BROWN COUNTY, Wis. (WFRV) - Voters across the U.S. will be considering referenda on taxes this election season.
And they'll also be examining the tax stances of candidates on the ballot.
It's a hot issue in Brown County, Wisconsin, where board supervisors and candidates are being pressed about possible tax increases in advance of the April 3rd election.

On April third several seats on the Brown County Board are up for a vote.

Taxes are always a hot button issue. 

But, according to one non-partisan group Brown County residents will  not see a sales tax increase for the next two years no matter who is elected.

The projection is according to a survey board members and candidates done by the Brown County Taxpayers Association.

"The final tally indicates that the new county board will have 14 to 20 supervisors who will oppose any attempt to enact the tax. For at least the next two years the sales tax is a dead issue" says Tom Sladek, an officer of the BCTA.

Brown County is one of only 10 in the state that has not enacted the optional half percent tax.

However, Brown County does have a stadium tax.

The taxpayers association also asked board members and candidates if they would support an extension of that half percent tax. 

You will recall the sales tax was an incredibly controversial issue when the public voted back in September of 2000.

So the idea of extending the tax no doubt raises some eyebrows.

But the question is can this tax actually be extended and who has the power to do it?

"We have heard rumors of how that tax might be extended and applied to new purposes" says Sladek.

The Brown County Taxpayers Association says a majority of current Brown County board members and candidates oppose an extension of the tax.

"One of our greatest concerns is that since people have been paying this sales tax for the past decade that people will simply see that as an opportunity to extend it for other things" explains Sladek.

However, the Brown County Board has absolutely no power to extend the tax in the first place.

Any change to this law would have to happen at a state level, pass both houses and get a stamp of approval from the Governor.

"We believe if the county board is on record against any such extension, that discussion in the legislature could never happen" says Sladek.

The Stadium District retired bonds for the 2003 renovation of Lambeau Field last fall.

"I think the fact that we paid off all bonds in 10 years that went out over 30 years is a sign that our district has done everything that it can to retire this tax early" says Pat Webb, Executive Director of the Stadium District Board.

Currently the tax is being used to collect enough money to operate and maintain the stadium through the year 2031. That is when the Packers lease with the stadium district and the city will expire.

The Stadium District expects the sales tax to expire in 2015. Webb tells Local 5 news the district has no plans to ask for a change in the law to extend the tax.