Curtiss reviews preliminary 2025 budgets
By Kevin O’Brien
Curtiss officials took their first peek at the 2025 budget on Monday night and informally decided to cut back on next year’s road repairs in order to close a nearly $19,600 deficit in the general fund.
A rough draft of next year’s budget, prepared by village staff, showed expenditures exceeding revenues by $19,588 next year, but that included a $107,000 line item for projects on the village’s five-year streets plan. By comparison, the amount of money that’s estimated to be spent on road repairs this year is just $38,000.
Five projects originally scheduled for 2024 are being postponed until next year, adding a total of $46,000 in costs to the 2025 budget. Another six projects, totaling $28,450, were already planned for next year, and the village also planned to set aside $32,500 for an eventual replacement of Matthias Street and Plaza Drive.
The village’s postponed projects from 2024 include replacing a soft spot on Matthias Street, crack filling Plaza Drive from Matthias north and east to CTH E, and blacktopping Green Street. Work originally planned for 2025 includes chip sealing Matthias Street and televising storm sewer drains.
While the village’s overall expenditures are projected to increase over $75,600, the revenues are expected to increase by only about $16,500. The largest source of revenue, the local property tax levy, is set to drop by $1,650 next year because of a change in state law that exempts all personal property from taxation.
Village treasurer Jane Stoiber said the personal property exemption resulted in a $13 million drop in the village’s total equalized value, due to all of the business equipment that is no longer taxable.
Stoiber said she and village clerk Carol Devine were originally expecting the levy to drop to about $94,000 next year, but once Devine found out from the state that the village could add its annual $55,000 debt payment for the fire hall onto the levy, it increased to $149,732.
To compensate for the loss in personal property taxes, Stoiber said the state is providing the village with about $49,700 in additional aid next year. The total loss in tax revenue due to the personal property exemption is closer to $148,000, so the village is still out about $100,000, she said.
Together with shared revenue and transportation aid, Curtiss expects to receive nearly $112,000 from the state next year.
On the expense side of the budget, village staff zeroed out a line item for police protection after deciding they do not have money available to pay for a shared police officer with the village of Dorchester.
Stoiber also noted that the village does not have any money budgeted for replacing the roof at the Curtiss Community Center. The rental fund is down to $7,000. President Betty Rettig said the board should look at raising the $50 rental fee in the future.
The budget also includes $7,200 to pay off fire equipment purchases, $2,500 set aside for replacing mowers and tractors and $10,000 set aside for plow truck repairs and replacements. Stoiber said there’s nearly $49,000 in the fire equipment fund, $27,443 in the mower/tractor fund currently and $54,724 in the plow truck fund.
Ultimately, the board agreed to take money out of the $107,000 road repair line item to balance the budget.
“We can work with the road plan to take care of that $19,000,” Stoiber said.
Water and sewer budgets
While looking at the village’s utility funds, the board agreed to raise the garbage collection fee by $5 next year to make sure the revenue stream is keeping up with the waste management expenses, which are part of a contract that expires in 2026.
The water utility showed a balanced budget of $470,255 in revenues and expenses next year, but with the village looking to add at least two new wells, Stoiber said they may need to ask the Public Service Commission to raise rates for the first time since 2016.
“Once this water project starts, you may have to look at raising water rates,” she said.
In a related matter, the board awarded a contract to Brunner Well Drilling for drilling two test wells on land owned by the Olson and Weideman families. Brunner’s base bid of $20,520 was the lowest of four bids submitted for the project.
DPW Larry Swarr said the base bid will cover the cost of drilling two 80-foot wells with 55-foot casings, and any additional drilling would be charged on a per-foot basis.
Board members also reviewed the sewer utility budget, which tentatively shows a net gain of $68,280 next year, with $569,930 in revenues and $501,650 in expenses.
With the village currently adding new phosphorus treatment and dewatering facilities, the board is planning to take out a loan from the DNR’s Clean Water Fund, which will have to be paid back with sewer bills.
