Brian Dake

Gov. Tony Evers signed off Wednesday on the Ho-Chunk Nation’s plans to open a casino and entertainment complex in Beloit, hailing the project as job creator that will help the region recover from the economic damage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Strong February housing sales pushed what are typically the three slowest months of the year into record territory, according to the most recent analysis of the existing home market by the Wisconsin REALTORS^® Association (WRA). February 2021 sales increased 5.5% compared to February 2020, which was the last month before the recession began. Inventories continued to be very tight, which has led to a sustained period of very strong price appreciation. The median price rose to $215,000 in February, which is 13.2% higher than 12 months earlier. In fact, median prices have grown at an annual rate of 9.7% or higher each month since July of last year.

This is the strongest seller’s market on record, and it pushed prices up sharply in February,” said WRA President & CEO Michael Theo. The inventory problem shows no sign of abating. The state had just 2.1 months of available supply in February, which is the second straight month of record-low inventory levels. “Every price range of homes, every region of the state, and every type of county, from the most urban to the most rural, have very strong seller’s markets,” said Theo.

“One bright spot has been the new construction market,” said Theo. A review of Wisconsin single-family permit data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau shows an increase of 13.7% in 2020 compared to 2019, and housing permits were up 19% in January compared to 12 months earlier. The number of permits is a reliable predictor of housing starts. “Most buyers who build a new home are trading up from an existing home, so the strong seller’s market is helping to fuel the new home market,” said Theo. Since the average time from a housing start to completion is 7.4 months in the Midwest, the increased permit activity in 2020 should help mitigate the supply problem in 2021. “We still need to see more inventory of existing homes, but this is a good sign going into the peak sales season,” he said.

As eligibility for the COVID-19 widens to more groups in the coming weeks, the state’s top health official said employers will play an important role in helping their employees access the vaccine when the time comes.

Interim Wisconsin Department of Health Services secretary Karen Timberlake said the role of employers varies, but could include allowing employees to take off work to get vaccinated, hosting on-site vaccine clinics or simply sharing information about vaccine safety with employees.

“We think you have a role to play,” Timberlake told GMC members. “And we do think that the most important thing you can be doing is helping your employees with access to good, fact-based, science-based information about vaccine efficacy and safety, vaccine availability, what the plan is for your workplace when your employees become eligible.”

“We know that employers are a very trusted messenger for their employees around these kinds of matters, so our job as a health department is to equip you with the facts you need,” she added.

Employers should consider how transportation challenges could prevent employees from accessing the vaccine and potentially partner with a local health department or health systems to ease those issues. With vaccine appointments generally being held during traditional work hours, Timberlake said employers should also consider allowing employees to get their shot on paid time.

Governor Tony Evers wants to allow counties to be able to double their existing sales tax and allow larger municipalities to impose a new half-cent sales tax, if local voters approve.

On Friday, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) posted updated FAQs about recent legislation that extended and amended tax relief to certain small- and mid-sized employers under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

The FAQs are available at COVID-19-Related Tax Credits for Required Paid Leave Provided by Small and Midsize Businesses FAQs.

The updates to the FAQs cover how the COVID-related Tax Relief Act of 2020, enacted December 27, 2020, extends the availability of the tax credits created by the FFCRA to eligible employers for paid sick and family leave provided through March 31, 2021, as well as other amendments to the credits.

The paid sick and family leave credits, which previously were available only until the end of 2020, have been extended for periods of leave taken through March 31, 2021.

In addition, an eligible employer can receive the paid sick leave credit for employees who are unable to work due to caring for someone with coronavirus or caring for a child because the child’s school or place of care is closed, or the paid childcare provider is unavailable due to the coronavirus. Eligible employers may claim the credit for paid sick leave provided to an employee for up to two weeks (up to 80 hours) at 2/3 the employee’s regular rate of pay, or up to $200 per day and $2,000 in total.

Employers are also entitled to a paid family leave credit for paid family leave provided to an employee equal to 2/3 of the employee’s regular pay, up to $200 per day and $10,000 in total. Up to 10 weeks of qualifying leave can be counted towards the family leave credit.

