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City tax bills to decrease

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By Correne Martin

The overall tax bill for Prairie du Chien taxpayers is projected to decrease, according to the 2019 city budget appropriated at a special common council meeting Tuesday night, Dec. 11. On the customary $100,000 value home, taxes are anticipated to go down by $387.53.

The primary revenue generator for the city is the property tax levy. It, in fact, generates 42 percent of the municipality’s income. The budget documents state that the city’s levy in 2019 represents a $226,243, or 9.32 percent, increase. The levy in 2018 increased 2.95 percent. 

In a standard year, a levy increase would also mean a tax bill hike. But, according to City Clerk Tina Fuller, because of the increase in the city’s assessment base that happened with this year’s revaluation project, the tax bill is going down ($387 on a $100,000 home).

The city’s fiscal plan for 2019 involves a balanced budget of estimated revenue and expenditures equaling $5,782,226.30. This is an increase of about $221,000 from where 2018’s budget is expected to conclude. However, it is still around $270,000 less than 2017’s actual budget.

Interim City Administrator Chad Abram said the increase is due to multiple factors. First, it was decided to increase the city’s contingency (unexpected expense) fund from $50,000, which was budgeted for 2018, to $100,000 for 2019. Second, there are three major line items in the 2019 budget for needs at city hall: $20,000 for security upgrades, $10,000-20,000 for an HVAC system and $10,000 for zoning software. Third, the city agreed to the requests from its “community partners”—the chamber of commerce, Driftless Development, PdC Main Street and Ft. Crawford—giving them $15,000, $10,000, $7,500 and $5,000, respectively. 

According to page one of the budget presented and approved after a public hearing Tuesday, this new budget also reinvests surpluses by building the city’s “rainy day” account, to provide insurance against future unexpected challenges, and funding infrastructure and equipment purchases that may have otherwise required borrowing.

In determining the 2019 budget, Abram, Fuller and the council’s finance committee met multiple times with each of the city’s individual departments. Each one was given the opportunity to present a “wish list,” Fuller said. Then, the committee came back to the departments, asking them to cut certain areas. That was done to balance the budget.

The city will account for 31.2 percent of taxpayers’ bills, while the Prairie du Chien Area School District is estimated to make up 38.9 percent, Crawford County 25.3 percent and Southwest Tech 4.6 percent.

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