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By JAMES KATES<\/strong> \/ The Capstone<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nWhitewater Common Council on Tuesday got its first look at a 2020 city budget\nthat proposes $9,865,236 in spending, up 2.5 percent from 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the\nstate is falling behind in sharing revenue from income taxes, local\nproperty-tax payers will have to shoulder more of that burden \u2013 about 40\npercent in 2020. That\u2019s higher than in previous years, and the proportion may\ngo even higher in the future, City Manager Cameron Clapper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur\nresidents over time will be asked to contribute more and more\u201d toward the city\nbudget, Clapper told council members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Property\ntaxes are levied on about $697 million worth of residential, commercial and\nindustrial property in the city. The tax levy has been rising about 3 percent a\nyear in recent years, Clapper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nUniversity of Wisconsin-Whitewater is exempt from property taxes but makes a\nlocal payment in lieu of taxes in exchange for city services. That amount has\nnot been determined yet, Clapper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Public\nsafety is the biggest spending item in the budget at 36 percent, followed by\ngeneral government at 15 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Higher costs\nfor 2020 will include a $60,000 boost in health-insurance premiums for city workers.\nThe city will try to lower its workers\u2019 compensation costs, which are running\nhigher than in other cities of comparable size, Clapper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whitewater\ncity taxes make up about 25 to 28 percent of each local property-tax bill. The\nrest goes to Walworth County or Jefferson County government, the Whitewater\nUnified School District and technical colleges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ncouncil\u2019s Finance Committee will review and possibly revise the budget at\nmeetings Oct. 10, 17, 22 and Oct. 24 if needed. Final presentation to the\nCommon Council will be Nov. 5. A public hearing and adoption of the budget are\nscheduled for Nov. 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Changes for schools<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In other\nbusiness, the council heard about developments stemming from the possible\nbreakup of the Palmyra-Eagle Area School District.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On July 1,\nthe Palmyra-Eagle School Board voted to dissolve the district following a\nfailed April referendum to raise taxes to pay for operating costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nWhitewater Unified School District and six other districts border the P-E\ndistrict. If the district is broken up, its students, taxable properties, debts\nand facilities will be distributed among the neighboring districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending on\nthe changes, the boundaries of the WUSD may or may not be redrawn. \u201cAt this\ntime, we can only speculate what will happen,\u201d a document from the Whitewater\ndistrict says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A\nnon-binding advisory referendum in November will ask P-E district residents\nwhether they want to keep the school district running at current, lower funding\nlevels. But it is more likely that a state appeal board will decide by Jan. 15\nto break up the P-E district, said Matthew Sylvester-Knudtson, the Whitewater\ndistrict\u2019s director of business services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The School\nDistrict Boundary Appeal Board is assembled by the state Department of Public\nInstruction and does not include representation from the Palmyra-Eagle district\nor its neighbors, Sylvester-Knudtson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He and Mark\nElworthy, district administrator for WUSD, said the Whitewater school district\nalready is looking at contingency plans. If the P-E district is broken up, the\nchanges would be effective next July. Neighboring districts would have just a\nfew weeks to prepare for a reshuffling of pupils, debt obligations, tax records\nand school buildings before the start of the new school year, they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other\nbusiness Tuesday:<\/p>\n\n\n\n By JAMES KATES \/ The Capstone The Whitewater Common Council on Tuesday got its first look at a 2020 city budget that proposes $9,865,236 in spending, up 2.5 percent from 2019. Because the state is falling behind in sharing revenue … Continue reading