Eligible employers are entitled to immediately receive a credit in the full amount of the paid sick leave and family leave plus related health plan expenses and the employer’s share of Medicare tax on the leave provided through March 31, 2021. The refundable credit is applied against certain employment taxes on wages paid to all employees.

Eligible employers may claim the credits on their federal employment tax returns (e.g., Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return), but they can benefit more quickly from the credits by reducing their federal employment tax deposits. If there are insufficient federal employment taxes to cover the amount of the credits, an eligible employer may request an advance payment of the credits from the IRS by submitting a Form 7200, Advance Payment of Employer Credits Due to COVID-19.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order Friday ordering the Department of Labor to issue guidance that clarifies “workers have a federally guaranteed right to refuse employment that will jeopardize their health and if they do so, they will still qualify for unemployment insurance.”

Generally, you can’t refuse what’s considered “suitable work,” whether it’s a new job offer or a call to return to a reopened workplace, and still receive unemployment insurance. In more traditional times, suitable work is thought of as a job that matches your skill set and pays a similar rate as your old one.

Under the Trump administration, states, local governments and employers were often left to determine what constituted as a safe work environment free of risks to workers’ health and safety during the Covid pandemic. Recent moves from the Biden White House aim to formalize a national standard.

As with existing protocol, new federal guidance will still require workers to demonstrate how their work environment places their health in jeopardy, that they’ve done something to raise the issue with their employer to enforce an improved standard, and that their employer has chosen to not act on recommended health and safety guidance, such as that from the CDC, local or state regulations — and soon, federal guidance on workplace health and safety.

For example, you can’t just walk into your work facility, see that no one’s wearing a mask, walk off the job and later file for unemployment. However, if you approach your boss about enforcing universal mask-wearing to minimize the spread of the virus, and they decline to do so, you may have just cause for refusing unsafe work that places your health in jeopardy and qualifying for unemployment benefits while you look for a new job.

The latest single-housing permit numbers show that new home construction is up ten percent at the end of 2020 compared to the end of 2019.

The data, compiled by information required to be submitted by municipalities to the Department of Safety and Professional Services, shows 12,291 new home permits were issued across the state in 2020 compared to 11,207 in 2019.

Quarter four is down slightly compared to quarter three, with 3,392 permits issued in quarter four of 2020 and 3,825 permits issued in quarter three.

“We are thrilled with the yearly increase in building permits,” said Wisconsin Builders Association (WBA) Executive Director Brad Boycks. “Our industry is one that was not shut down in the early part of the year. The ability to continue building homes for people across the state was a significant factor in this great increase, and further helps the other industries impacted by homebuilding.”

Other encouraging numbers, released by the Department of Administration, includes the numbers of plats and lots approved through December of 2020; 204 and 5,447, respectively. In 2019, there were 152 plats and 4,593 lots approved.

Without action from state lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, many small businesses in Wisconsin may have to pay unexpected state taxes on loans taken out under the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

The news comes less than a month after Congress created a legislative fix to the same issue on the federal level, ensuring that businesses would not have to pay additional federal taxes on their PPP loans. Those changes came in the latest round of coronavirus relief that was signed into law in late December.

But in a notice posted on its website Friday, the state Department of Revenue clarified that Wisconsin law adheres to prior PPP restrictions, meaning small businesses will not be able to deduct those expenses from their state taxes.

That means small businesses, many of which are under immense financial strain amid the COVID-19 economic downturn, could have to pay state taxes on their PPP loans unless the state Legislature and Evers intervene.

Terry Hoover, a partner at the Appleton offices of the accounting and consulting firm Wipfli, said the cost to businesses will vary depending on the size of their PPP loan and how the business is organized. For a sole proprietor, for example, Hoover estimates businesses could face an extra $6,000 to $8,000 for every $100,000 worth of expenses a business isn’t able to deduct.

If no legislative action is taken by April 15, many businesses will be required to begin paying state taxes on their PPP loans, according to Hoover. But he added that some businesses have already been affected by the confusion, including at least seven businesses at Wipfli alone.

“So now they wake up to find on Friday morning that they actually have underpaid their Wisconsin taxes, and so have to amend those returns and pay in more, plus interest at 12 percent,” Hoover said. “Or they can wait and hope for the best that the Legislature acts to retroactively (bring Wisconsin into alignment with federal law) to avoid having to do that.”