City officials will convene tonight for a hearing on the proposed 2014 budget, which calls for an increase in the city’s share of the tax levy of 1.52 percent, to $4.5 million from last year’s $4.43 million.
That is expected to translate into a tax rate of $8.76 per $1,000 of assessed value; a 16 cent increase over last year’s $8.60 per $1,000.
The total tax levy — with all other taxing entities included — would increase by about 1.7 percent, to $13.4 million from $131.1 million last year.
However, that would be offset by the state school tax credit, which remains unchanged from last year’s $751,826, for a net tax levy of $12.6 million compared to $12.4 million last year.
The total tax rate, after the school tax credit, would be about $24.63 per $1,000 of assessed valuation compared to about $24.10 per $1,000 last year.
The portion of the levy going to the Shawano School District would rise by about 3.5 percent, to $5.3 million from $5.1 million. The tax rate for school purposes works out to $10.35 per $1,000 of assessed valuation compared to $9.96 per $1,000 last year.
Shawano County’s portion of the levy would decrease by just under 1 percent, to $2.64 million from $2.66 million, with a tax rate of $5.14 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. Last year’s rate was $5.17 per $1,000.
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College’s tax levy in the city would inch up modestly by 0.15 percent, to $855,980 from $854,730. The tax rate for NWTC would be $1.67 per $1,000 versus $1.66 per $1,000 last year.
The state’s share of the tax levy would decrease by a half percent, to $87,508 from $87,551. The tax levy for state purposes remains unchanged at about 17 cents per $1,000.
City Administrator Brian Knapp said the proposed 2014 budget is basically “status quo,” after the city took steps last year to deal with an anticipated a $300,000 revenue shortfall and adopted a mix of tax increases and budget cuts.
The city levy went up by 4.1 percent last year, while the tax rate for city purposes rose by 28 cents per $1,000.
The city also cut a number of staff, including the building inspector, deputy treasurer, several positions at the Department of Public Works, a part-time clerical position and a crossing guard at the Police Department, and the caretaker position at Woodlawn Cemetery.
The crossing guard was restored for half a year before being eliminated over the summer, and the city is now contracting with its former full-time building inspector, Mike Miller, for those services.
None of the other positions has been restored in the 2014 budget.
The proposed budget, however, does include a 3 percent, mostly across-the-board, wage hike, with a few variations, according to Knapp.
Last year’s budget had no wage increases for departments heads or their staff.
One new line-item is $25,000 for enhanced drug enforcement efforts. The city tapped its general fund last year for the new expense, but decided it should be a budgeted item going forward.
The city is also proposing an increase in capital improvement projects next year, with a $2.2 million budget compared to $1.4 million this year. However, most of that expense was already borrowed for this year.
The city is proposing a 2 percent increase in the debt service portion of the levy, to roughly $1.58 million; an increase of just over $31,000.
The city’s general fund expenditures would increase by 1.9 percent, or $122,000, to roughly $6.6 million.
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