County in better shape than most

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By MARK GUNDERMAN
mark.gunderman@lee.net
Saturday, November 8, 2008 9:05 AM CST

County Administrator Bill Reynolds tried to put a positive spin on the 2009 budget situation at one point in the annual budget hearing.

“We’re in a good situation,” he told the board. That is, compared to, say, the $7 million hole one area county found itself in.

Reynolds attributed the favorable position of Chippewa County — by comparison, that is — to good stewardship by the board in the past.

Still, the kind words did not mask the fact that the county has fiscal troubles, and Reynolds didn’t try to hide it.

For the record, the board approved a 3.2 percent increase in the property tax levy, from a nearly $14 million in 2008 to $14.45 million for 2009.

The tax rate — the amount taxpayers pay per $1,000 of assessed property value — is slated to decrease from $3.33 to $3.26, due to an increase in property values.

Those figures were pretty well set when the county received information on how much of its increase in property values was due to new construction. Because that figure triggers complicated state formulas that determine the county’s maximum tax levy limit.

The budget process is less about determining what the levy will be as it is about figuring out how to live within the limited means.

County Auditor George McDowell said the new construction figures gave the county about $280,000 in new money to work with,

Reynolds pointed out that 2009 salary and health insurance increases alone are in the $600,000 range. Combine that with expenses from the reform of the long-term care system, the addition of a third court branch and a couple of courthouse chillers going bad, and the budget became tight indeed.

A number of cuts were made. The Highway Department took the brunt of it. The Sheriff’s department will not replace retiring Chief Deputy Jim Clark. Some Quality of Life and forest land purchase funds were cut from the sales tax capital expenditures budget. A number of half-time and three-quarter time positions had their hours cut further.

The board adopted the balanced budget unanimously. No members of the public spoke at the public hearing, but there was a 45-minute discussion by the board.

Supervisor Dave Hillman, a retired Eau Claire police officer, was not happy with the chief deputy cut, and spoke of the need to maintain at least four deputies on patrol at peak times.

“Chippewa County has one of the lowest ratios of officers to population,” he said.

Despite the Highway Department cuts, there were questions about the purchase of highway equipment.

But overall the board seemed to look on it as a realistic budget.

“This reflects more what we have to do than what we want to do,” said Lee McIlquham.

Reynolds warned that the budget situation will get worse, and maybe sooner than they think. A state budget crisis has put revenues from that source in doubt, and Reynolds warned further cuts may need to be made during the year to adjust.

He appealed to state leaders to at least let counties know what they’re in for as soon as possible.

Also, Reynolds said the difficulties this year were only a prelude.

“2010 is going to be extremely tough,” he said.

The bottom line on the tax levy increase for county homeowners is that a person with a $150,000 home would have paid $499.50 in county-purpose property taxes in 2008, but would only pay $489 in 2009 if the home were still worth $150,000.

But chances are that home is worth more than it was the year before.

So how much an individual property owner pays will depend on how the value of the property was adjusted.

Also, keep in mind that the county levies only part of the total property tax bill. The school district and local municipality levy typically larger shares.