Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@wolfrivermedia.com
The Shawano County Board approved a 1.52 percent increase in the 2015 property tax rate Wednesday as it finalized the 2015 budget.
The proposed levy of $14,887,788 — the most allowed by the state — is $127,660 more than the 2014 levy. If the plan is approved, property owners will pay $5.20 per $1,000 of equalized valuation, up from $5.122 last year, in county taxes.
The owner of a $100,000 home, who paid $512 in county property taxes last year, would pay $520 this year.
Property values dropped 0.69 percent across the county over the last year, according to finance director Diane Rusch. The county can raise its levy limit, she said, because of a 0.44 percent increase in new construction.
Property taxes cover about 31 percent of the county’s $59.27 million budget. State aid, which decreased by $1 million this year, accounts for another 37 percent, and the remainder is covered by county sales tax, licenses and permits, charges to the public and other government agencies, and fines and penalties.
Rusch said county officials trimmed $800,000 during the budget planning process to come in under the levy limit.
Included in the proposed $59.3 million budget is the implementation of a wage and classification study, which was also on the board’s agenda Wednesday. The recommendations will cost $202,723 to implement.
The county expects to use up almost all of the environmental impact fees it received from the state. There is $61,043 in the fund, according to Rusch, and $61,039 has been earmarked to help pay for capital projects in 2015.
The capital projects, which will cost the county $815,580, include a multifunctional tractor for the courthouse, a mower for the parks and utility areas, replacing temperature controls at the jail, paving the Mielke Park parking lot, new playground equipment at Oconto River Park, new equipment at the Shawano Lake County Park snack shop, a new vehicle for the human services department, a new paver for the highway department and aerial photography.
After the budget was approved, County Board Chairman Jerry Erdmann, who sits on the Finance Committee, said the belt-tightening was not as difficult as in previous years.
“We didn’t have to cut out as much as we did last year,” Erdmann said. “Hopefully, down the road, it will get easier yet.”