The city of Shawano’s tax rate could be increasing for 2025, but officials are hoping to keep a 2% cost-of-living increase alive for employees while moving back to a health insurance plan set up by the state.
The Shawano Common Council received a briefing Oct. 23 addressing the latest budget work, with City Administrator Eddie Sheppard reporting that a $70,000 budget deficit has been closed in the last month and the budget is balanced. He said the current tax rate of $8.78 per $1,000 of assessed valuation is expected to jump up 30 cents to $9.08, which means the owner of a $200,000 home can expect to pay $1,816 in city taxes.
On the same day as the council meeting, the Shawano County Board of Supervisors signed off on its final budget, which includes a 9-cent increase in the tax rate. The Shawano School Board is expected to approve a final budget where its tax rate will drop by at least 16 cents, depending on whether a $51.2 million referendum is passed by voters in November.
Currently, the city gets its health insurance through Robin Health, but a large increase in the renewal for next year prompted officials to look at other options, including returning to the state’s health plan, according to Sheppard.
“It’s appealing in that ThedaCare is back in Network Health,” Sheppard said, noting that ThedaCare leaving Network Health was what prompted the city to leave the state health plan a few years ago.
Sheppard said that alternative plans would provide savings in the first year the city joined but there would be some cost issues in future years.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty and risk in the years moving forward,” Sheppard said.
Going with the state health plan would result in a surcharge in the first year. The surcharge would be cut in half for the second year and then disappear after that, according to Sheppard.
“We feel like this is the best option,” he said, adding that he’s been meeting with small groups of employees to help them through the open enrollment process for Network Health. “Everyone’s got a different situation, and things that we’re trying to accommodate.”
Sheppard noted that there are multiple options that city staff can go with.
The final costs for insurance will help determine if the city can provide its employees with the 2% raise, according to Sheppard. The change in insurance companies is prompting some employees to go onto their spouse’s plans or go from family insurance to single insurance.
The city plans to take a hard look at all the positions it currently has and will try to consolidate where necessary.
One position that’s being eliminated is the municipal court clerk position due to the city losing money annually on the court operation, which it shares with the village of Bonduel. Sheppard said those duties would be distributed among the front office staff, and that some front office duties would be taken over by the finance office.
“The last time I presented the budget, we had a $70,000 gap between revenues and expenditures,” Sheppard said. “Now we’re looking at a balanced budget with a revenue increase.”
Also, the current court clerk will be moved over to the police department to clerk there, as two of the current clerks are retiring, Sheppard said. The remaining clerk position will remain open through 2025.
He noted that the health insurance surcharge dropping in 2026 would give the city additional revenue to work with.
Sheppard said the city saw a $17 million increase in property assessments, but this year, personal property has been removed as a taxable venue, and that makes up $13 million, which leaves the city with only $4 million in assessments that can be taxed.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
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