Colfax approves property tax levy of $515,320 for 2025 general expense budget of $1.5 million
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — The Colfax Village Board has approved a property tax levy of $515,320 for the 2025 general fund expense budget of $1,532,447.
The property tax levy approved by the village board at the budget hearing on December 4 of $515,320 for 2025 compares to a property tax levy for this year’s budget of $547,246, representing a decrease of $31,926, according to the budget summary published in the Colfax Messenger for the budget hearing.
Jeff Prince, village president, opened the budget hearing just after the meeting convened at 6 p.m. and kept the public hearing open for more than 30 minutes.
One village resident, Keith Burcham, attended the public hearing to ask questions and to comment on the budget.
The property tax levy is based on an expense budget of $1,532,447 for general fund expenses, compared to a general fund expense budget for 2024 of $1,552,152, representing a decrease of $19,705, according to the budget summary.
The proposed revenue budget of $1,145,675 is $386,772 less than the proposed expenses for 2025.
Enterprise funds
The Colfax Rescue Squad has a budget of $784,234 for 2025, compared to a budget of $619,451 for 2024, representing an increase of $164,783.
The Colfax Rescue Squad’s 2023 budget was $525,508, representing an increase of $258,726 over the last two years between 2023 and 2025.
The water utility budget for 2025 of $285,640 compares to a budget of $285,640 for 2024, representing no increase.
The sewer utility budget for 2025 of $309,250 compares to a budget of $233,078 for 2025, representing an increase of $76,172.
The Colfax Solid Waste & Recycling budget for 2025 of $361,950 compares to a budget for 2024 of $339,890, representing an increase of $22,060.
The Village of Colfax is the Responsible Unit for recycling. All municipalities in Wisconsin are required to either be their own Responsible Unit or to join the Responsible Unit of another municipality.
Members of the Colfax Responsible Unit, in addition to the Village of Colfax, include the Towns of Colfax, Grant, Otter Creek, Tainter and Wilson. The “Elk Mound” side of the Responsible Unit includes the Village of Elk Mound and the Towns of Elk Mound and Spring Brook.
Each of the nine municipalities pays a per capita fee to Colfax Solid Waste & Recycling.
Sewer increase
Burcham asked about the increase in the sewer utility budget.
Certain items will need to be replaced, and then there is also the cost of refinancing the sewer treatment plant, said Carrie Johnson, village administrator-clerk-treasurer.
The village board had hoped to receive a grant or a low-interest loan from the Clean Water Fund for the additional cost of about $600,000 associated with the lagoon bank stabilization project to keep the Red Cedar River from washing out the wastewater treatment lagoons.
The village board found out earlier this year that CBS Squared, the village’s consultant for the lagoon bank stabilization project, had missed the window of opportunity to apply for a grant or low interest loan and that the village is ineligible to apply again.
Police department
The police department budget for 2025 is $236,050.
The 2024 budgeted amount was $227,950, while the expected expenditures for this year are $198,879.
The expenditures for 2024 are expected to be $20,071 under budget. The budgeted amount for 2023 was $219,750, while the actual expenditures were $195,416, resulting in the expenditures being under budget for 2023 by $24,334.
One of the questions asked by village resident Keith Burcham related to why the police department is always under budget for expenditures but then the next year’s budget increases by a certain amount.
Burcham also questioned why there is $45,000 included in the 2025 budget for a new police vehicle when the police department has been under budget for the past few years.
Where does the money go that has not been spent in past years? Burcham asked.
The budgeted amounts that have not been spent are deposited into the village’s general fund, Johnson said.
In addition, the police chief, William Anderson, budgets for part-time officers but has been unable to hire part-time officers, she said.
Gary Stene, village trustee, confirmed that when expenditures are less than the budgeted amount, the money is deposited into the general fund.
Burcham wondered why the police department continues to be over-budgeted, and why, since the department is over-budgeted, the excess funds are not then set aside for purchasing a new police vehicle so that another $45,000 is not included for a capital expenditure in 2025.
The police department came in under budget by the total amount of $44,405 over the past two years.
By state law, the excess funds must be deposited in the general fund, Johnson and Stene said.
The police department routinely budgets an amount for the department’s vehicle replacement fund, but it would seem, as the Colfax Messenger understood it, that the amount has not been deposited into the vehicle replacement fund for the past several years, resulting in an additional $45,000 added to the 2025 budget for a new police squad vehicle.
The police department has historically received a good trade-in value on the police squads, resulting in the actual cost of the new vehicle being somewhere around $25,000, Johnson noted.
Fire protection
The 2025 budget for fire protection is $137,803, which compares to the budgeted amount of $132,663 for 2024, while the expected expenditure for 2024 is $134,900.
The Village of Colfax will have 24.2 percent of the equalized value for the Colfax Community Fire District’s 2025 budget, and will pay $22,902 in property tax levy.
The Colfax Community Fire District Board in October set a budget of $112,700 for 2025 and a property tax levy of $94,700. The budget and property tax levy for the fire district have remained the same for more than 10 years.
Prince asked if the amount budgeted for fire protection included the village’s portion of a new fire engine that is expected to be delivered at the end of 2025 or early in 2026.
Johnson said the amount for the new fire engine is included in the 2025 budget.
The Colfax fire board approved a contract for a new fire engine in April of 2023 at a cost of about $575,000.
The fire department’s existing primary fire engine is about 35 years old.
