2024 Elk Mound budget set at $779,010, village board discusses budgeting issues
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
ELK MOUND — The Elk Mound Village Board has approved a revenue and expense budget of $779,010 for 2024.
Following a public hearing held December 4 during which no members of the public commented or asked questions about the budget, the village board discussed budgeting difficulties.
The 2024 budget uses $10,079 from savings, said Karin Wolf, village clerk-treasurer.
Elk Mound Police Chief Chad Weinberger puts in a certain amount of overtime and has requested more officers, said Terry Stamm, village president.
Police Chief Weinberger was hired in 2018, and calls for service have been increasing as the population increases.
Elk Mound has excellent part-time help in the police department, but many of those working part-time in Elk Mound work full-time for other agencies, the police chief said.
When working for two agencies, officers can get burned out after working so many days in a row, he said, noting that the primary agency cannot give up time that the officer works to free up more time to work in Elk Mound.
Over the weekend, a woman had found a cat and called the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department, and the sheriff’s department gave her Stamm’s name and telephone number, Stamm said.
Elk Mound has a contract with the Dunn County Humane Society, and village residents can take the animal to the humane society if there is no officer available, he said.
When Stamm talked to the woman, she said her neighbor had agreed to take the cat.
Police Chief Weinberger is conscientious about communicating with the village president on various issues in the village, Stamm said, noting that he had served as police chief in Elk Mound for 10 years, and that while quite a lot has changed about the job of being a police officer, what has not changed is handling people and getting back to them about an issue.
Stamm, as village president, approves the overtime for the police chief.
When Police Chief Weinberger says he must put in overtime, it is because of something where time is of the essence, such as a physical abuse case involving a child or domestic abuse, he said.
The nature of many of the cases that a police department handles carry burn-out possibilities, so the village should be putting in an effort to have someone else who can help the police chief with the work, Stamm said.
Police Chief Weinberger said he needed an officer as a primary employee and not as a part-time person.
Referendum
The village board could hold a referendum to ask village residents to increase the amount that can be levied for property taxes to cover the increases in operational costs, said Tim Benjamin, village trustee.
Elk Mound applied for a grant to hire another police officer, but the village has found out the grant is not being awarded to Elk Mound, Stamm said.
Issues that come up in the village create more work for the police department, and the village board is trying to act in the best interests of the village by increasing the tax base, he said.
Increasing the tax base with more residential development has resulted in both good and bad, so that there is more tax base, but the additional tax base also creates more issues, Stamm said.
Levy limit
Elk Mound has levied to the limit for property taxes, Stamm said.
State law allows municipalities to only levy a certain amount, and increases in the levy are allowed according to the amount of net new construction.
Emergency services are important to the residents of the village, Stamm said, noting that Elk Mound relies on the Colfax Rescue Squad for ambulance service and that Colfax is losing the chief of the ambulance service because he has resigned.
“How do we do it all financially?” Stamm asked.
When the valuation changes, it is delayed by a year in terms of being able to levy more property taxes, said Pat Hahn, village trustee.
If the valuation of the property all changes, but it all changes by the same percentage, there is not much impact on the property taxes, but not all property increases by the same percentage, Stamm said.
The assessors receive the building permits, so some of the valuation increase is based on improvements that are covered by building permits, but if the property owner does not get a building permit, the assessor does not know improvements have been made, Hahn said.
Referendum
The village board should “stop kidding” Police Chief Weinberger about whether the village will hire another police officer, Stamm said.
The village could hold a referendum to exceed the revenue limit, Benjamin said.
The City of Eau Claire and various school districts have held referendums to exceed the revenue limit, he said.
Referendums can be held for borrowing money for a capital improvement project or for additional money to cover operational expenses.
For school districts, referendums to borrow money for capital improvement projects have usually been more successful than referendums to exceed the revenue limit for operational expenses, although in recent years, the referendums for operational expenses have been somewhat more successful.
Taxpayers, it seems, are more inclined to raise their own taxes if there is something tangible they will see, such as a new building or improvements to a building, rather than money to pay employees or to keep the lights on.
The Elk Mound Village Board owes it to the residents to hold a referendum and to “do it right” so that every village resident can vote, Benjamin said.
State law establishes a timeline for referendums and has requirements for wording on the ballots.
The school districts send out a survey to the community to find out what the community will support and then ask for money to pay for what residents have said they will support, said Mark Levra, director of public works.
During the last referendum for the Colfax school district, for example, the Colfax Messenger reporter served on the steering committee, and the committee wanted to include an auditorium for student drama performances and musical performances that could also be used by the community for meetings or by community organizations, such as the Dunn County Barbershoppers, to hold performances.
The steering committee also believed air conditioning for the school buildings should be included in the referendum.
Residents in the district indicated on the surveys that they would not pay for an auditorium or for air conditioning, so neither of those items were included in the referendum projects.
Tax increases
If the village board held a referendum, residents would know how much per $100,000 per property value they would pay in extra taxes, Benjamin said.
A typical marketing strategy for referendums is to communicate to the public about the impact on their property taxes.
Increasing the taxes for Elk Mound might not be the only increase Elk Mound residents will see on their taxes if the school district, the county or the technical college district also increase taxes, Hahn noted.
A specific amount has to be set for the referendum, Stamm said.
The Elk Mound police chief and the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department both respond to problems at the school district, and Elk Mound residents pay for both, he said.
“I get asked questions, and I have to be convinced by (the police chief) that the public is not at risk,” Stamm said.
Stamm suggested the village board could wait for two weeks to approve the budget, but Hahn pointed out that if the budget was changed at this point, the entire budget would have to be adjusted.
The Elk Mound Village Board unanimously approved the 2024 budget as presented.
Other business
In other business, the Elk Mound Village Board:
• Approved a list of election inspectors that includes Joyce Price, Julie Conlin, Karla Benjamin, Tim Benjamin, Margaret Dieter, Pat Hahn, Normetta Gilbert and Janice Kohnke.
• Approved the 2024 budget for the water and sewer utilities. Revenue for the sewer utility increased by 21 percent, and revenue for the water utility increased by 19 percent, Wolf said.
• Approved an updated bond schedule for the police department that removed references to loitering and increased the fine for parking in a handicapped parking space from $25 to $150. The fines are consistent with the state bond schedule, Police Chief Weinberger said.
• Approved a bartender operator’s license for Micaela Begley (Kat’s Pourhouse).
• Changed the December 18 meeting to December 20 at 6:30 p.m.
• Cancelled the January 1 meeting and agreed to hold one meeting next month on January 15 at 6 p.m.
