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Sturgeon Bay Grain Elevator in Good Condition

With state and local tax collections growing less than incomes, Wisconsin’s state-local tax burden fell from 11.5 percent to 11.3 percent of personal income in 2013. However, a new report from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance (WISTAX), Gauging Wisconsin’s 2013 Taxes, shows that the total tax burden rose from 29.4 percent to 29.7 percent of income due to increases in federal tax collections. The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance (WISTAX) is a nonpartisan organization devoted to public policy research and citizen education. A free copy of Gauging Wisconsin’s 2013 Taxes is available by visiting wistax.org; emailing [email protected]; calling 608.241.9789; or writing WISTAX at 401 North Lawn Ave., Madison, WI 53704-5033.

• The Sturgeon Bay grain elevator, located in the city’s West Waterfront Redevelopment Site, was again deemed “in generally good condition” by engineers.

“It’s not a clean bill of health but we know the building can be saved,” said Sturgeon Bay Community Development Director Marty Olejniczak. “Ultimately it will come down to cost/benefit.”

The biggest structural issue with the grain elevator is the grade beams, but Olejniczak said the city hasn’t gotten an estimate to see how much fixing those beams could cost.

“We know what’s wrong with it, but we don’t know exactly what it means to fix it up,” he said.

In September, the City of Sturgeon Bay received $30,000 from the Wisconsin Coastal Management Grant program to use for its West Waterfront Redevelopment Project, including the structural analysis of the grain elevator.

If it’s considered worth the price of construction, the grain elevator could be used as an indoor four-seasons market.