By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
The City of Burlington Common Council unanimously approved its 2017 budget Tuesday night, which results in a decrease in the city’s property tax rate.
The mill rate dropped 17 cents from last year to $8.95 per $1,000 of property value, which City Treasurer Steve DeQuaker said had to do with an increase in property value citywide this year.
The city’s taxes, though, are just one portion of any property tax bill. Other portions include the Burlington Area School District, Racine County, Gateway Technical College, and the State of Wisconsin.
DeQuaker said the budget addressed everything that was brought up in the city’s budget workshop process, including work needing to be done on the wall near the old water tower on Lewis Street as well as zeroing out two funds that had negative balances.
The later, to a total of about $200,000, ended up in the fund balance dipping again this year. DeQuaker stressed that he worked conservatively in estimates, so there may be more left in the fund balance by the end of 2016.
“I’d rather look at a worst-case scenario,” he said.
The drop in the fund balance did raise a question, from Alderman Tom Vos, on whether the city was working to replenish it.
“I just don’t want to let us get too far down in the hole,” Vos said.
DeQuaker reassured him that with the impending closing on one of the city’s tax incremental finance districts, the fund balance would be replenished in the following budget.
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