Many moving parts in the 2023 Mequon budget

Council set to vote on budget Wednesday

By Lisa Curtis lcurtis@conleynet.com 262-305-8934

MEQUON — It was no ordinary budget season for the city of Mequon, as officials worked to craft a 2023 budget that took into account numerous variables unlike any previously.

That included the consolidation of the fire and EMS services with Thiensville, the transfer of emergency dispatch services to the county and considerable inflationary pressures, to name a few.

The budget draft also includes $1.77 million of ARPA funds — federal COVID relief dollars — that will give the city funding to complete various one-time projects.

On Wednesday, the Mequon Common Council will vote on a proposed budget that calls for a $23.73 million levy and a mill rate of $3.10 per $1,000 of property value, an increase of 2 cents over last year. For the owner of a $400,000 home, that is an $8 bump in the city portion of their property tax bill.

Among the key features of the budget are:

-removing all expenses relating to fire and EMS and allocating $1.35 million to the new Southern Ozaukee Fire & EMS Department that is shared with Thiensville.

The budget allows the new joint department to hire four full-time paramedic-firefighters, in addition to the four who were authorized this year. Thiensville will also contribute to the department’s budget as part of its 2023 budget, allowing for two more full-time members.

“So we’re quickly adding full-time bodies to the department, to the point where we are strengthening our emergency medical services,” said Mequon City Administrator Will Jones.

See BUDGET, PAGE 6A

Budget

From Page 1A

- reducing the police communications budget by $209,487, to reflect the transfer of all 9-1-1 emergency dispatching services to Ozaukee County starting Jan. 1, 2023. The Ozaukee County Board approved the agreement last week.

- compensation adjustments for both represented and nonrepresented city staff

- a budget that is balanced with $200,000 in ARPA funds, but no use of general fund reserves. The one-time purchases made with the $1.77 million in available ARPA funds include buying an an online permitting and inspections system ($425,000), expanding the existing pavilion facility in Lemke Park ($350,000), installing a traffic signal at County Line and Port Washington roads ($325,000), automating the city’s brush site ($250,000) and purchasing electronic poll books ($90,000).

The increase in the tax rate came after a discussion among aldermen during an Appropriations Committee meeting last month. Jones had recommended increasing the tax rate 4.52 cents above the $3.02 tax rate in the budget he presented to the city.

Jones’ recommendations totaled $239,000 and included $43,961 toward the shared fire and EMS department, $50,000 more toward utilities and $41,716 for library funding requested by Frank L. Weyenberg Library Director Rachel Muchin Young.

The budget already contained an additional $4,000 for the library, which caused Alderman Brian Parrish to wonder why Mequon is increasing its library spending, but the village of Thiensville, which jointly operates the library with Mequon, has no additional funds budgeted.

He said that the two communities worked collaboratively with the village to come to a fair agreement for a joint fire and EMS department, but feels the library agreement might “be in need of some modifications.”

Alderman Jeffrey Hansher said that the library has been shortchanged for “years and years and years.” He said that given the inflation that families have been dealing with, the library is a place to go that is essentially free.

But Alderman Mark Gierl said that there are areas where spending could be cut, including reducing the current six days a week of janitorial services.

“I think there’s plenty of room to reduce expenses,” he said, though he did agree to vote for Jones’ recommendations with the promise that library spending would be reviewed.

Jones also said that the joint library agreement with Thiensville would also be reviewed.

Mequon’s tax rate is among the lowest in southeast Wisconsin. The only other comparable community with a lower rate is Pewaukee, according to Jones’ data.

With a proposed mill rate of $3.10 per $1,000 property value, Mequon has one of the lowest rates of cities of comparable size in southeast Wisconsin.