 percent in 2008, the largest increase since 2005, the year before the limits on how much municipalities could raise taxes were imposed.

The main culprit, however, were school tax increases, about 6.2 percent statewide. But that was due to the fact that the state budget was passed so late school aid from the state was frozen, forcing districts to hit the tap the tax revenue stream a little harder.

Wisconsin property taxes, at 4.4 percent of personal income, were ninth highest in the nation. Nationally, property taxes averaged 3.5 percent of income. The highest property taxes were in the Northeast: New Hampshire (5.7 percent of income), Vermont (5.6), New Jersey (5.4), and Maine (5.4). States with the lowest property taxes were Alabama (1.4), Oklahoma (1.7), Delaware (1.7), Arkansas (1.8) and New Mexico (1.8).

"Use of the property tax has traditionally been related to geography," noted WISTAX Research Director Dale Knapp. "States in the Northeast, Midwest, and Northern Plains tended to use it more, while southern states used it to a lesser degree."

Cruise Control: Milwaukee police cruisers have hit the streets with a throwback, traditional black and white paint job. Police chief Ed Flynn announced in May the department would repaint 54 squads black and white for about $300 apiece. The new cruisers look sharp, although they also look amazingly similar to the black and white vehicles driven by the Geek Squad, the home electronic repair arm of Best Buy and others. The Geek Squad, ironically, uses the phrase "to protect and serve" as its slogan on the sides of their vehicles.