SURPRISING STUFF
Walgreens Pharmacy in Lake Geneva.
Don’t go there, not for a prescription, the other stuff or even to pass the time. Once, this place was a near gathering spot for citizens of Lake Geneva but then it fell upon hard times. The place is crammed with junk, and the people working in the pharmacy are, by and large, uncaring, and remote. The windows open for different services are almost always closed, with only the checkout line available, and that can have as many as fifteen people in it waiting. Good luck. Drive through is better service but be ready to turn your ignition off to save gas on the wait.
What is a much better alternative?
How about CVS, where Tom and his staff run that pharmacy like an old-fashioned neighborhood pharmacy and the staff of Target going in or coming out is exquisite in manners and kindness. The Geneva Shore Report doesn’t usually write much about retail operations that are substandard but occasionally, if they are affecting the goodwill and attitude of much of the community, we make an exception. This is one of them. The Walgreens in Lake Geneva would make a much better parking lot than what it has become, and it would probably be more popular.
Parking revenue is down so the City of Lake Geneva is looking to make up the shortfall by possibly raising parking rates.
There have been many different scenarios presented with an increase for all areas, just weekdays, just weekends and a combination of all the above. There are plenty of other options to help cover the extra costs brought onto the city by the thousands of visitors that flock here each week.
The most obvious way would be to tax the visitors that come to Lake Geneva by putting a Premier Resort Area Tax (PRAT) into effect. PRAT is a local retail sales tax which was authorized by the Wisconsin legislature and is administered by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Under law, the sponsoring municipality may only use the proceeds of this tax to pay for emergency services and infrastructure expenses within its jurisdiction. This is exactly what the city needs to help maintain the roads and city services that have become an added cost due to the influx in visitors. The sale, license, lease, or rental of the taxable product or taxable service takes place in (i.e., is “sourced” to) a premier resort area would be allowed to add on an additional tax typically around 1.25%. This is important because the visitors wear down the roads and use the city’s emergency services which in effect costs the city money.
The City of Lake Geneva has a bigger department of public works because the extra manpower is needed to maintain the city and support the events that draw the visitors to this wonderful city. Without the help of the public works staff the city would not look as great as it does, especially with their support during the big events and long weekends. Lake Geneva provides 40% of the sales tax for the county but does not reap any of the benefits which could be used to help fund the police department which is the second largest per capita in the state due to all the activity and increase in calls to both the police and fire department. Rich Hedlund is the only council member that has it right on this issue and is trying to bring PRAT to the city of Lake Geneva. He has been reaching out to the state senator and representative to push for a PRAT within the City of Lake Geneva, but the Tyler August is concerned about supporting the PRAT since the city just spent six million dollars on the purchase of Hillmoor.
Place of the Week
Horticulture Hall on Broad Street is a great gathering place for any event and home of the wonderful Lake Geneva Farmers Market.
