Council approves 2025 budget
By Steve Van Kooten
The Prairie du Chien Common Council got a double dose of meetings this past week in order to adopt the 2025 budget for the city.
The council met on back-to-back days on Tuesday, December 3, for a regular meeting, and Wednesday, December 4, for the budget hearing.
For city residents, the city budget is the last mill rate for this year’s tax bills. For 2025, the city’s tax levy decreased 3.11 percent to $3,518,754, and the mill rate also decreased to 6.88 per $1,000 of taxable property.
The other three mill rates that make up the tax bill for city residents are the Prairie du Chien School District (5.94), Southwest Technical College (0.85) and Crawford County (6.19).
According to paperwork provided by the city, the total 2025 tax levy for city residents will be $10,304,274.22, which includes the city’s property tax and apportionments for the county, school district and technical college’s levies.
During the meeting, the council passed an ordinance putting the total 2025 tax levy into effect for its residents.
In summary, City Administrator Chad Abram said there were difficulties putting together a workable budget. The budget was previously posted in the Courier Press.
“We had to get under that expenditure restraint,” said Abram. “We were able to find the cuts to get under that restraint that was needed to avoid going to referendum.”
Abram said the city’s finance committee met several times to make approximately $300,000 in cuts to the budget. He said that some departments had budget requests denied to keep the budget under the expenditure restraint.
Despite the decrease in the city’s levy, he said that some residents in the city may see an increase on their tax bill due to the increase in the county and increased assessed property values throughout the city.
The city went through a market revaluation in 2024, which increased the municipality’s total assessed value from approximately $380 million to $522 million. This also brought the city’s assessed value from 72 percent of its equalized value to over 99 percent.
Revaluation occurs when the state determines that a municipality’s assessed value is either more than 10 percent above or more than 10 percent below its equalized value.
City salaries and compensation
The common council adopted an ordinance to establish salaries and compensation for some city employees. According to Abram, the ordinance is a standard practice.
The ordinance increased compensation for council members and the mayor, starting on Jan. 1, 2025. Three increases will take place through May 1, 2026, bringing the monthly compensation for the mayor to $893.18 and each council member to $214.36.
In the fire department, volunteer fighters received an increase in compensation. Also, the deputy fire chief and assistant fire chief will receive $2,360.69 per year. The captain will receive $2,299.38 annually, and the lieutenant and safety officer will each get $2,239.20 in the same time frame.
In the city’s parks and recreation department, raises were reduced for some employees, though those employees still received a raise.
“This is where one of the cuts was made for the Park and Rec Department part-time. We gave them one percent rather than two, and that’s where we saved some money,” said Abram.
He also noted the rate for a part-time police officer increased to $25 per hour.
2023 budget surplus
The council approved a budget surplus from 2023 amounting to $270,548.01 and a resolution that designated where current and future surplus funds could be allocated.
According to a memo from Abram and City Clerk and Treasurer Tina Fuller to the council, the city could allocate portions of the surplus to different funds in the city’s budget, including a Debt Reserve Fund that will be used to make debt payments starting in 2026.
“The new resolution says anything after all the allocations, if there’s anything left, we’re going to put into a debt reserve fund, so during budget time, it can be allocated to some future debt payments,” said Fuller.
According to Fuller, the city can place money in the fund each year as necessary, and it can remain there until the city needs to utilize it for its stated purpose.
With the resolution, $36,230.43 went to the Compensated Absences Fund, $20,000 to the Stormwater Fund, $81,164.40 to the Vehicle/Equipment Replacement Fund, $35,914.66 to the Library Campaign Fund, $54,109.60 to the Reserve Account and $43,128.92 to the Debt Reserve Fund.
With the surplus addition to the Compensated Absences Fund, the city would not have to add any more money to it until it decreases, as it is capped at a $200,000 maximum balance. The fund is used “for the payment of employee’s accumulated benefits upon retirement or other termination of employment,” according to the resolution.
In attendance at the December 3 meeting were alderpersons Nick Crary, Kayla Ingham, Andy Ringgold, Mark Bowar, Vicki Waller, Jaaren Riebe and Nate Bremmer. Abram, Police Chief Kyle Teynor, Fuller and Mayor David Hemmer were present during the meeting.
In attendance at the December 4 meeting were alderpersons Riebe, Crary, Ingham, Bob Granzow, Waller and Bremmer. Abram, Hemmer, Teynor and Fuller were also in attendance. Ringgold and Bowar were absent during the meeting.
Other business
• Jennifer Coleman was appointed to the city’s Redevelopment Authority by the mayor.
• Abram said the city is working to get construction equipment off of Haydn Street for the winter.
