Category: Taxes
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Did the County Board actually commit to a $3,000,000+ Loan Guarantee for Leathercamp Broadband?
The County Board should give Bug Tussel a $142,175 grant from ARPA funds to meet it’s March 15, 2022 Commitment. In the long run, it will undoubtedly cost County taxpayers far less than guaranteeing a $3,000,000 (actually about $4,500,000 with reserves and capitalized interest) loan. Is Misinformation being Provided in an Attempt to Influence County…
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Marathon County Board passes 5.7%, $3.1 million tax increase, largest percentage tax increase in 14 years
The Marathon County Board adopted a 2024 property tax levy of $57,954,347, which is an increase of $3,115,687 or 5.68% over the 2023 property tax levy of $54,838,660. This is the largest increase in the Marathon County part of the property tax bill on a percentage basis in at least the last 14 years, based…
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County Highway Fund Unrestricted Net Position grew from $36,584,660 in 2017 to $54,318,896 in 2022
The rapid growth and significant balance in the County Highway Unrestricted Net Position raises questions regarding the justification for the County Wheel Tax, the justification for voting down the proposed $1,500,000 reduction in the 2024 property tax increase, and the justification for plans to borrow $58,625,000 for a new Highway Facility. These topics will be…
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No Library Resolution this Evening
I have decided not to propose my Library Resolution this evening. The resolution would have increased the 2024 Library tax levy by $220,535 compared to the 2023 library tax levy and would have fully funded the 2024 Library Budget Request using tax levy, non levy revenue, and Library reserves. The resolution was the subject of…
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HRFC Committee Chair Robinson Discusses Failure to Consider HHS Budget Amendment Proposal
HRFC Committee Chair Robinson states that the HRFC committee considered the HHS resolution and raises the issue of CIP rollover policy as a justification to not support the proposed $1,500,000 reduction in the proposed 2024 tax increase. In my opinion, the CIP rollover policy is vague and ambiguous, leading to valid questions regarding whether or…
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Policy Review: CIP Rollover Policy
Conclusion: It is probably an appropriate time for the County Board to review and update the CIP rollover policy, but – in my opinion – there is little in previous or recent CIP rollover practice or policy to preclude the use of current sales tax revenue or unrestricted Social Improvement Fund Balance from being used…
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Supervisor Baker’s Amendment to Reduce Proposed Tax Increase by $1,500,000, updated with Staff suggested revisions
Thank you to Finance Director Palmer for proof reading my original draft and providing very helpful grammatical and technical corrections. 11/7/23 One additional revision from Finance Director Palmer. One word changed in the 2nd to last sentence (in the Fiscal Impact Statement). 11/6/23
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Supervisor Baker’s Amendment to Fully Fund the Library and Save Marathon County Taxpayers $165,000.
As I publicly stated at the October 5th, 2023 EEED committee meeting prior to all of the recent press and comments on social media regarding the Library, it has been my intention to provide a Budget Amendment Resolution that increases the 2024 MCPL tax levy relative to the 2023 MCPL tax levy. My proposed amendment…
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Library Budget and Tax Levy Review: Marathon County Public Library
This Budget and Library Tax Levy Review is based on publicly available data as well as individual communications with Marathon County staff. Links are provided for the individual communications. The analysis contained in this post contains estimates and data interpretations that are accurate to the best of my abilities. If any Marathon County staff, Marathon…
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Supervisor Baker’s Amendment to Reduce Proposed Tax Increase by $1,500,000.