Draft county budget calls for levy hike

Ozaukee County’s preliminary 2027 budget includes increasing the property tax levy by $550,000, or 2.57%, over 2026, mainly due to increased wages and insurance costs, according to a presentation to be made to the County Board on Wednesday.

County Administrator Jason Dzwinel said in a memo to county supervisors that his proposed budget includes reducing county debt by $214,776.

“The most significant pressures arise from employee compensation and health insurance, contracted services, technology,

transit funding changes and the cost of maintaining county facilities and infrastructure,” Dzwinel said in the memo.

He said county departments have “generally limited operating expansions, increased reasonable program-revenue estimates, and used enterprise revenue or fund balance where appropriate to reduce reliance on property tax levy.”

Highlights of the proposed budget include:

• As usual, the Sheriff’s Office comprises the largest part of the budget, with $17.4 million of levy support, an increase of $766,000, or 4%. Expenses are slated to go up about $781,000 while revenues increase about $115,000. More than 80% of the budget is for salaries and benefits, which are expected to rise $479,000, including a $267,000 increase in health insurance. 

The budget anticipates an additional  $100,000 for boarding state and federal inmates.

• The Human Services and Aging and Disability Resources Center will rise $685,000 to $17.8 million in expenses and $11.4 million in revenues, resulting in a tax levy of approximately $6.4 million, up 12%, due to higher placement costs, salaries and benefits.

• The District Attorney Office’s proposed levy is approximately $846,000, with salaries and benefits up about $109,000, mainly due to the conversion of a part-time victim-witness position to full-time.

• The county’s two golf courses will contribute $150,000 to county park operations.

• The Lasata Senior Living Campus in Cedarburg will contribute $100,000 to the county’s general fund.

• The Register of Deeds Office is projected to generate approximately $493,000 more in revenue than expenses, an increase of about $64,000 over 2026.

• The Highway Department is being encouraged again to pursue additional state and municipal work to strengthen its reserve fund, the tradeoff being a “reduced capacity for county highway projects,” Dzwinel said.

Dzwinel projects about $1 million more in sales tax and interest revenue in 2027.

The county has benefited from a robust economy, with sales tax receipts expected to top $13 million, a record, this year.

Dzwinel said Tuesday that the increase in the levy is less than what the state allows based on the county’s increase in net new construction, and the potential effect of his proposed budget on the tax rate has not yet been calculated.

The Executive Committee, made up of the chairmen of the five standing committees and County Board Chairman Lee Schlenvogt, is scheduled to have a budget ready for the County Board to review in mid-October.

The board will vote on it in November.

The budget must be finalized by December.