County budget, mill rate approved
By Steve Van Kooten
The Crawford County Board of Supervisors met for a “special” board meeting on November 12 to review the 2025 budget.
Finance Committee Chair Gary Koch conducted the hearing, proposing a budget that included an allowable levy limit of approximately $12 million and a mill rate of 6.19, which is 0.97 more than the previous year.
“Most of that 97 cents — 86 of it — is the increase in debt service for the jail,” said Koch.
The mill rate is calculated by dividing the total levy by the equalized value of the county. For 2025, the 6.19 amounts to $619 tax per $100,000 of property.
Koch noted that some residents in the county will see a different number because tax bills are created using a municipality’s assessed value, and if the municipality is not at 100 percent of what the state values their property, the amount can increase or decrease to compensate for that disparity.
“I know that communities in Crawford, not all of them are at 100 percent, so when they get their tax bill, it’s going to be different than the 6.19 one way or the other. Mostly higher,” Koch said.
Crawford County’s equalized value increased to $161 million, which Koch said is a positive. “This helps because the more value you have to spread the levy, the better off you are.”
The levy includes $3.8 million in debt service, a $2.5 million increase from the previous year, and a $50,000 decrease in general levy.
The levy is the amount the county will tax after subtracting projected revenues from expenses in the next year.
“The majority of the increase of that allowable levy limit is debt service for the jail,” said Koch. The county borrowed the first $13 million for the jail project this past September through a bond issuance. Two more rounds of borrowing will take place in 2025 and 2026. Debt service increased 14 percent from 2024.
Other major costs figured into the budget included employee wages and money for a human resources director or similar administrative position.
“This budget is personnel-driven for the most part,” said Koch. “And the personnel committee this year successfully negotiated a salary and benefits package with the Sheriff’s Union.”
He continued, “Our top priority in putting this budget together was trying to ensure that all other county employees got the same increase.”
Those two priorities amount to nearly $1 million in costs for the county in the budget.
Health insurance costs increased 16 percent from the previous year. Employees have a range of plans to choose from, and some plans increased in costs while others did not. According to Koch, the county is limited to contributing up to 88 percent to employee health insurance plans.
“Of the typical plan that most of our employees have chosen of all the plans that are offered, the county’s portion is $23,300 a year,” said Koch. “It adds up rather quickly.”
He told the board that the typical cost for an employee per year for health insurance is $3,200 for a family and $1,300 for an individual.
The county is projected to see approximately $1 million more in revenue next year (to approx. $15.5 million); however, it will also see a $3.7 million increase in expenditures (to $29.7 million).
The board adopted the 2025 budget as presented.
levy limit
Koch told the board that the county only has two realistic ways to increase their levy amount: net new construction and debt service.
Net new construction is all construction done within the county after subtracting the monetary value of demolition done within the same timeframe. Crawford County saw a decrease in net new construction from 1.45 percent to 1.03 percent year-over-year. According to Koch, the 2025 number amounts to approximately $81,000 for the county.
For debt service, the 2025 budget proposed an $850,000 short-term borrowing and a $203,000 capital improvement loan.
At the October 16 Supervisors meeting, Koch said the county has used short-term borrowing in previous years to increase their levy, usually for $500,000. This year, the finance committee proposed an increase to $850,000. The borrowed money is then used for highway department expenses.
The county can borrow the money rather than allocate it from the tax levy because the highway department consistently needs equipment and project expenses that can utilize funds acquired through debt service (e.g., loans). The reduction helps the county balance its overall 2025 budget.
“Basically, we’re saying we’re going to take that $850,000 out of their budget and borrow for it,” Koch told the Courier Press. “What that allows us to do is keep that $850,000 in the highway budget, and we’ve avoided the levy limit.”
The county will borrow the money this year and pay it back early next year, which will allow the county to increase the amount of money in their levy from the community, according to Koch.
The board adopted a resolution to authorize the short-term borrowing for one year from People’s State Bank in the amount of $850,000 with an interest rate of 3.75 percent.
Koch said the capital improvement loan will serve a similar purpose.
“This again is a move to pull out some expenses that would normally be in our operation and maintenance budget so that we can get under the levy limit,” said Koch.
The improvements include purchasing a riding lawnmower, IT equipment, squad cars for the sheriff’s department and some “small” equipment for the Crawford County Communication Center.
The term for the bids does not exceed seven years.
The board adopted a resolution to authorize a one-year $203,000 loan from Community First Bank with an interest rate of 4.17 percent.
Going forward
At the October board meeting, Koch said that counties and municipalities like Crawford County may face difficulties in future years due to inflation and the state’s restrictions on counties’ ability to raise their levy.
He said, “I’m hoping that at some point the state will realize the difficulties that municipalities in Wisconsin are having trying to get under the levee limit because it’s just not sustainable... We’ve been using some of our fund balance, but you can’t do that forever.”
