Clark County decreases property tax bills in 2023
The Tribune-Record Gleaner Clark County will rely more heavily next year on an accounting maneuver that will sidestep state property tax restrictions and assure the county will have enough funds to continue road maintenance while funding other county operations and capital purchases. Still, taxpayers will see a slight relief on property tax bills they receive in December, as the tax rate is expected to slip from $8.03 to $7.53. For the owner of a $100,000 home in the county, the savings should be about $51.
For the ninth consecutive year, the county in 2023 plans to use short-term borrowing to augment the total amount of property tax dollars the state allows it to collect. If approved next month by the county Board of Supervisors, the borrowing will total $4.45 million and will provide funds to pave about 16 more miles of county highway than it otherwise could, as well as cover the cost of various insurances, vehicle and other equipment purchases.
After the county Finance Committee went through initial 2023 budget requests from all departments, the total requested was about $2 million more than in 2022. However, the county is only allowed to raise its tax levy by an amount based on property growth in the past year, or $295,414.
That discrepancy, Finance Director Terri Domaszek told the county Board at an Oct. 13 meeting in Neillsville, meant multiple departmental budget cutbacks.
“This year there was a lot of departments that got some changes in order to balance the budget,” she said.
The county also has less unreserved general fund balances to work with to offset expenses in its $96.7 million total expense plan. With the state allowing the county to increase its base tax levy less than one-third of one percent, that meant some expenses were not going to survive the final cut.
With the available funds, the county would have been able to pave just 3.9 miles of county highways in 2023. In recent years, it has been trying to stay on a repaving interval of less than 20 miles, and must pave at least 15 miles per year to stay on that schedule.
What the county will do to maintain its schedule is borrow $3.2 million during 2023, which will allow it to pave 20.2 miles, instead of 3.9. The county will borrow the $3.2 million for just one month, at 4 percent interest, and then pay it back. In so doing, the dollars qualify as debt expense and not general fund expense, which skirts the state levy increase limit.
In addition, the county next year will short-term borrow an additional $1.25 million. It will be used for various expenses including property insurance; five new vehicle for the Sheriff’s Department; a vehicle, snow-making guns and other equipment for the Forestry and Parks Department; and video conference equipment for a courtroom. The $1.25 million will also be borrowed for one month, then repaid, again to qualify it as a debt expense.
The $7.53 property tax rate will be the lowest the county has assessed since 2014. The rate has ranged between $8.04 and $8.09 every year since then.
The 2023 county budget will include $6.8 million to build new highway department facilities in Loyal, Neillsville and Owen. The Board last year approved an $8 million improvement plan, with the main highway department shop to be relocated to the current garage site in Loyal. Old buildings will be torn down, and some renovated.
The county also plans to spend $350,000 for a new Sheriff’s Department dispatch center, as well as yet undetermined amount on Courthouse boiler repairs.
The money budgeted for highway upgrades will cover the following repaving projects:
n 3.9 miles of County Road A, from County Road E to Badger Avenue.
n 4 miles of County Road P, from County Road N to State Highway 29.
n 5.4 miles of County Road Q, from County Road N to Riplinger Road
n 3 miles of County Road N, from County Road Q to Broek Road.
n 3.9 miles of County Road Y, from State Highway 10 to County Road H.
The county will also chip seal 23 miles of road to lengthen the period between repaving. Those jobs will include 4.5 miles of County Road I, 3.5 miles of County Road Q, 11 miles of County Road M, and four miles of County Road X.
An added expense for the county beginning in 2023 will be the addition of a second circuit court judgeship. The state several years ago approved a second judge for the county based on caseloads, and that new judge will be elected in April and will begin work in August. The state will pay for the judge, but supporting county offices will have to add support staff.
The county Board got its first look at the budget plan at the Oct. 13 meeting. It will meet again on Nov. 10 for formal approval of the plan. The resolutions to short-term borrow the funds for the highway paving and other expenses must receive three-fourths majority vote for passage.
