LA CROSSE, Wisconsin (WXOW) – Citing local budgets, government surveys and media reports, the Governor's office issued a release Sunday stating that Governor Scott Walker's reforms have now saved Wisconsin tax payers more than one billion dollars total.
The release said school districts have also saved money by being allowed to competitively bid out their insurance policies.
The Governor's Press Secretary added that Wisconsin's Department of Corrections has cut costs by more than $2-million since Walker took office.
In Sunday's release, Press Secretary Cullen Werwie said, "The billion dollars saved through the reforms are one of the reasons that property taxes for the median value Wisconsin property taxpayer went down for the first time in over a decade."
But La Crosse County's Democratic Party is not impressed with the governor's data.
The chairwoman said the Governor's decisions, like taking collective bargaining from most public workers and cutting funds to public educations, were the wrong moves regardless of how much money was saved.
"It's easy for him to put out a release saying he saved one billion dollars," said chairwoman Vicki Burke. "But you need to look at exactly what services were cut and how was that accomplished."
The Governor's press release added all the data used in compiling that $1-billion number can be found at www.reforms.wi.gov.
