It's been just over a year since the sales tax in the city of Milwaukee rose 2%.
The rollout was a little rocky, as residents in neighboring cities like Glendale discovered that initially, some retailers were incorrectly adding the new sales tax.
Watch: Here's why Glendale could soon have a new ZIP Code:
In a continuing ripple effect, Glendale is now working with lawmakers to make sure something like this doesn't happen again.
According to Wisconsin's Department of Revenue, a total of 65 sales tax error complaints were filed last year related to this issue. In Glendale, it was a bit like the straw that broke the camel's back. Now, the city is lobbying for an entirely new ZIP code, hoping to avoid a problem like this in the future.
"The first couple of days of January 2024, I started getting a number of complaints from residents," recalled Glendale Mayor Bryan Kennedy. Once they were flagged, a majority of the sales tax errors were fixed quickly. Mayor Kennedy says it took just six hours at Trader Joe's.
But it wasn't just retailers. Glendale residents found sales tax errors on bills from phone service providers, streaming services, and even car leases. People like Fred Cohn realized he was being charged a 7.9% sales tax, instead of 5.9%, when his lease bill began to show an unpaid balance. "I think it was three phone calls, and it finally got resolved," he said.
In many cases, Mayor Kennedy says the issue was traced back to Glendale's shared ZIP codes, which include pieces of the city of Milwaukee. Glendale, a city of just over 13,000 people, has three ZIP codes: 53217, 53212, and 53209. The mayor says it's led to other problems. "For example, people that mail something and they live in 53217 — they mail an absentee ballot to city hall, and it sometimes takes a week to get here because it has to switch," he explained. "It has to go through central processing and then come back to 53209, and we've had so many delivery issues with 53209."
The mayor has reached out to the U.S. Postmaster General and requested a new ZIP code specific to the city of Glendale. It's something Fred Cohn applauds. He says it could alleviate many headaches and believes it might even lower his car insurance bill. "Car insurance is rated on 53209, and 53209 has a higher ZIP code rating than anything else," he added.
So, how soon could the Postmaster General make a decision about Glendale's new ZIP code request? The process is not quick or straightforward. But, alongside this, the mayor says Glendale is also working with members of Congress to hopefully pass a bill that would essentially direct the U.S. Postal Service to create new ZIP codes for about 40 municipalities that are having similar issues and delivery errors. If that bill passes and the President signs it, the change will likely happen sooner.
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