Beaver Dam Council Discusses Proposed 2023 Budget

(Beaver Dam) Beaver Dam residents would no longer be paying for garbage and recycling on their tax bill, under a plan green-lit by the common council Monday night. As part of 2023 budget discussions, officials signed-off on the creation of a Solid Waste Utility. That means, residents would be paying a new charge on their water bill, estimated at $45 per quarter for the average homeowner.  

Beaver Dam’s median home value is $166,400 and that property owner was looking at an estimated increase of $170 on their next tax bill, for the city portion. The creation of the Solid Waste Utility would reduce that by $62. The move would free up $387-thousand dollars in the tax levy for other needs.  

When budget discussions were held earlier this month, officials were looking at over one-million dollars in red ink. A proposal to implement a higher deductible health insurance plan for city workers was scrapped in favor of the Solid Waste Utility plan. However, other cuts were built into the proposed budget.  

That includes increases for some service fees, scaling back contributions to the Shared Ride Taxi program, reducing the legal services budget and reclassifying capital outlay as debt, removing it from state revenue caps.  

The $19.2-million-dollar budget includes a tax levy of $12.9-million dollars. Excluding debt, the maximum the levy can be increased is $115-thousand dollars.  

Equalized property values increased by 1.2-percent. The mill rate is projected at $8.68 per thousand dollars of assessed value. 

Expenditures increased $2.3-million dollars with the bulk of the rise tied to the addition of $1-million dollars in debt service from the construction of a new public works facility, which is exempt from state levy limits. Wage would increase by one-percent (1%) to one-and-a-half percent (1.5%).  

The city administrator in finalizing the proposed budget for publication with a public hearing targeted for November 21.