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Location: Port Washington, wisconsin | Well, I guess I need to know now what we can expect form mercury in the near future. Now it appears they and the employe's will need to face the community on a daily basis. How does this change the economy and the fact that most people can't afford to buy the product they sell? Are they coming out with a new warranty to beat all in the industry? Every worker makes absolutely no mistakes, abuses company time, scraps nothing, etc? They have to look at the community every day and answer those questions. Every time I spend money up there now, I feel I should be paying for the issue free product they manufacture. Will it happen?
Edited by bagz 9/9/2009 7:01 AM
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Location: in the boat off the east shore somewhere | this is a bunch of Bull###T............ The county using this to jam threw a sales tax is crap! Forget what they offered merc to stay they would have lost more than that in Revinue if they left! i dont live in fondy county but neer and if i were the voters in the comunity i would want some heads to roll! Merc getting a Tax break does not require a sales tax increase or a property tax increase! it requires some responsibuility in spending and in this instance the county budget goes from...HOLY Crap! Merc is leaving and we will lose piles and piles of revinue as the aria turns into a ghost town and property values plummit... and turns into Wooooooo hooooooo we can keep merc pass our sales tax increase and increase our anual spending by piles of money! woooo hoooooo we can also attach a bunch of other fee increases tooo! wooooooo hoooooo and anyone upset about it can just direct there anger towards Merc and its employee's isnt that somthing... look forward to all of the other counties in the state to add a sales tax in the neer future and use the excuse its for local stimulus! look forward to the rest of the remaining counties looking forward to there next potental tragic loss to add to the revenue kitty! Nice! just dandy! |
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| FDL county is one of only 11 counties in the state that does NOT currently have a sales tax (out of 71 counties).
They estimate with the .5% sales tax that 22% of the revenue gained will come from people NOT living in FDL county.
While I do not agree with a sales tax to subsidize a private corporation, if they are going to do it, this is as good a reason as any they will ever have. |
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Location: in the boat off the east shore somewhere | ya thumper i also support Merc and there employees and want them to stay and prosper! I will not support any new taxes and do not trust our representives in any way shape or form to do what needs to be done! i have lost faith in them all for the most part over the last 8 years. i would say this increase will cost the average houshold in fon du lac county around 20 bucks a month... Ya not much but with the rest of the recent increases in taxes and fees just add that 20 bucks to the other few hundy our neihborhood familys lost out of there monthly budeget in the last three years. wanna know where our nations available economic stimulus spending money is going? YOUR LOOKIN AT IT! one little fee or tax increase at a time and just like the rest of the increases everyone is bending over with a smile and saying go ahead let me have it! |
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| You sound like you are ready to run for your city council.
Remember, just like Knight Rider, "One man CAN make a difference". |
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Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | I for one like what is happening. Many of you told the union members to tighten their belt, make concessions and take a financial hit to keep Mercury here. Now you are crying foul when you are expected to make the same kind of sacrifices. Kind of hypocritical isn’t it? You screamed for them to make sacrifices for the good of the county but now when it affects you, how can you complain? I have attached the announcement from the county. It sounds like they did a good job tying in expectations to Mercury. It includes a $500 credit per job retained and a $1,000 credit per job created. There is also a penalty to the company of $500 for each position not retained and if the company does not maintain their presence in the City of Fond du Lac and Fond du Lac County, the loan becomes due immediately and in full. It is, however, our expectation that Mercury Marine will not only retain the positions in Fond du Lac County but also create new jobs. When credits are earned toward the repayment, the County Executive is recommending that the gap be filled utilizing a portion of the half-percent county sales tax. It also has a retirement incentive payment to IAM workers. It also sounds like we will hear soon what the state has offered mercury to stay. It’ll be an interesting read. Some of you are funny. You complained when it appeared that mercury was leaving because another state offered incentives. Now when you see that we gave better incentives, you are angered. The money always comes from somewhere, hidden or up front. In this case you know where the additional taxes are going. We in the Miller Park zone area have felt this kind of pinch for sometime. In our case some of you laughed at our pain then and now.
Edited by Sunshine 9/9/2009 11:52 AM
Attachments
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 Mercury_Marine_Incentive_Package_090809.pdf (40KB - 184 downloads)
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| If you are referring to me, I am not angry. I am happy they are staying.
I will say that Merc must be thrilled with the way the pot got sweetened for them (by the county/state) in between the first and last vote, while they just sat and watched. Perhaps that sweetening will keep more jobs here longer than if the first vote would have ben "yes", perhaps not.
