From the pot holes on La Crosse Street to the bridges that need repair around the county, La Crosse County has a reported $87.6 million problem when it comes to transportation. A problem the County Board will attempt to solve in the near future.

On the April 4th ballot will be a referendum vote for a Premiere Resort Area Tax (PRAT) for La Crosse County. This is a non-binding referendum, and instead a way for the County Board to evaluate local interest in the PRAT.

According to pamphlets made by the County, the PRAT would include a 0.5% sales tax on purchases at certain businesses around the county.  The money made by that tax, approximately $5.6 million per year, would be put towards the county’s infrastructure needs.

Stephanie Boebel, a Sophomore at UW-L and a life-long resident of La Crosse County, stated she was in favor of the PRAT referendum.  “I think our roads are in serious need of repair and it doesn’t seem like any other measures are going to be taken by the state to fix this problem.”

The businesses that will be affected by the PRAT would be decided by the State of Wisconsin using the Standard Industry Classification (SIC) codes.  This could include businesses like clothing stores, candy stores, gas stations, and much more around La Crosse County.

Mayor Tim Kabat wrote a column to The La Crosse Tribune (http://lacrossetribune.com/news/opinion/editorial/columnists/tim-kabat-tax-would-hurt-the-most-vulnerable/article_0414bffe-1dd2-505c-95b6-2f3581578f68.html) against this sales tax arguing, “One significant and overlooked aspect on the question of whether La Crosse County should impose a 0.5 percent sales tax on certain businesses operating in a premier resort area is the negative impact said tax will have on our most vulnerable residents.”

Kabat goes on to state that some food items will be included in this tax, and those residents who live in “food deserts” will be burdened by this additional tax to whole food items. He explains, “Food deserts are defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as parts of the country without access to fresh fruit, vegetables and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas. This is mainly due to a lack of grocery stores within one mile of residential neighborhoods.”

Keyla Rosa, the County Board Representative for the campus area, argued that this tax would be minor to residents of the county, but majorly helpful in the overall needs in repairs.

“I have been on the county board for two years and basically every year we are notified that our roads are deteriorating and in horrible shape and we can no longer ignore it,” commented Rosa. “We have bridges that are beginning to rust to a point where they just have to be fixed or else it will be public danger.  Every single year we propose a different solution for how we’re going to attack our debt some way.  And every single year it is shot down…[the PRAT] is a newer option we just came up with and I think voting in favor of it could be positive for students and the county. ”

Rosa went on to explain that this referendum is non-binding, which means there will be another binding referendum at a later date and then the state will have the opportunity to either approve or deny the PRAT for La Crosse County.

She concluded the PRAT would be important for La Crosse County because, “We can’t keep putting band aids on our roads.  Essentially all of the roads need to be restructured, but we are just resurfacing them.  Those resurfacing repairs are not going to last forever.”