Jefferson County Budget

“Jefferson County is in good shape financially,” said Dick Jones on the 2018 proposed county budget last Tuesday.  Jones, chair of the Finance Committee for Jefferson County, mentioned the fact that there is about a three month reserve that the county is currently enjoying.

During the public hearing, there were no comments from the public regarding the budget, so the meeting continued as planned.

Jones, along with County Board chairman Jim Schroeder and Finance Director Marc Devries, met with students before the budget’s public hearing to discuss finer points of the budget.

The total budget sits at $72.3 million, compared to the current tax levy of about $27.4 million.  With the library system and the health department factored in, this adds almost $2 million for a total county tax levy of $29.3 million.

Compared to the 2017 budget, the 2018 budget boasts a tax levy increase of $289,155, or 1.07 percent.  The tax levy has been steadily increasing since the 2012 budget, with a massive 5.62 percent increase in the 2015 budget.

To make up the difference in the budget between expenditures and the tax levy, the board is projecting a little over $40 million in revenues for the county.  Some of the biggest sources of revenue, and also the biggest source of expenses, include human services, the highway department, and the county sheriff.  They board is also projecting $2.8 million from other financing services.

The new mill rate for the county is set at 4.16, meaning a person who owns a $100,000 home will have to pay $4.16 in property taxes per $1,000 of property value.  The 2017 budget’s mill rate is set at 4.3, meaning the new mill rate is a 3.17 percent decrease.  This is the biggest decrease in the mill rate in the last ten years.

The debt service portion of the expenditures is listed at $1.1 million.  The main factor behind this is the new $16 million highway shop that was desperately needed, according to Schroeder.  He mentioned that the shop will be paid off in 20 years.

Both Schroeder and Jones touched on the fact that some counties in Wisconsin have found themselves in financial trouble due to their tendency to borrow money to fix roads.  “Roads should be funded out of the operating budget,” Schroeder said.  However, Jones added that sometimes “you need to borrow money to build.”

The total equalized value of taxable property is set at $6.6 billion for the 2018 budget.  This is an increase of $275.8 million from last year.

Overall, the equalized value is starting to return to the mark it was at in 2009, which was also $6.6 billion.  The recent increases are due in part to the housing market rebounding after the crash of 2008.

The County Clerk office will see a 44 percent increase in the tax levy in the new budget.  This is due to the fact that there will be a gubernatorial election, and the county needs new voting machines.  When the 2019 budget arrives, this number will go back down to more normal levels.

With $24.1 million listed in expenditures, human services commands the highest percentage of the budget.  Jones mentioned opiate addiction as a major obstacle in keeping costs down.  In Jefferson County, Jones estimated there are 200 people in treatment for opiate addiction.

The County Board plans to vote on final approval on the budget in the meeting on Nov. 14.