On July 22nd the Ralph Chipman, Director of Finance for the City of New Berlin asked the Common Council to grant him permission to contact the Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation and begin the process of implementing a Wheel Tax in New Berlin. This NEW tax would be up to $40 per vehicle.
See the proposal at the following link:
https://newberlinwi.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1602/files/attachment/5619
Chipman indicated New Berlin faces a significant budget gap for the upcoming year in excess of $3.7 Million.
This proposal has left many New Berlin residents questioning why New Berlin has been on a multi-year building bonanza if the City was facing future budget shortfalls?
New Berlin spent between $18 Million and $22.2 Million converting the former Wal-Mart into an Activity and Recreation Center which opened in 2024. Only a fraction of New Berlin residents have ever used the Rec Center. Usage has been so low that the expanded hours that were supposed to be implemented in 2024 never came to be.
In spite of an under utilized recreation center, elected New Berlin officials decided to spend another $6 Million dollars renovating the old Hickory Grove school on Sunnyslope and Cleveland into an additional community center. This work is ongoing at the time of this post.
Interested New Berlin residents can contact their city officials via the following methods:
Mayor Dave Ament:
dament@newberlin.org
262-797-2441
You can also find and contact your Alderperson at the following link:
New Berlin Taxpayers Alliance 
Thanks for the info regarding this ‘purposed’ wheel tax. I had just heard about this earlier today on the news. One of the first things that I thought of was, why the deficit? Why is New Berlin even considering this? …so they spent $18-22 million on the activity/recreation center…
I recall quite sometime back when the city was pushing that area with big plans in mind for it, was it under then mayor Chiovatero? …seems it was over 10+ years ago. That & a few other things sort of led to his demise.
This wheel tax is BS! I will be contacting the mayor & my alderman to let them know my opposition. Thank you.
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Yes, its shocking that given the low usage of the brand new Rec Center, they still feel compelled to spend another 6 million on the Hickory Grove center. Politicians just don’t care. Its not their money. They get a thrill spending other peoples money on big extravagant things. But to turn around now after this building bonanza and propose a wheel tax is insulting to the taxpayers of New Berlin.
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This sums up how irresponsible you are with the tax payers dollars
“Chipman indicated New Berlin faces a significant budget gap for the upcoming year in excess of $3.7 Million.
This proposal has left many New Berlin residents questioning why New Berlin has been on a multi-year building bonanza if the City was facing future budget shortfalls?
New Berlin spent between $18 Million and $22.2 Million converting the former Wal-Mart into an Activity and Recreation Center which opened in 2024. Only a fraction of New Berlin residents have ever used the Rec Center. Usage has been so low that the expanded hours that were supposed to be implemented in 2024 never came to be.
In spite of an under utilized recreation center, elected New Berlin officials decided to spend another $6 Million dollars renovating the old Hickory Grove school on Sunnyslope and Cleveland into an additional community center. This work is ongoing at the time of this post”.
I am completely against a wheel tax. I own 5 cars and 3 of them are vintage and rarely are driven. It is a completely regressive tax.
Also what is the cost of whatever is going on in the old library?
Is New Berlin Hills being subsidized by the city? If it is not paying for itself it should be sold and the profit could be applied to the budget deficit.
What other future building plans do you have that would cost the taxpayers even more?
You have been totally irresponsible. I would expect this from Milwaukee. Why are you trying to be like them? It is not the government job to provide social centers at the expense of the tax payers. It is your job to get private organization to pay for them if you deem it so necessary to provide “entertainment”. Are you a socialist?
Maybe its about time to look for a new job because you have betrayed the citizens of new Berlin.
I expect answers to my questions either through email, phone call or text.
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