SCC Board approves $125.4 million budget for 2024, $45.1 million tax levy
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
By LeAnn R. Ralph
HUDSON — The St. Croix County Board has approved a budget of $125,365,036 for 2024, representing an increase of $5,058,844, and a property tax levy of $45,104,414.
St. Croix County ranks number three among the 72 counties for net new construction and is one of the fastest growing counties in Wisconsin, said Ken Witt, county administrator, at the St. Croix County Board’s November 7 meeting.
The population increase for St. Croix County has a corresponding increase for services provided to county residents, he said.
According to the executive summary presented to the county board, St. Croix County has a population of 97,437.
St. Croix County has been making investments. In 2016, St. Croix County built a new nursing home. In 2019, the county built a new highway shop. The government center expansion project is occurring now, Witt said.
The county has four major new revenue sources: a $920,000 increase in the revenue limit for the net new construction; an additional $753,000 in state shared revenue; sales tax revenue of $1.1 million; and $500,000 in interest earnings, he said.
New expenditures include $1.9 million for new positions, which invests new revenue in services for county residents, Witt said.
The new revenue also was used for a step increase in the employee wage grid, and the health insurance increase was kept to 1 percent, he said.
The budget has inflationary increases for items such as salt/sand and garbage service. The auto insurance for the county increased by 28 percent, Witt said.
Public safety is almost entirely funded by the property tax levy because public safety has no other sources of revenue, he noted.
The county has added 25.125 new positions, mostly in the sheriff’s department for deputies and another investigator, and in human services in the children’s services area, Witt said.
All together, 2.5 positions were eliminated from the Aging and Disability Resource Center, which are now contracted services, and a public health nurse position was eliminated in order to retain an epidemiologist, he said.
The county added 18.633 full-time equivalency employees, and the county now employs 650 FTE employees, Witt said.
Mill rate
St. Croix County’s mill rate for 2024, at $2.83 per $1,000 of property value, is the lowest the mill rate has been going back for nearly 50 years to 1975, Witt said.
St. Croix County has the eighth lowest mill rate out of 72 counties, and the mill rate is 37 percent below the state average, he said.
According to the executive summary, St. Croix County’s equalized value increased by 12.68 percent to a value of $15,960,844,400.
The county’s mill rate has decreased, but depending upon where the property is located, taxpayers will have different perspectives, Witt said.
Readers should be aware that when the equalized value increases, the mill rate decreases.
The 2023 mill rate was $3.08 per $1,000 of property value.
A property that was valued at $300,000 last year would have paid $924 in county property taxes.
If the same property is now valued at $350,000, at a lower mill rate of $2.83, that same property will pay $990 in property taxes, or $66 more, even though the mill rate is less.
Shared revenue
Rick Ottino, county board supervisor from Hudson and representing the Town of Hudson, asked about the increased shared revenue.
The state collects 5 percent in sales tax, and the counties are allowed collect a 1/2 percent in sales tax, Witt said.
Since the state had a large surplus, the state decided to send 1 percent of the 5 percent in sales tax revenue back to the municipalities — towns, villages, cities and counties — in the form of additional shared revenue, he said.
St. Croix County generates $12 million in sales tax, so if the state were going to return 1 percent to St. Croix County, that would amount to $24 million. The county received $753,000 in additional shared revenue, although the towns, cities and villages in St. Croix County also received increased state shared revenue, Witt said.
Increased state shared revenue to all the municipalities in St. Croix County does not add up to $24 million, he noted.
Amendment
Bob Feidler, county board supervisor from Hudson representing the Town of Troy, introduced a motion to amend the 2024 budget to use $100,000 in left-over American Rescue Plan Act funds (ARPA) in the amount of $45,000 to the Salvation Army and $45,000 to Turning Point for Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence.
The allocation would fulfill the purposes of the APRA money, and the agencies complement Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of St. Croix County, he said.
CASA “supports and promotes court-appointed volunteer advocacy for children and youth who have experienced abuse or neglect,” according to the organization’s website.
The amendment failed on a vote of 10 “no” to eight “yes.”
Dan Hanson, county board supervisor from Hudson who represents the City of New Richmond, was absent from the meeting.
The St. Croix County Board unanimously approved the 2024 budget and adopted the property tax levy.
Tax levy
The property tax levy for the 2024 budget of $45,104,414 includes the following:
• $3,985 state taxes for special charges.
• $32,714,905 for general county operations.
• $10,584,462 for debt service obligation.
• $86,000 for bridge aid.
• $1,715,062 for library aid.
Budget amendment
The St. Croix County Board also approved a resolution for an amendment to the 2023 budget that would support CASA with an additional $100,000 in remaining ARPA funds for 2023 and $200,000 for 2024, with the remainder of the ARPA funds going to the HVAC system for the government center expansion.
St. Croix County received $17.29 million in ARPA funds, and the county is currently estimating $430,000 in unspent funds on closed projects.
The additional ARPA money for CASA that was included in the resolution to amend the 2023 budget sparked a lengthy debate at the October meeting, was sent to the Committee of the Whole, which sent the issue back to the Administration Committee.
The Administration Committee recommended keeping the $100,000 for CASA in the resolution.
Those advocating for additional money to CASA said the additional support would strengthen the organization and would help position CASA better to apply for grant money.
At the November 7 meeting, some St. Croix County Board members objected to additional money being allocated for CASA, and some objected to spending additional money on the $80 million government center project.
In addition to thinking it would set a “bad precedent” to give additional money to CASA, Paul Berning, county board supervisor from Hudson representing the City of Hudson, also objected to the resolution because it did not include any written requirements for CASA to report on progress.
Several county board members noted that at a presentation to the Administration Committee, a representative for CASA had agreed to provide quarterly reports to the county.
A motion to table the 2023 budget amendment resolution indefinitely failed on a vote of three “yes” to 15 “no.”
An amendment to the resolution adding quarterly reporting requirements for CASA was approved on a vote of 16 “yes” to two “no.”
A motion was then introduced to remove the HVAC component from the budget amendment resolution.
Allocating left-over ARPA funds to the government center HVAC is a way to wrap up the use of the federal dollars, Witt said.
The money would go into the government center project contingency fund, and if there is enough money, then some of what was cut from the project so it would come in under budget could be added back in, such as solar panels for future energy savings and the road to Vine Street, he said.
There is already a process in place to spend the contingency money appropriately, so the HVAC component should be kept in the resolution, said Carah Koch, county board supervisor from Hudson representing the City of Hudson.
If the money is needed somewhere else, can it be moved out of the contingency fund? Berning asked.
There is no reason the board could not move the money out of the contingency fund for another purpose, Witt said.
A motion to amend the resolution for the 2023 budget amendment by removing the HVAC component for the government center project failed on a vote of 13 “no” to five “yes.”
The resolution to amend the 2023 budget by adding $100,000 for CASA and other remaining ARPA money to the government center project HVAC, with a quarterly reporting requirement for CASA, was approved on a vote of 13 “yes” to five “no.”