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| I totally disagree with a tax increase to support a private complany and didn't really care less if they had left. The strong survive and weak do not, don't let the door hit you in the ... on the way out. True capitalism does not reward the crappy businessman. Secretly committing the general taxpayers money without a referendum is very wrong!!!!!!
So when my business needs a hand wil I also get a bailout? Is the county ready to commit to all business's regardless of name or size? I know that will not happen, and because mine business is small by comparison I won't get ever get ..... This is just another form of the current liberal politics that reward poor business's that someone determines are to "big" to allow to fail. The only way to get back to "even" so to speak is to let these so called "giants" fail and be replaced by newer more efficient business's.
Bradely you are right on and Sunshine this has nothing to do with how people felt about the contract and or unions, this is a totally different issue and therefore not hypocritical at all. |
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Since you are all knowing on just about everything on here and WC how would you have made Merc more profitable and not leave FDL? |
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Location: in the boat off the east shore somewhere | noone - 9/9/2009 2:04 PM Brad Since you are all knowing on just about everything on here and WC how would you have made Merc more profitable and not leave FDL? Hey you had me stumped for an hour noname... i always love the questions that seem to not have an answer for.... all i can say is to make Merc profitable again... and lets make it clear! it was very profitable for a long long time until the market took a crap because of bad political decisions to slow our groth by cutting our energy production and fuel costs went threw the roof nation wide. Answer the question may only be one thing... let it go belly up and hope like hell someone with a big checkbook comes in and buys it! offers it up as half employee owned and starts over. instead of stockholders hungry for instant return like today taking years of profits out of the company you need the company to re-invest the money into other directions that offset the down times in marine industry... Windmills or whatever! the point is that the money made over the years has been spent or drawn out and now when Merc needs it to servive the down times its gone! the company must start building Bullet proof product!!!! by good hands and warrente claims must be cut down drasticly. Toyota is on top for a reason and though many do not wanna hear this its because they build stuff that seemingly lasts forever! it costs money and committment to machine parts to tollerances that will hold up over time... build something bulletproof and people will buy it! There is no confidence in the future of the industry due to cost of ownership and therefore there is minimal investment capital flowing into this sector.. Major money what is left out there is not in the peoples pockets anymore due to the banking industry taking 401 k money used for good companies like this and working insider false housing marke deals. the fact that our own government watch dog looked the other way durring this criminal move just adds fuel to the situation. stimulus money(the peoples future available investment capital) is being waisted and put in directions again to be taken advantage of by those looking to score. Back to Merc... as long as a corperation is dependant upon a parent company for strength and operating capital that parent company and group of stockholders from both will call the shots.... and in any down period in this day and age that company when down will be looked at as a negitive return and will be under the microscope and attack to prevent future loss in the over all picture. Mercury profits over the years were not invested in anything that can benifit that shop but itself... the shop stands ready! the employees stand ready! distribution Ready! dealers Ready! the sales to the public arent there and it has lost its usfullness to the stockholders for now! its a what have you done for me this morning kind of world... sad but merc doesnt have anything thing to fall back on they are an outboard division! no sales , NO PROFIT! old profit was re-directed to other investments unrealated and paid to sharholders , Its not available to fall back on unless that parent company choses to prop Merc up! to fix Merc and other companies strugling you must look at were we went wrong! With the baby boomer generation hitting retirement you would thing outboard sales would go sky high? golf courses and the such also! Guess What NOPE! Boomers life time savings ...A pile of money that brilliant minds were trying to get there hands on was all converted to 401 k money and investment portfolio's , enuitys and IRA qualified investments! that money was gotten ahold of by the banking industry and used to feed one of the most stable investments out there...REAL ESTAte and it exploded making insiders and many very rich! the banking industry got greedy and started risking peoples savings on crappy high risk housing perchases made and with not only no government watch dog looking but encuraging the poor investment risk in more loans to low income or high risk buyers to fund there american dream the house of cards fell down! this combined with massive fuel costs and a failed energy policy has hit the other half of the country in the form of about 500 dollars a month in available spending income for a month gone!!!!!!! gas prices have cost the average american houshold over 400 a month alone over tha last handfull of years muchless all of the other increases ! SO take away half of the baby boomers savings (criminal and no one held accountable) add the cost of living increases and tax increases and this country is left with less buyers almost no new buyers for outboards or anythign for that matter!!!!!!!! then because of the downturn hours and jobs get cut as it snowballs down to everyone!!!!!! Making Merc profitable is something that can only be done by making doing buisness in this country profitable and the only way to do that is if the people of our own country can buy Stuff!!!!!!!! people keep getting sold on the change and the future but i do not see anyone in my neighborhood or town complaining about working too much overtime and no time to spend there paycheck!!!!! FIX MERC and make it prifitable? FIX WHAT WE DESTROYED IN OUR COUNTRY Or there is no profit for merc unless they find a country to ship product to that has a good economy and is a growing force in the world.... sory we are on the downslide and i cant see it ever comming back only all of us tightning our belts and living with less and learning how to accept it~! Noname just for asking me that question i put togather a massive rambling of mindless dribble based on a movie i once saw where billy madison had to give an oral disortation about the the Little puppy who lost his way.....
