Renovations to health and human services, public works and heath care center among capital plan projects slated for upcoming years
By Kellen Olshefski
Editor
The 2016 Walworth County Finance Committee’s preliminary budget, which includes several large capital projects, was presented last Thursday evening during a public budget hearing.
Walworth County Comptroller Jessica Conley said as in past years, the county has pursued a conservative budget, with the proposed tax levy only increasing by .65 percent over last year.
This proposed tax levy for 2016 is set at $61.5 million an increase of $397,000 over the 2015 tax levy.
Conley said if the county’s levy had grown at the same rate as the consumer price index over the same amount of time, the county’s levy would be $6.7 million higher than it’s current level.
Conley said the county’s equalized value is equal to about $13.4 billion, an increase of about .71 percent over the last year and the 16th lowest in the state.
However, statistically, Conley said when it comes to the lowest calculated average mill rate, Walworth County ranks better than 50 of the other 72 counties in the state.
Conley said the county portion of the tax bill makes up about 24 percent of a residents total tax bill. However, depending upon where someone resides, the county portion could be as low as 6 percent or as high as 36 percent.
For the complete story, see the Nov. 5 edition of the Elkhorn Independent.
