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Proposed 2021 Hobart budget drops tax rate

By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer


HOBART – The village’s tax rate would drop by 2 cents to $4.40 per $1,000 of assessed value with the tax levy increasing by about $19,000 to more than $3 million under the proposed 2021 Hobart budget presented Wednesday, Nov. 4, to the village board by Village Administrator Aaron Kramer.

Kramer said next year’s proposed Hobart budget calls for having the lowest tax rate for the village since the 2015 tax rate of $4.32.

He said other budget highlights include:

• No proposed major changes in programming and personnel, other than the possible creation of a captain’s position in the police department.

• No increase in garbage and recycling fees for the third consecutive year.

• A one-year reduction in a number of liquor license fees as part of the fee schedule to be approved in December to help small businesses negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• A 10 percent decrease in storm water fees to be reflected next month in the storm water budget and in the December 2021 tax bills.

• A general fund contingency balance of $70,758 to weather any unforeseen issues in 2021.

• A capital projects contingency of $17,000, the first time a contingency has been added to this fund to account for possible unanticipated costs in 2021.

Kramer said the village is able to lower the tax rate with the tax levy increasing because of assessed values in Hobart increasing this year by around $33.7 million to more than $929 million.

“Each 1-cent increase in the mill rate would result in a little under $9,300 in additional revenue,” he said.

For Hobart residents with a $200,000 home, Kramer said the proposed tax rate would result in a projected property tax for village purposes of $880.80.

He said Hobart’s portion of the overall property tax bill usually makes up about 22 percent for village residents in the West De Pere school district to 23 percent for village residents in the Pulaski district.

Kramer said the village’s levy limit is $3,099,904, though Hobart has maintained a levy below the state-permitted limit for the past three budgets, which can be carried forward to future budget years.

If adding the unused levy from previous years, Kramer said that would raise the state levy limit to $3,144,824, which would equate to a mill rate of $4.60.

“Under state law, you can put all your debt payments on top of this, which would more than likely double our mill rate, so I’m not proposing that tonight,” he said. “But that is an option out there under state law. It’s an odd, bizarre loophole in the levy limit.”

Kramer said the proposed tax levy includes more than $1.77 million for the general fund, $626,319 for capital projects and another $615,935 for debt service.

He said the general fund levy would increase by almost $27,000, while the levy for capital projects would decrease by about $12,000 with debt service payments increasing by approximately $4,000.

Of the $860,673 budgeted for capital projects, which are funded primarily from the general fund levy and storm water funds, Kramer said the major projects include a repaving of Cyrus Road ($431,287) and purchasing a new tinder truck for the fire department ($129,386).

He said the debt service levy would be used to make debt payments next year with $457,500 targeted to retire existing principal.

Kramer said the debt service reserve account of more than $161,000 would not be used for budgetary purposes next year.

Budget hearing

The proposed 2021 general fund budget of around $3.725 million, which calls for a 2.45 percent increase in revenues and expenditures the board originally approved for this year, will be considered Nov. 17 when a public hearing will also be held.

Kramer said there could be “some tweaking” to next year’s Hobart budget prior to the public hearing, such as the effect two new hires recently made this year will have in 2021.

Police captain

To be able to fund a new police captain’s position, which if approved would start July 1, Kramer recommended a plan that would keep the village’s mill rate at $4.42.

Because Hobart has a combined police department with the Town of Lawrence, he said Lawrence pays a third of the general fund police and municipal court costs and half of the capital costs, so the town would be charged a third of the overall estimated $59,473 half-year cost of salary and benefits for the new position, for which the cost would be double for a full year.

As a result, Kramer said the budgetary impact for Hobart would be about $39,649 in 2021.

If board elects to add the position, he recommended eliminating the capital projects contingency of $17,000, reducing the general fund contingency by $10,758 to $60,000 and increasing the property tax levy by $11,391 to around $3.025 million.

Hobart’s board scheduled a joint meeting Nov. 10 with Lawrence’s board via Zoom, prior to the public hearing on the budget Nov. 17.

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