Proposed county budget down $9M

Spending is down but property taxes are up in a $51 million budget proposed for Shawano County government for 2016.

County officials are proposing to trim spending by $9 million, primarily in the areas of human services, highway and infrastructure maintenance, and capital improvements.

But property tax collections would increase by more than $500,000, up to $15.4 million.

County Supervisor Arlyn Tober, chairman of the County Board finance committee, said officials have done what they can to control property taxes without hurting needed county services.

“We looked at every way possible,” Tober said. “It’s almost impossible, especially if you want to provide services.”

The finance committee is scheduled to take final action on the budget Friday, followed by the full board’s deliberations later this month.

The budget for 2015 includes $60 million in spending with property taxes of $14.8 million.

County records show that the tax rate next year would increase from $5.20 to $5.26 per $1,000 of equalized valuation, which translates into a $526 tax bill for the owner of a $100,000 property, $6 more than this year.

County Supervisor Marlin Noffke, another finance committee member, said much of the $500,000 boost in tax collections would come from growing property values countywide rather than increases hitting homeowners and businesses in the pocketbooks.

Noffke said he regards the tax increase as acceptable.

“It’s very reasonable,” he said.

Brent Miller, the county’s administrative coordinator, could not be reached for comment about the budget that he and his staff prepared over the past several months. The spending plan also covers other county government functions, such as public safety, public health, conservation and libraries.

To trim spending, officials are proposing reductions of $5 million in human services, down to $9.3 million; another $1 million in highway maintenance, down to $11.6 million; $1.4 million in capital spending, down to $463,932; and $800,000 in roads and bridges, down to $5.8 million.

The reduction in human services is attributed largely to this year’s introduction of the Family Care program, which shifts responsibilities to the state for providing long-term care for disabled and elderly residents covered by Medicaid. With state contractors taking over the services, spending in county human services is dropping nearly 40 percent.

The proposed decrease in capital spending is due to lost funding from American Transmission Co., a utility that had earlier compensated the county for new power line construction in the county. Although more payments are coming from another power line planned in 2019, Shawano County finds itself temporarily short of a source of funds used for capital improvements.

Noffke said county officials have shown discipline to control spending in the 2016 budget plan by focusing only on pressing needs.

“There’s a difference between what you want and what you need,” he said.

Tober, however, noted that the county is in strong financial condition, saying that officials should not limit spending where services are needed. Referring to cuts in highways and roads, he said: “We just can’t keep cutting and cutting. We’ll be back down to gravel roads.”