Bristol residents will not see an increase in town property taxes under the 2010 proposed budget.

The proposed levy of $1.64 million is about $2,400 higher than the 2009 levy. For taxpayers, the levy will translate to a tax rate of $2.69 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, essentially equal to the 2009 rate....More

The harvest is in, and inmates from the Kenosha Correctional Center, 6353 14th Avenue, along with others in correction facilities across the state, are using the food grown in their own garden to help stretch food costs.

“We have a small garden. Our population is 120 inmates and we were really trying to focus on what was on our menu and being innovative in reducing our food costs for inmates,” KCC facility superintendent Ann Krueger said....More

Contractors have stepped up work at Salem Grade School to make up time lost during rainy weather.

Workers have been on the job late at night to keep the renovation and addition project on schedule. This week, construction crews were at work after 8 p.m. Weeks of consistently rainy weather complicated the construction of a roof on a two-story addition to the school, but school officials said the project is still on track to meet the projected completion date in January....More

Local governments will receive a break on property insurance premiums under legislation sponsored by Rep. Peter Barca of Kenosha.

The Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed Barca’s bill allowing municipalities, counties, school districts and other public entities that pay into the state’s Local Government Property Insurance Fund to receive about half their insurance premium for 2009 back as a dividend credit....More

While real estate agents are hopeful the extension of federal tax credits for homebuyers will help improve home sales in Kenosha County, a University of Wisconsin economist is calling the program a waste of taxpayer money.

The Senate voted this week to extend an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers until May. The program, launched in January, had been set to expire Nov. 30. In addition, Congress approved a new tax credit for homeowners who purchase a new primary residence. That credit will provide a $6,500 tax refund to buyers who purchase a new home if they have owned their previous house for at least five years....More

“How will we embrace our future with courage?” she asked the audience in the campus cinema. “We must collaborate, communicate and cooperate.”

Ford was formally inducted by UW Board of Regents President Kevin Reilly as the school’s sixth chancellor since the campus opened in fall 1969. Her first working day here was Aug. 3. She came from the University of West Florida, where she was vice president of student affairs....More