Edited by bradley894 9/9/2009 5:15 PM
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Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | Mercury Marine announced it will return more than $1 million in tax credits it received from the State of Oklahoma as an incentive to keep operations in Stillwater. The company will be shifting operations from Stillwater to Fond du Lac, Wis., in the next 18 to 24 months following the union's acceptance of Mercury's contract proposal. Mercury Marine will pay Oklahoma up to $1.6 million the state forgave as part of Senate Bill 929, which was signed into law June 1, the Stillwater NewsPress reports. Oklahoma state Rep. Cory Williams told the newspaper Mercury Marine has agreed to pay relief, interest or fees accrued as penalties under the Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program that grants tax breaks based on criteria including employment numbers. "With the decisions made last week around the consolidation of our underutilized manufacturing capacity, it is unlikely that Mercury Marine will qualify for the criteria outlined by the spirit of the bill in terms of employment levels and the scale and scope of our operation in Stillwater," said Mark Schwabero, president of Mercury Marine, in a statement. Mercury is working with county and state officials in Oklahoma to make an immediate payment for any benefits it has received under this legislation. |
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Location: Omro,Wi. | At what point are the American people going to wake up and say ENOUGH! This buy out of Merc and Brunswick is no different than the one the goverment did last year for the banks etc. I for one am ready for another Boston Tea Party. There is no reason that the general public should pay for Merc to stay. The workers there take a beating and pay higher taxes, the locals pay higher taxes and get nothing for it, the only ones winning are the businesses in the area and not the general public. What ever happened to NO Taxation without representation? Had a vote of the general public been taken...like it should have been! the tax would certainly not have been passes. I am glad the people at Merc, (some of them friends of mine) keep their jobs, but the end result sucks for the rest of the county that has to pay the bill. Just my opinion and I used to be the most loyay gungho s.o.b. as far as this country went, sadly I am rethinking my position and hope you take this with a grain of salt, but it has to end soon, or this country will! |
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Location: in the boat off the east shore somewhere | Hafe, Your not alone. i have expressed my frustration on here all to often, we are sposta be talking Walleyes and stuff but so many topics keep asking why why why? why is Merc in troupble in the first place? why are walleye tours down , why are all the fishing related manufacturers failing and why , why , why... its the economy stupid and thats all i hear! but the question is why are we in this state of assult on our free time and available spending money for the toys and quest we all love? its because the last 15 years of assult on this country by sell outs and missguided opertunistic individuals looking to sap this country and all of its classes from lower ,middle and upper to jam forward what ever opertunistic little project they can pull off and sell to the public at any opertunistic time they feal they have the edge. We cant afford all of this crap! or we can in some folks eyes and it seems that most in this country just want to go to work everyday to pay there mortgage, car payment and taxes and sit around and take care of there yards ride there bike and use the walking path. anyone doing anything else over and above is under attack. everyone should live in a 3 bedroom condo, own one hybred and recieve free everything but not have anything left over. The new state budget increased by 7 percent and never ever has a state increased there taxes and fees by that amount in a year ! no state even went up 1% and Wisconsin just went mental with No Cry Foul at all! sad how folks let this slide. Hafe like i said your not alone i dont know how to turn this around folks are too busy doing there fantasy football and there too buisy waiting to see the next american idol winner... just a shame.. the midia has sold out and folks cant get 5 min of information a day on what is realy happening..... all we get is bla bla bla..... sickens me to no end. |
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| This is not a buy out, nor is it a bail out. It is a package put together as an incentive to get Merc to stay here in Fond du Lac, WI. This is way different than just giving the banks billions to spend on fancy corporate retreats. Actually, that bailout has worked, and we are seeing returns of 6-14%(Reported on Fox News).
When this first started up, I was for the union voting yes, but I was also the first one(here, and elswhere) to ask what is the the local and State Government doing to try to keep Merc here. I said then that just the Union taking the proposal wasn't going to be enough. All I got was what feedback asking what I suggest the Gov't do? Not up to me to determine that.
