As first reported by Dan Cody and Jay Bullock Republican county supervisor candidate Steve Kraeger, who’s running against my good friend Jason Haas for the vacant seat in Milwaukee County’s 14th supervisory district, has loaned his campaign $50,000. Putting aside the fact that $50,000 is a heck of a lot of money to pour into a campaign for county supervisor, I’m left to wonder why Steve Kraeger would put that kind of money into his campaign, as opposed to spending it in other ways.
For example, instead of pouring $50,000 into his campaign to become the 14th district’s next county supervisor, Kraeger could have invested the money into improvements to his home, which has seen its assessed value drop precipitously from $104,600 in 2005 to $26,100 in 2010. Kraeger’s house is now worth less than half of the value of the land on which it is built, as the land is valued at $59,600. What’s more, Kraeger’s house seems to be the aberration in his neighborhood, as the assessed values of the land and homes in Kraeger’s neighborhood are in many cases nearly double the value of Kraeger’s land and home.
I’m not entirely sure why Steve Kraeger’s property is valued so significantly less than those of his neighbors, but I’m not entirely sure I’d want a guy who seems to have let his property go to pot to have a hand in crafting Milwaukee County’s budget and making decisions with my tax dollars.
As someone who lives in the 14th district, I’m wondering where he lives.