Welcome to tax time. It’s that time of year when we take the money we’ve earned, and hand it over to people who haven’t earned it, but want to spend it.
Let me be clear. I have respect for elected officials who use the tax dollars their entity receives, responsibly. We need roads, bridges, fire and police services, water services and all those needs vital to quality of life. That will cost money and I’m happy to pay my fair share as I’m sure most of you are.
In my life, I’ve paid my fair share of interest on mortgage debt, auto debt and I’m embarrassed to say, installment debt. I’ve never put a pencil to paper, but I am quite certain that those interest costs have accumulated more than $100,000 in my lifetime.
That’s $100,000 I couldn’t use to improve my home, donate to charities or any number of uses. While sometimes deemed necessary, my borrowing only reduced my financial freedom (to live life on my own financial terms).
Let’s look at Rock County. They receive everyone else’s money as their revenue source. They spend much of it on necessities as I mentioned before. But a significant portion of the spending is debatable. It becomes even more significant when you realize Rock County openly intends to turn to borrowing as a means to spend even more money they don’t have. Who gets handed that interest bill? We do, of course. Except in this instance, it isn’t our own choice.
The county’s new Finance Director’s view is clear. At a recent public meeting she made a statement which said, in effect, that borrowing is better for taxpayers because it spreads costs over people not even living here yet. (Listen to her public explanation HERE.)
That may be true. But borrowing increases the cost of the initial expenditure without a doubt. So the tradeoff is that while everyone pays over time, they also pay more! Plus, the county population is only growing at 0.3% annually (25% slower than the state average), so it is really us and our children who pay the debt.
Rock County residents are growing tired of watching their financial freedom slip away as towns, school districts and counties turn to borrowing to finance bloating budgets once their tax revenues are maxed out. The truth is, Rock County residents have a right to feel that way.
Rock County residents already earn less on average, per capita, than our peers in the state; about $8600+ less annually, and growing. Rock County overall (county, municipality, school districts) spends 15-percent more on borrowing, based on per capita income, than ourpeers in the state. Yet there is the will to borrow even more.
What’s a person to do? INFORMED VOTING. Track down the supervisor candidates in your district and ask them (kindly) about this issue. See additional helpful information from the RCF Watchdog team below for more information. What will they do to help keep taxes and borrowing costs in check if they are voted into office? Do the same with candidates on your local school board. Remember referendums are just another word for borrowing. Do the same with your local municipality before casting a vote for council, board or alderman seats.
Voters have the power to put candidates into office who prefer individual financial freedom, versus candidates who prefer unchecked spending for their entities. Find out who they are, and vote for them on April 7th.
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Start your research regarding the County Board spending by viewing these two documents:
- A recent RCF ‘Did You Know’ infographic regarding the proposed 2026 county budget.
- Meeting minutes from November 12, 2025 county board meeting to approve the 2026 budget. Pay attention to pages 3 and 4, and County Supervisor votes on Amendments 5 – 12 which proposed additional county spending, or cuts . These were last minute additional spending (or spending cut) items proposed prior to budget approval.