Yep, no tax is a good tax, but look at the alternative. Merc leaves, and Fondy turns into a shell of it's former self. Not only Fondy takes a hit, but other citys, countys, businesses, and people would feel the hit, too. The numbers of people, tax revenues, and businesses that are affected where stated. That's a huge number, and I am happy that Merc is statying put, and in fact, moving more wotk and jobs, here.
When you say the busineeses are the only ones winning, and not the general public, who do you think works in these businesses? Someone other than the general public? The number of people positively affected by Merc staying here is way more than you appreciate, it appears.
If the people of Fond du Lac county are that upset with this .5% tax, then I guess we'll find out who on the county board that voted for it, and how many of those will be ousted in the next election. My guess is that the turn over will not be great. I need to find out how the bro-in-law voted. He's a big time Republican, anti-taxer, and goes to all the TEA partys in the state. Anybody have any idea how to find out how these board members voted on this? |
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| unianimous!
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Location: in the boat off the east shore somewhere | thumper - 9/9/2009 11:25 AM You sound like you are ready to run for your citny council. Remember, just like Knight Rider, "One man CAN make a difference". LoL are you kidding me? Where the "H" is Chuck Norris? |
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| Holy cow!!
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Location: Oshkosh | I would have liked to have seen a sunset clause in the county sales tax proposal but I understand that this was voted down? The unfortunate thing about adding a tax is it almost takes an act of God to kill it- we are still taxed on the expansion of telephone service during the Spanish-American War, for God's sake!
The bottom line is this state has become a friggin tax hell- a mini-California almost... and it is really beginning to show its unsustainability. The cost of living is significantly lower in Oklahoma, wages are lower there, too. Community ties are admirable, but considering that there does not appear to be a changing view on proactively attracting and retaining business in this state, I'm half-surprised that Merc didn't stick to the results of the first vote. As an employee of a company who has a branch in Fond du Lac, I am grateful that they decided to stay, as it would have been a matter of time before I and all of my co-workers would have lost our jobs, too.
We are being regulated to death- CARB is a prime example that directly affects Merc. "Protect Mother Earth" my ass... Tell that to the family who lost their home because of a tornado, flood, or hurricane. Oh, sorry- thats
's due to "global warming..." (Again, global warming, my ass!) And carbon-emmissions... I don't care if you are a donkey, an elephant, or a friggin' pink flamingo- if you believe that we must reduce carbon emmissions to save the world, why don't you do your part and jump off a cliff, because you are full of crap (which, incidently is mostly carbon...) To tie it all together, when you have a president who was actually quoted as saying that his energy policy (Cap and Trade) would "necessarily make electrical costs skyrocket" because of the taxation/penalties on powerproducing companies, it is only going to get worse- MUCH WORSE. I don't care what political party you feel affiliated with... Folks, there are a select few in this country who have practically hijacked our way of life and are finding ways of turning us into a socialist state in a behind-the-scenes way. Sure, you can call me the "black helicopter guy" all you want but can you seriously look at the policies our state and national leaders endorse and say that what they are doing will GROW our economy and create jobs and return the attainable dream of prosperity to everyday people? What country in its right mind would refuse to take advantage of the God-given natural resources we have in massive quantities within our own borders for fear of displacing a few caribou or reptiles?!? It is almost like it is all being done on purpose. No, let's continue to make policy that will subvert us into an irrelivant nation, prime for the picking for China or Russia.
What happened at Merc is a symptom of the crappy mess we are in today. The day that the last vote was confirmed "yes," I thought to myself that we are seeing history here where the unions in this country lost a lot of power. Considering how uglier the business climate is likely to get before (and if) it gets any better, now I wonder if another precidence was set in that more companies could leave the state unless Wisconsin ponies up our tax dollars to retain them...
Guys, continue to fight the good fight, and as Glenn Beck (and Thomas Jefferson) would say- It is your constitutional duty to question with boldness the policies and motives of our elected officials. I'd like to spend time I currently allocate to staying on top of this crap to fishing or other leisurely activities... But if we don't pay attention to what is going on and act now, it could be too late to do anything about it. And by the way- sorry for the non-fishing-related rant but I am glad to see that more and more of us are starting to speak out on this travesty!
Peace, happiness and full livewells-
Mark
Edited by Brother Otis 9/11/2009 10:23 PM
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| Amen Brother Otis....OOPS forgot no GOD anymore in this great land either. |
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