2016 village budget presented to public, board
By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
Village of East Troy Clerk-Treasurer Eileen Suhm presented the village’s 2016 budget to the Village Board and public at Monday night’s meeting. The $2,6 million budget is a .39 percent increase on the 2015 budget.
Suhm said at Monday night’s meeting that she expected the mill rate for 2016 to be about the same as 2015 at $6.9 per $1,000 of assessed property value, a .01 percent decrease from last year.
Suhm was careful to point out while the village portion of the property tax bill will be about the same as last year, it represents only 31.2 percent of the property tax bill. The East Troy School District portion of the tax bill is 44.9 percent, Walworth County is 19.9 percent, the State of Wisconsin is .7 percent and Gateway Technical College is 3.3. percent.
Suhm said the village has no control over those portions of the tax bill.
Revenue for the village is generated through general property taxes, $1.5 million; other taxes, $169,000; intergovernmental revenues, $563,ooo; licenses and permits, $67,300; fine, forfeitures and penalties, $95,000; public charges for services, $224,000; and miscellaneous revenues, $8,700.
With the exception of the money from licenses and permits, which increased by 46.81 percent from 2015, the revenue amounts stayed steady for 2016, with changes ranging from a 1.32 percent decrease on intergovernmental revenues, to a .92 percent increase on public charges for services.
Suhm said the increase in the licenses and permits was because there were more building permits issued in 2015 than expected.
Where your money goes
The largest portion of tax dollars in the village is spent on public safety. The budget calls for $1.2 million in public safety expenses, a decrease of 5.34 percent from last year.
Of that, $849,000 is spent on police, $193,000 on fire protection, $68,049 on ambulance/EMS services, $40,000 on building inspection and $10,800 on other public safety items.
The other expenses covered by village tax dollars include $678,000 for general government; $414,000 for public works; $206,000 for health and human services; $101,000 for recreation and education; and $48,000 for conservation and development.
The general government expenses include operating costs for Village Hall, $119,200; general administration, $237,500; Village Board wages, $59,000; judicial costs, $56,000; legal fees, $60,000; elections, $17,000; audit costs, $17,000; property assessment costs, $2,000; and insurance (liability, property, etc.), $92,000.
In a general fund overview, Suhm said 50 percent of the tax dollars collected by the village go to operating expenses, 38 percent for village employee wages and 12 percent for employee benefits.
