Work has begun in earnest on the Oconto County budget for 2025, with the county board’s approval July 18 of the annual budget guidance letter.
The county is working its way through a 2024 budget that features $50,157,268 in expenditures and a county property tax levy of $22,061,436. In addition to the local property tax, other revenues include state aid, state and federal grants, license fees and charges for services.
County Administrator Richard Heath said he and the board’s standing committees plan to meet with department heads to begin discussing their budget requests for the new year. As has been the custom in recent years, the managers are asked to start with a zero percent spending increase.
“Then we can have that discussion on pluses and minuses within their budget,” Heath said. “Some of the larger departments like health and human services and highway, they do have carryover at the end of the year, that does help our overall budget here in the county.”
Budget discussions are also planned with outside organizations that get some of their funding from the county, including the city-county airport, Commission on Aging, and the Tourism and Economic Development Corp. of the Oconto Region (TEDCOR), the rebranded Oconto County Economic Development Corp.
“We’re asking them for a zero percent increase and seeing what kind of budgeting they are requesting for 2025, as well,” Heath said.
A special library planning committee is wrapping up its work on a updated five-year plan for 2025-29, which will revise the funding process for local libraries. The panel was scheduled to meet July 29 to finish crafting the plan, which is headed for public hearings Aug. 15 and possibly Aug. 20 in two or three locations around the county.
The 2025 county budget will be the second to benefit from nearly $500,000 in additional state shared revenue to be used for law enforcement, emergency medical services, emergency response communications, public works and transportation, Heath said.
“While the supplemental aid is welcome and appreciated, the levy caps imposed on local governments and counties are tied to net new construction, which largely offsets this increase in the supplemental aid,” he said in the budget guidance letter. “Fortunately, Oconto County is growing at a consistent rate and has avoided any noticeable reduction in the collection of property tax revenue.”
The county mill rate decreased from 2023 to 2024, from $4.167 per $1,000 of equalized valuation to $3.583, but that was largely because of a $17.9 million increase in the county’s equalized valuation.
The budget guidance anticipates a 2% increase in salaries for county employees, the same as last year, as well as step increases and merit increases for eligible employees.
In response to a question from Supervisor Guy Gooding, human resources director Shelly Schultz said only a small percentage of county employees do not get merit increase, “probably less than 10%.”
Heath said negotiations with sheriff deputies are scheduled for this fall, and “we’ll know a little bit more as that unfolds.”
A total increase of $1,230,997 is expected for salaries and benefits for 2025, including a possible increase up to 9% in insurance premiums, he said.
Final budget requests are due in the county administrator’s office by Sept. 6, and Heath will be reporting to the county board at its regular meetings Sept. 19 and Oct. 17. The notice of the annual budget public hearing, which includes the administrator’s proposed budget numbers, is scheduled to be sent to local newspapers Oct. 2.
The public hearing is held just prior to the county board’s annual budget meeting, scheduled for the morning of Oct. 31.
wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com
