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Marathon City’s tax rate to jump by 4.6%

Village-wide revaluation in 2025 will bring property values in line
Marathon City’s tax rate to jump by 4.6% Marathon City’s tax rate to jump by 4.6%

By Kevin O’Brien

Marathon City will collect a little less in general fund property taxes next year under a 2025 budget approved by the village board last week, but individual residents are likely to pay more money to the village due to an increase in the mil rate.

According to a budget document prepared by village administrator Steve Cherek and provided to board members, the village will levy a total of $930,712 in property taxes next year, a decrease of $673 from this year. The decrease is due to a new state law that exempts personal property (non real estate) from taxes and provides extra state aid to make up the difference.

After last week’s meeting, Cherek said the village will actually be collecting more in property taxes next when you factor in the share of the levy going to the village’s two tax-incremental finance districts.

Taxpayers within TIDs 1 and 2 will pay a total of $18,530 more in taxes next year, which will bring the total levy up to about $1.2 million in 2025, an increase of 1.5% over 2024.

Because the equalized value of all the property within the village increased while assessed values went down, the mil rate will increase by 34 cents (4.6%), from $7.41 to $7.75 per thousand dollars or property value, according to the budget document. On a $200,000 home, this will equate to a $67 increase in taxes owed to the village, from $1,482 to $1,549 Cherek said it may seem odd that the mil rate is going up while overall taxes go down, but it’s partly due to the fact that the village has not had its property values reassessed since 2009. “It just shows that the village is out of alignment with assessment values on property,” he said, which is why Marathon City has scheduled a village-wide reassessment to be done next year.

Cherek said the village’s mil rate should “drastically decrease” once the revaluation is completed and assessed property values are more in line with equalized values, which are used to determine tax rates. The village’s assessor has already started looking at properties in the mobile home park as he gears up to do the revaluation next year, he noted.

The biggest change in assessed values will be among the village’s residential properties, he noted, so residents should be prepared for their home values to increase substantially.

Trustee Keith Paul noted that the revaluation will not allow the village to suddenly jack up taxes by a large amount, but it will change how the levy is spread across existing properties.

“The assessment just redistributes who’s paying what,” he said.

Under state law, local governments are allowed to raise property taxes by no more than the percentage of net new construction from the previous year. For Marathon City, a total of $7.3 million in new construction was added in 2024, allowing the village to increase its general fund levy by 3.45 percent for next year.

The $930,712 levy includes $880,712 for general operations and $50,000 for debt payments. State aid to the village will total $505,136 next year, an increase of nearly $38,000, or 8 percent.

Cherek pointed out a significant disparity in how much shared revenue Marathon City will receive from the state ($181,316) compared to similar-sized villages in Marathon County, including Edgar ($400,802), Stratford ($492,185) and Athens ($333,505).

Trustee Connie Ruplinger said former administrator Andy Kurtz had been trying to get the state to correct an error in how shared revenue is calculated for the village, and she wondered if Cherek was continuing those efforts.

“We are nowhere near equal at $181,000,” she said.

Cherek said Kurtz made him aware of the problem, and it’s clear the village is still being shorted money.

“It doesn’t make sense why we are so much lower,” he said.

Trustee Mark Ahrens, however, questioned whether the village could really do anything more at this point.

“I don’t think that’s worth wasting any money on,” he said. “We ain’t getting it. Where are we going to get it from?”

Cherek said that he would be working with the village’s financial consultants, Ehlers and Associates, on fixing the state’s calculation so Marathon City gets its fair share.

On the expenditure side of the budget, the village plans to spend about $1.8 million next year, with about a third of that amount to be spent on employee wages and benefits. Cherek noted in his budget presentation that the village board authorized 3.3 percent raises for all full-time staff, plus increases for part-time crossing guards, janitors and public works employees.

General government expenses will increase by nearly $71,000 next year, with half of that increase ($36,500) covering the cost of the village-wide reassessment in 2025.

The village plans to spend about $675,000 on police, fire and ambulance services in 2025, which includes $8,500 for the purchase of a new radio and two defibrillators for the police department and $48,822 for a debt payment on a new fire engine.

At the same time, the village tentatively plans to spend about 51 percent less on public works projects in 2025, but this is likely to change once the board adopts a new capital improvement plan next spring that will consolidate previous debt and set aside money for projects in 2025 through 2027. Since fewer road projects are planned next year, the line item for road resurfacing was dropped from $80,000 to $60,000.

Between its general fund and two TIF districts, the village will have about $5.7 million in outstanding debt at the start of 2025, and $710,635 in payments will be made using a combination of general tax dollars and TIF revenues. The village’s debt load is still well below the $11.4 million allowed by state law.

Steve Cherek

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