$8,000 Measure Heads To Village, Town Board For Budget Approval
Last Updated: October 21, 2011
Taking a cautious approach moving forward, the Merger Study Committee decided at its October 10 meeting to approve a budgetary and expenditure analysis of what a merged Cottage Grove would look like.
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This would be Phase 2 of a three phase fiscal impact analysis being conducted by financial advisor Baker Tilly. The $8,000 needed for Phase 2 would be split equally by the municipalities, but it must first be approved as part of the Town and Village boards 2012 budgets.
An initial proposal to approve phases 2 and 3 had Town Supervisor Mike DuPlayee and other Committee members wondering about the immediate need for the final phase, which would consider areas where efficiencies could be gained through operational consolidation within the combined community.
“I am leery about moving onto Phase 3 because I just don’t see the need for an operational setting,” said DuPlayee, adding that the $15,500 Phase 3 price tag was another issue. “I know how conservative my Board is and they’re going to balk,” DuPlayee said speaking of his fellow Town Board members. “I can guarantee you that.”
Before voting with the rest of the Committee in favor of only moving forward with Phase 2, Committee Co-chairman and Village President Diane Wiedenbeck argued that dismissing Phase 3 would be a mistake.
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| Diane Wiedenbeck argued that information from Phase 3 was needed prior to consolidation, but ultimately she voted against inclusion of the final phase. |
“I think we need it before we consolidate. How do we get it? I say we get it from the professionals who know how.” Seeing opposition to her stance, she introduced another option of implementing Phase 3 if the merger passed at referendum.
DuPlayee agreed with Wiedenbeck’s post-merger idea, but it was still something that he and other Committee members felt was too costly and could be accomplished by the Merger Group.
“I think we’re intelligent people and we can find the answers,” said DuPlayee, discussing how the Committee had already listed a number of cost cutting measures during a brainstorming session at the last meeting.
Committee member Don Brinkmeier said he would want to find out what all was involved in Baker Tilly’s Phase 3 report before making any decisions. The Village resident agreed with DuPlayee that the last phase was something they could do as a Committee.
“That is where we need to sit down when it’s approved and say how is this going to work, or how we think it’s going to work or how could it work. I don’t think we need to spend $15,000.”
Beyond the discussion of studies and how to pay for them was the ongoing struggle the Committee faced on how to get feedback form Town and Village taxpayers.
There is no need to move forward if the public isn’t involved, said DuPlayee. “Without them wanting to see this to a vote there’s no point in us wringing our hands.”
Setting aside initial plans to produce a report with recommendations to Village and Town board members on whether a merger would be favorable for Cottage Grove, the Committee decided to focus on outreach.
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| Mike DuPlayee expressed his opposition to moving forward with Phase 3 of Baker Tilly's fiscal impact analysis. |
The primary tool the Committee decided for in its information arsenal would be compiling a fact sheet mailer listing pros and cons for residents to consider and asking them to give feedback to the Committee. This document they decided, would be worked on at the October 24 meeting and could be included with tax bill mailings that go out in December. Brinkmeier said that mailing it with the tax bill would also draw more attention to it since residents’ minds would already be focused on taxes.
While much of the concerns the Committee expects to hear from residents will revolve around taxes, they also anticipate discussion of how a merger into one Village might affect the rural character and lifestyle of the Town. Committee Co-Chairman and Town Chairman Kris Hampton said issues like land development rights, hunting, burning and per-parcel farm animal limits would all be concerns.
Much of that is expected to be taken care of through formation of a rural affairs committee that Merger Committee members have considered since the beginning of discussions earlier this year. Hampton said in a follow-up interview that citizen participation to this point has been minimal. “If we don’t get it in the news it’s going to die a quick death maybe at budget time because budgets are tight. As we weed through everybody’s wish lists, I don’t know how high the other members are going to put that on their lists.”
In the meantime he says community outreach and feedback is paramount, so the people have a clear understanding of what a consolidated Cottage Grove would look like and their elected representatives know what the constituency desires.
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Other ideas suggested for making contact with community members were through an online survey site called Survey Monkey, and through letters in the Village’s quarterly newsletter and on the Town’s and Village’s websites.
A portion of the content for the fact sheet will likely come from Baker Tilly’s Phase 1 report, which was presented at the October 6 Joint Board and October 10 Merger Committee meetings. The October 10 meeting focused mostly on the tax gap between the Town and Village and ways to close it. Baker Tilly Manager Kate Crowley reviewed what had been presented at the Joint Board and previous Merger Study meetings, and then moved into the five year projections.
The biggest variable going forward she said would be the debt owned by the two municipalities, which she said turned out to have a positive outlook.
“You are both expecting to retire some debt in the next five years to bring down your effective levy rate,” said Crowley, pointing to a chart on page 16 of the report showing the Village dropping from about $290,000 to $150,000 in 2013. The Town showed a similar reduction in 2014 going from about $290,000 to about $80,000 after Town Clerk Kim Banigan says they make a final bond payment and pay off the fire department’s ladder truck.
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| Don Brinkmeier expressed opposition to the $15,500 charge for Phase 3 saying that the Committee could do this research. |
Translating that five year span from 2012 to 2016 from debt service to "effective levy" resulted in a tax decrease for both communities, according to the report. This translated into a $208,460 average annual gap that would need to be made up in order to achieve zero tax increase for the Town. This is the same number that was $182,810 for 2011, but on an average basis, said Committee member and Town resident Dave Muehl.
Using 2011 Town and Village budget numbers, Crowley said Baker Tilly calculated what was described as an “effective levy” calculating $182,810 as the budget gap that needed to be filled to ensure that the Town’s taxes would not increase. The “effective levy”—which includes all taxes and other fees paid by Village and Town residents—was used, said Crowley, to get a direct comparison of Town and Village budgets.
As in prior meetings, she drew attention to how the budget gap could be cut by more than half by removing the Village’s $100,000 hydrant rental fee (managed through the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin) from the Village tax levy and turning it into a direct bill to water users. So as a result residents who use the water would pay that out of their water bill rather than the tax bill, avoiding an increase to Town taxpayers.
Other areas also mentioned prior meetings included locating administrative and building inefficiencies as well as implementing direct billing and special assessment measures for areas like storm water management and construction and maintenance of streets and sidewalks.