City holds budget to .38 percent increase
Personnel were cut in several departments
By GAY GRIESBACH For the Daily News
West Bend’s Common Council approved a zero percent increase in the assessed value tax rate and a 2.94 percent increase in the tax levy as part of the city’s 2010 budget Monday night. That means the owner of a $200,000 home will pay a little over $1,708 on upcoming tax bills. The assessed valuation per $1,000, which was $8.04 in 2009, rose to $8.54 in the 2010 budget. Overall, the 2010 budget represents a 0.38 percent increase over the current year. An increase in the city’s equalized value, mostly from new property development, meant a 2.95 percent boost in the tax levy to $19.87 million. Although cost cutting occurred in a number of departments, City Administrator Dennis Melvin said in a memo to Mayor Kristine Deiss and members of the Common Council that there would be no changes in service due to position cuts. Melvin wrote that most of the city’s budgeted expenses are related to personnel costs and to keep the tax rate the same, cost cutting involved cutting positions in a number of departments. A part time human resources position in the city attorney’s office has been eliminated and those duties merged with the administrative secretary. In building maintenance, part time summer help was cut and city hall and police department janitors are working reduced hours. In the Public Safety Department, budgeted overtime was reduced and the hiring of a dispatcher will be delayed four months in 2010. Two paid-oncall positions in the fire department were also eliminated. A full time office position in the Building Inspection Department was eliminated and those duties will be taken up in another department. In the Public Works and Engineering departments a full-time crew position was cut due to a transfer to an open position in the Water Utility Department. A special projects clerical position was cut and overtime reduced. In the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department, 113 hours of crew overtime were eliminated and 40 percent of the seasonal labor in public areas cut. In most departments, Melvin wrote that noticeable service reductions may be noticed in public works and park maintenance. “In both areas, we are currently looking at ways to mitigate those impacts, and therefore cannot be specific at this time in how the reductions in force might affect a citizen on the street,” Melvin wrote. The city continues to operate under levy limits previously imposed by the state legislature. According to the state formula, a levy of at least $579,000 would be allowed, but the city’s levy is under that limit by about $10,000.