Spinning the Story for Doyle

There's just no other way to say this: the JS is exchanging bodily fluids with Doyle.

The December property tax bill on a median-valued Wisconsin home would go up by $91 - or 3.2% - under Gov. Jim Doyle's proposed state budget, legislators were told Wednesday.

It was the first estimate of what Doyle's two-year budget, which includes $1.7 billion in tax and fee increases, would also cost homeowners. When the governor introduced his budget on Feb. 17, his budget advisers said changes in December property tax bills would vary widely, depending on how local school districts used federal stimulus money.

In a memo to legislators, Fiscal Bureau Director Bob Lang estimated that the tax bill on the median-valued home would rise to $2,947 this December and increase another $134 - or 4.5% - in December 2010.

Notice something?

Right-o.

The actual increase will be $225.00, if you count BOTH years of Three Card Monte's budget. But the JS' "news story" only counts ONE of those years for its headline and lede.

And the total % increase over both years is 7.9%.

It's what passes as "reporting", I guess.