Horicon Looking At Balanced Budget In 2018

10/25/17 – City officials in Horicon have eliminated funding for the city’s Economic Development Department in the 2018 budget. The Committee of the Whole spent six hours in budget deliberations this week tasked with trimming just over $150-thousand dollars to meet state levy limits and balance the budget.  Mayor Steve Neitzel says currently there is only funding for the economic development director position held by Jim Schaefer through the end of this year. The elimination of funding was offset by the addition of a full-time position in the Department of Public Works. Neitzel says the numbers were balanced primarily by removing maintenance projects from the Public Safety and Municipal buildings. The $3.7-million-dollar budget includes a tax levy of 2.3-million dollars up around 7.5-percent from the current budget. The mayor notes that this is the first time in recent history that the city has advanced a balanced budget that did not require dipping into the general fund. A public hearing and final vote on the 2018 budget is slated for the third week of November.