Dodge County Board Approves 2021 Budget

(Juneau) The Dodge County Board adopted the 2021 budget Tuesday. The mill rate of $5.12 per thousand-dollars of assessed value is down two-cents from the number homeowners saw last December, while county property values are up over four-percent to $7-billion-dollars. The $156-million-dollar document has a tax levy of $36-million, which is an increase of roughly $1.4-million-dollars from the current budget year. The county board approved borrowing $9-million dollars to repair roads in 2021. Efforts to remove $110-thousand-dollars in funding from Thrive-ED, which is an economic development partnership with Jefferson County, failed. A majority of the meeting, roughly three-and-half-hours, was spent going over budget amendments. Dodge County Board Chairman Russ Kottke told the board that most of these discussions should have been hammered out in committee. He said all of the amendments should have been brought up during finance committee meetings so the finance department could have enough time to calculate any potential budget impacts. Kottke called the process (quote) “disgusting” and said there is something wrong in Dodge County. The final budget was adopted on a 24-to-5 vote.