By the time the new fire engine is delivered, the fire board is expecting to have about $415,000 from the budget allocations of $20,000 per year for equipment replacement, plus any surplus, the surplus from 2024 and interest earned on the principle amount in the equipment replacement fund, leaving the member municipalities with approximately $160,000 left to cover for the new fire engine.
If the Village of Colfax still retains about 25 percent of the equalized value in the fire district — which includes the Village of Colfax and the Towns of Colfax, Grant and Otter Creek — the village’s expense for the new fire engine is expected to be around $40,000.
Animal control
The 2025 budget for animal control is $2,200.
The budgeted and actual amount spent in 2024 was zero.
The Colfax Village Board did not contract with the Dunn County Humane Society in 2024. Only a couple of the 30 municipalities (seven villages, 22 townships and one city) in Dunn County do not contract with the humane society
The budgeted amount in 2023 was $2,199 while the actual amount spent was $2,430.
The amount paid to the Dunn County Humane Society is a per capita fee.
If the village does not contract with the humane society, the village is required, under state law, to provide adequate housing for stray animals, is required to give them medication if the animals need medication, and is required to vaccinate the animals before finding another home for them if the owner cannot be found.
Over the past few years, several village board members have suggested that board members should shoot and kill stray dogs and cats rather than taking care of them and trying to find the owner or paying the per capita fee to the humane society.
According to state law, any person who intentionally violates state statutes under Chapter 951 (crimes against animals) resulting in the mutilation, disfigurement or death of an animal, is guilty of a Class I felony.
The penalty for a Class I felony, upon conviction, is a fine of up to $10,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to three years and six months.
Budget amounts
The following budgeted amounts for the general fund also are included in the 2025 budget summary:
• Legislative (board) — $31,450. The amount budgeted for 2024 is $31,250. The amount budgeted in 2023 also was $31,450, but the actual amount spent was $27,962, resulting in a surplus of $3,758. The amount expected to be spent in 2024 is $31,450.
• Administration — $204,444, compared to $205,011 budgeted for 2024, representing a decrease of $567. The amount budgeted in 2023 was $193,720, compared to the actual amount spent of $174,696, resulting in a surplus of $19,024. The amount expected to be spent in 2024 is $206,195, resulting in administration being $1,184 over budget.
• Village hall (other) — $13,400. The amount budgeted for 2024 also was $13,400, and the expected expenditure for 2024 is $13,400. The amount budgeted in 2023 was $15,400 while the actual expenditure was $25,034, resulting in the 2023 expenditures being $9,634 over budget.
• Rescue squad — $53,308. The amount budgeted for the rescue squad is based on the per capita fee. The 2024 budgeted amount was $47,344, and the expected expenditures for 2024 are $47,344, representing an increase of $5,964 for 2025. No information was included in the budget summary regarding the budgeted amount for 2023 or the expenditures for 2023.
• Inspections — $5,000. Previously budgeted amounts and expenditures for 2023 and 2024 were $1,200. Presumably this is for inspections of village properties. Building inspector fees are paid by residents and businesses for building projects.
• Streets — $175,627. The budgeted amount for 2024 was $230,110. The 2025 budget represents a decrease of $54,483. The expected expenditures for $214,015 is $16,095 under budget.
• Street lighting — $23,500. The amount budgeted for 2024 was $23,500, with an expected expenditure for 2024 of $20,600. The 2023 budgeted amount was $22,100, while the actual 2023 expenditures were $34,903, so the 2023 budget for street lighting was over-budget by $12,803, while the 2024 budget is expected to be $2,900 under budget.
• Solid waste — $23,500. The amount budgeted in 2024 was $23,500, while the expected expenditures will be $20,600, so that the 2024 budget will be under spent by $2,900. The 2023 budget was $22,189, and the actual expenditures for 2023 were $22,189. The budgeted amount is based on the per capital fee paid by the village of Colfax for solid waste.
• Recycling — $34,445. The budgeted amount for 2024 was $35,000, while the expected expenditures will be $34,500, so the amount spent will be $500 under-budget. The 2023 budget was $34,445, while the actual expenditure was $36,247, which means the budget was over spent by $1,802. The budgeted amount is based on the per capita fee paid by the village of Colfax for recycling.
• Cemetery — $41,173. The budgeted amount for 2024 was $23,14l, while the expected expenditure will be $10,946. The budgeted amount in 2023 was $15,300, while the actual amount spent was $10,183. Several village board members questioned the increase in the budget for 2025. Prior to this, the wages paid to public works employees for work at the cemetery was not charged to the cemetery, Johnson said. So while the cemetery budget is increasing, the budget in other areas where public works employees completed tasks will be reduced, she said.
• Library — $157,691. The 2024 budget was $161,266, with the expenditures expected to be $159,431. The 2025 budget represents a decrease of $3,575. The expenditures for 2024 will represent a surplus of $1,835. The Colfax Public Library is expecting less funding from Dunn County in 2025 because the proportion of users has shifted to more people living in the village of Colfax and fewer people living outside out of Colfax.
• Parks — $86,255. The 2024 budget was $69,720, with actual expenditures expected to be $72,515. The 2023 budget was $110,600, with actual expenditures of $54,604.
• Urban development — $500. Zero dollars were budgeted for urban development in 2023 and 2024.
• Economic development — 0. No money was budgeted for economic development in 2023 and 2024 as well.
• Capital — $267,447. The same amount was budgeted in 2023 and 2024, with the actual expenditures also being $267,444.
• Debt service — $41,854. The budgeted amount for 2024 was $62,800, while the actual expenditures are expected to be $77,721. The 2023 budget was $77,721, with actual expenditures of $103,647.
