DC board learns mill rate will increase 5.6 percent on $69.2 million budget

By LeAnn R. Ralph

MENOMONIE — Dunn County taxpayers can expect to pay a little more this time around.

The mill rate for Dunn County’s 2013 budget is projected to increase by 5.6 percent, which amounts to an increase of 42 cents per $1,000 of property value — or $42 on a $100,000 property.

The Dunn County Board reviewed a draft of the $69.2 million budget for 2013 at the October 17 meeting.

The 2013 budget is $1.5 million more than the 2012 budget of $67.6 million. The 2011 budget was $70.3 million.

“As of two weeks ago, we still had a $500,000 deficit,” said Gene Smith, county manager.

“What we are proposing is a balanced budget with a modest increase in the property tax,” he said.

The tax levy for 2013 of $20.30 million represents a $269,000 increase (1.35 percent) over the tax levy for this year of $20.03 million.

The levy is up by 1.35 percent, but the equalized value in the county decreased by $106 million (4.02 percent), Smith said.

The mill rate for the 2012 budget was $7.58 per $1,000 of property value. The proposed mill rate for the 2013 budget is $8.

One county board member wondered how many more years that $500,000 would be added to the tax levy for the Dunn County Health Care Center.

In April of 2009 during a referendum election, county residents approved adding $500,000 to the tax levy for five years.

The additional amount for the health care center will be added to the county tax levy for one more year after 2013.

Department budgets

Here are some the expenditures for county departments in the 2013 budget:

• County board — $55,228
• Circuit court — $461,102
• Clerk of courts — $871,061
• Medical examiner — $106,507
• Emergency management — $160,070
• District attorney — $414,972
• Corporation counsel — $366,449
• Child support — $585,469
• County manager — $3.6 million
• County clerk — $258,986
• Facilities — $1.5 million
• Sheriff’s department — $6.5 million
• Emergency communications — $1.05 million
• Public health — $1.3 million
• Home health care — $901,669
• Miscellaneous — $8.6 million (includes self-funded health insurance; self-funded worker’s compensation and grants to outside agencies)
• Environmental services — $3.8 million
• Debt service — $2.8 million
• Highway department and transit commission — $13 million
• Health care center — $11.6 million
• Human services — $9.03 million

Budget meeting

Instead of a Tuesday morning meeting, as has been the case in years past, the Dunn County Board will hold the annual budget meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 13.