SCC Board approves $43.68 million total property tax levy
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
HUDSON — The St. Croix County Board has approved a total property tax levy of $43.68 million for the 2023 revenue and expense budget of $120.3 million.
The property tax levy represents an increase of 15.84 percent, according to information provided to the St. Croix County Board at the November 1 meeting.
The 2023 budget had a structural deficit of $750,000 to start, said Ken Witt, county administrator.
Other increases to the budget include a 1.4 percent increase for health insurance and an increase in employees of .315 Full Time Equivalency for a total of $61,000, he said.
It is important to compensate the employees accordingly so that St. Croix County remains competitive for employees, Witt noted.
Increases in operating expenses are due to increases in the cost of items such as Microsoft licensing and salt for the roads, he said, which are increases over which St. Croix County has no control.
St. Croix County is the fourth highest in the state for net new construction and that makes it easier to meet the budget, Witt said.
State-imposed revenue limits allow municipalities to increase their tax levies based on net new construction.
Debt service also has increased by about $5 million in the 2023 budget to begin paying back the $80 million borrowed for the government center expansion and remodeling project, Witt said.
The growth in St. Croix County’s population means that it is inevitable that the government center project would have to be completed. If the county board waited a few years to do the government center project, then the cost would probably end up being $20 million more, he said.
The increase in the debt levy for the government center project will be a one time increase, and then as the population continues to grow, the cost to the individual taxpayer will decline, Witt said.
$6.6 million
All together, the changes in the budget amounts to $6.6 million, Witt said.
In addition to the structural deficit of $750,000, the compensation increase for employees, at an average of 5 percent, amounts to $1.95 million, he said.
Jail medical added $200,000, and Health and Human Services children’s services added $715,000, while facilities and Information Technology inflation added $280,000, Witt said.
The debt service increase is $5.2 million, and the decrease in the capital improvement program is $3.3 million while the operating expense increase is $837,764, he said.
The total change in the budget is $6,577,690, Witt reported to the county board.
The corresponding revenue includes $936,992 for the closing of two Tax Increment Finance Districts, and an increase in the property tax levy of $4,990,463, an additional $1.5 million in sales tax revenue, $424,883 for grants and $445,000 for insurance programs, he said.
St. Croix County had an increase of 2.8 percent for net new construction, according to information provided to the county board.
One-third of St. Croix County’s revenue comes from the property tax levy and two-thirds of the county’s revenue comes from sales tax, revenue from services provided, and state funding, Witt said.
The property tax funds public safety at 96 percent of expenditures because there is no other revenue available, he said.
St. Croix County is essentially a service organization to provide services to residences, so 50 percent of the budget goes for salaries and benefits, and 38 percent of the budget is for supplies and operating expenses, Witt said.
Employee benefits
Employee benefit changes include an increase in the health insurance deductible from $500 to $1,000 for a single employee, and from $750 to $1500 for a family, Witt said.
The 1.4 percent increase in health insurance premiums compares to an average health insurance industry increase of 8 to 9 percent, he said.
Contributions to the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) are set by the state and increased from 6.5 percent to 6.8 percent, Witt said.
Dental premiums had no change and are 75 percent employee funded, Witt said.
St. Croix County is self-funded through Delta Dental.
Mill rate
The mill rate for St. Croix County will decrease by 1 percent to $3.08 per $1,000 of property value, Witt said, noting that this is the tenth consecutive year of a decrease in the mill rate.
The mill rate is at a historic low going back to 1975, when the mill rate was $3.02 per $1,000 of property value, he said, noting that 1975 was as far back in the records as he could research.
Last year’s mill rate was $3.11 per $1,000 of property value, and the decrease in the mill rate is due to the increase in equalized value, the net new construction in the county and the close of two TIF districts, Witt said.
The equalized value of St. Croix County increased by 17 percent, he noted.
Hotspots
Before adopting the 2023 budget and property tax levy, the St. Croix County Board approved a resolution to include $8,706 for two hotspots for each library in the county that can be loaned out to library patrons for Internet access.
During the public comments portion of the meeting, Judy Achterhof, who formerly served on the St. Croix County Board but decided not to run again this past April, read a statement from an Emerald resident about the benefits of the hotspots in areas that have little or no Internet access.
The woman wrote that she had two children in high school who need Internet access to do their school work.
Without the hotspots, it is a 30-mile round trip to a library where her children can access the Internet.
The hotspots that could be checked out from the New Richmond library, and other libraries in the area as well, meant that her children could have Internet access at home for almost two weeks every month, the woman wrote.
The hotspots started as a pilot program four years ago to add additional hotspots to the libraries, Witt said, noting that many of the libraries already have hotspots funded through their own budgets to loan out to patrons, but that the two additional hotspots mean there is a shorter waiting list for them.
The libraries are already operating under the assumption that the funding for the hotspots will be approved, he noted.
The St. Croix County Board unanimously approved the resolution to fund the hotspots at $8,706.
Tax levy
The total property tax levy of $43,683,796.40 for St. Croix County includes the following:
• $495.40 for special charges.
• $31,794,257 for general county operations.
• $10,712,540 for debt service.
• $62,555 for bridge aid.
• $1,113,922 for library aid.
The St. Croix County Board unanimously approved the property tax levy for the 2023 budget.
