Hearing on challenging county budget set for Nov. 4

A public hearing on the 2025 Ozaukee County budget will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 4, at the county Administration Center in downtown Port Washington in the County Board meeting room, Room A-204.

In what officials called one of the most challenging budgets in memory, the proposed budget calls for spending $101.5 million, a 2.06% increase from this year’s budget, with revenues of $78.6 million, a 1.98% increase, resulting in a $23 million property tax levy, up 2.62% over 2024.

It’s the first time the county has imposed a tax levy increase in several years.

The budget includes a 3% cost-of-living increase for county employees and a 5% increase in health insurance premiums.

Despite the levy increase, the 2025 county tax rate would drop a nickel to $1.25 per $1,000 of equalized value, a drop of 3.63%, from 2024.

That means the owner of a $300,000 house would see a charge of about $375 in county property taxes on their tax bill this December.

That’s in addition to taxes levied by school districts, municipalities, technical colleges and other taxing entities.

Equalized value, which crosses municipal lines, is  calculated by the state and differs from the assessed value, which appears on the property tax bills issued by the county.

Property owners in areas that do not have a municipal library pay an additional tax to support libraries in the county. For 2025, they will pay an additional 22 cents per $1,000 of equalized value, or $66 for a $300,000 house, up 0.5% from 2024 under the proposed budget.

The $591,316 of additional levy comes from accessing the state’s allowable tax levy increase based on the value of its net new construction formula of $257,907 for 2025 and $333,409 for 2024, which the county is still eligible to use since it did not use it in the 2024 budget.

The two most significant factors affecting the 2025 budget are the increasing cost of placements in the Human Services Department and a corresponding decrease in revenues from the state, County Administrator Jason Dzwinel told supervisors.

Consequently, supervisors on the Executive Committee approved Dzwinel’s budget without any major changes.

The budget to be presented at the public hearing includes not filling five open positions in the Human Services Department, cutting operating expenses there by $279,471 and applying $725,089 from general fund savings.

It also defunds eight Sheriff’s Office dispatchers, saving about half a million dollars.

Plus, the Highway Department is being directed to not take on any new highway projects and solicit work from the state and local towns.

The County Board is scheduled to vote on the budget at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6, in the County Board Room.