The 0.5% sales tax instituted by the Kewaunee County Board in 2017, and approved again in 2021, is sticking around for the foreseeable future after the board amended the ordinance Tuesday.
The amended ordinance removes the sunset date of Dec. 31, 2026, an action that was required to take place at least 120 days before the original repeal date. The sales tax was extended in 2021 as a way to adjust to life after the Kewaunee Power Station closed.
Five years later, Kewaunee County Board Chair Dan Olson still does not like placing a regressive tax on people struggling to make ends meet. However, Olson says the county cannot afford not to have it, adding that repealing the sales tax would leave a giant hole in the budget.
Keeping the county sales tax also keeps Kewaunee County in the majority of Wisconsin counties that levy one. Of the state's 72 counties, Waukesha and Winnebago are the only two that do not impose their own sales tax. Milwaukee County is the only one of the remaining 70 counties with a higher local sales tax, at 0.9%.
