SHEBOYGAN – The Sheboygan County Board discussed next year’s budget last week and will take final action on the budget Nov. 1.
Here is what you need to know about the proposed 2023 budget.
How much is being spent?
About $182,189,000, a $14.8 million (or about 9%) increase from last year’s budget of $167,376,000.
The increase will mainly come from the use of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, larger capital projects planned for 2023 and an anticipated $1.9 million increase in sales tax revenues.
Of the total $22.4 million in ARPA funds received by the county, the county board has already assigned $17.9 million to projects, leaving about $4.5 million available, County Administrator Adam Payne said.
In recent years, the county has been striving to maintain existing programs and services, and this budget does not make any substantial changes in departmental budgets or personnel, Payne said.
“Our board is fiscally conservative,” Payne said. “We don’t want to raise property taxes more than a reasonable, modest amount to sustain programs and services — such as law enforcement, health and human services, our nursing home, parks, roads, what have you.”
What’s it going to cost me?
The tax levy is recommended to increase by about $862,500, or 1.66%, to a total of $53 million.
The county’s property tax levy has increased an average of only 1.3% per year over the last decade, including the proposed 2023 budget, a track record Payne said he would put up against any county.
“In a year of unprecedented challenges, Sheboygan County continues to maintain strong reserves, an excellent bond rating, and we have hard-working, caring staff providing high-quality services,” Payne wrote.
Under the proposed budget, residents can expect their tax bills to remain about the same, with a slight increase.
The proposed property tax rate is $4.37 per $1,000, a 40-cent, or 8%, decrease from the 2022 rate. But as tax rates have gone down, property values have gone up. About 9.6% of the growth in equalized property values in Sheboygan County over the last year is the result of inflationary growth, according to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.
Thus, the owner of a $150,000 home would pay about $656, a less than $3 increase from what they paid last year under the $4.77 tax rate.
More:Sheboygan property value assessments just skyrocketed. Here’s what that means for your tax bill.
What are the main components?
Key items in the 2023 budget are as follow. Costs less than $1 million are rounded to the nearest thousand.
- Maintain and improve transportation system (more than $4.5 million)
- Building improvements for North Side Highway Shed ($2.1 million)
- More for child welfare and behavioral health services ($1.5 million). This increase is to meet referral demand and ensure caseload size is maintained at best practice levels for the county’s direct care professionals. It includes increases in contracted services for Children’s Long-Term Support, Comprehensive Community Services, Birth to 3 services and Counseling/Therapeutic services.
- Repairs and equipment replacement at the jail and detention center ($1.3 million). This is part of planned facility upgrades that started in 2022 and will finish in 2026.
- Broughton Marsh Bypass Dam Reconstruction ($1.2 million). The current dam is nearing 100 years old; this project will help better control water fluctuations of the resource, leading to better cattail management and lower costs. The county will cover about half of the cost of the total $2.4 million project.
- More for staffing at Rocky Knoll and in Sheriff’s Department Corrections and Dispatch ($1.2 million). These increases are funded using federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars.
- Facility upgrades at Rocky Knoll Healthcare Center ($704,000). Facility upgrades will be a multi-year project.
- Roof replacements at the University of Green Bay-Sheboygan Campus and law enforcement building ($617,000)
- Taxiway Reconstruction at the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport ($471,000). The Wisconsin Bureau of Aeronautics will pay for most of the cost of the $2.4 million project.
- Neighborhood Social Worker pilot program ($350,000). This program will embed social workers with City of Sheboygan neighborhoods to help with basic needs, stabilize housing and connection with local resources and help overcome barriers. It will be funded using federal ARPA dollars.
- Mobile Crisis Response Pilot with City of Sheboygan Police ($194,000). This pilot program will be funded using federal ARPA dollars.
- Health and Human Services building remodeling ($127,000)
- Hiring a fifth judicial assistant in Sheboygan County Circuit Courts ($81,000)
Where can I find a copy of the budget?
A digital copy of the proposed budget is available at tinyurl.com/3t5dfamx. Print copies are available in the Finance Department, in room 208 of the Administration Building at 508 New York Ave.
When am I going to get the bill?
Revised tax bills, including changes by other government agencies, will be sent out by mid-December.
Residents will pay very slightly more this year in county taxes, but whether their overall tax bill increases or decreases depends on other taxes, including municipality and school district taxes.
Is there anything else I should know?
Sheboygan County government has decreased in size since the early 2000s, when the county had nearly 23 departments and about 1,300 employees. Today, the county has 19 departments and about 850 employees.
Departments with the largest budgets are the Health and Human Services Department ($45 million), Transportation Department ($29 million), Sheriff’s Department ($24 million) and Rocky Knoll ($16 million), rounded to the nearest million.
Funding for the Sheriff’s and Health and Human Services departments make up the majority of the property tax levy, at 41% and 28% of the property tax levy, respectively.
Every year, it has become more challenging to sustain county programs and services because of “one-size-fits-all” property tax caps that the state has imposed on local government, Payne said.
“Not to say those caps are all bad, but we’ve been under them now for over a decade,” he said. “When you look at inflation this year going up 8%-9% … it just isn’t sufficient.
“We’ve used (federal funding) for premium pay in order to retain staff, and when the ARPA funds run out three years from now, we’re going to have to address that,” he said. “There’s a cliff on the horizon. Preparing for that cliff also involves the state Legislature.”
Reach Maya Hilty at 920-400-7485 or MHilty@sheboygan.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @maya_hilty.