The Shawano County Board signed off on its budget for 2014, including a lower tax levy and a slightly lower tax rate.
The board voted 24-2 to approve a $57.8 million budget, a 4.4 percent decrease from the $60.5 million budget the board approved last year.
The tax rate will drop about 0.87 percent, or 4.5 cents, from $5.167 per $1,000 of equalized value this year to $5.122 next year. Owners of a property valued at $100,000 can expect to pay $512.20 in county taxes, compared with $516.70 this year.
The total levy for the county is dropping for the first time in more than a decade. The county expects to bring in more than $14.76 million for 2014, a 1.03 percent decrease from the $14.9 million collected last year.
Equalized values are staying flat, up only 0.17 percent. The total equalized valuation for property in Shawano County is $2,881,488,000.
Also, the county saw minimal growth in new construction in 2013, only 0.66 percent.
A sharp drop in interest income over the last several years also contributed to a tight budget. In 2007, the interest income totaled more than $1.2 million. For 2014, the county is only receiving $150,000.
“It used to be a major funding source that helped the county’s bottom line,” Rusch said. “The drop has made the whole budgeting process really difficult.”
Supervisor Arlyn Tober, Finance Committee chairman, said budget work was especially difficult this year.
“This year, I think, was about the worst yet, because there was about $1.4 million had to be cut,” Tober said.
County Board Chairman Jerry Erdmann agreed with Tober, saying he regretted having a budget with no raises for employees. A 2 percent planned raise would have cost an estimated $200,000 to implement.
“It’s just part of the economy we live in,” Erdmann said.
Supervisor Mike McClelland, one of the two votes against the budget, failed in his effort to cut $80,000 from the budget, specifically to purchase new squad vehicles for the Sheriff’s Department.
With $153,000 in capital project money, an estimated $40,000 from trading in older vehicles and money carried over from a vehicle replacement fund, department officials estimated nine or 10 vehicles could be bought.
“Only five of the squad cars have 100,000 miles on them,” McClelland said. “I feel (buying) 10 is way out of line.”
Supervisor Robert Krause opposed McClelland’s proposal, saying the issue should have been addressed by the Public Safety Committee, which McClelland chairs.
McClelland said Sheriff’s Department administrators “are not as open and transparent as you might believe,” and that his committee was unaware of how many vehicles would be purchased when it passed the department budget in August.
McClelland’s amendment failed 19-7.
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