City budget fine-tuned, wages frozen A 2010 city budget that calls for a freeze on all salaries—union and non-union alike—was advanced to a Nov. 11 public hearing Wednesday.
Meeting as a committee of the whole, the Antigo Common Council reviewed the spending package for a few final adjustments before forwarding it to the hearing and official action later that night.
The hearing was originally scheduled for Nov. 4, but was moved to meet state-mandated publication deadlines.
According to Clerk-Treasurer Kaye Matucheski, the budget includes no cost-of-living adjustments for both union and non-union employees. Negotiations are now underway with the various unions, she said, but that is the stand—and the number—city negotiators will follow.
The budget also maintains the current level of services and includes only a few smaller equipment purchases.
“It has been a difficult budget,” Matucheski said, noting cuts in state shared revenue payments and interest income. The city has been tightening its belt for years, she added, and has steadily decreased the amount of undesignated funds available to make up shortfalls, lessening wiggle room as well.
Matucheski commended the work of her staff and department heads in completing the process in a timely and efficient manner.
Under state spending guidelines, the city was allowed a levy increase of 3 percent or $93,000. It is anticipating a total tax levy, including debt service that falls outside of the state limits, of $3,545,783.
The city’s assessed value will increase $1.8 million and is now figured at $361,640,000. That will result in a mill rate of $9.80 per $1,000, a hike of 32 cents.
That means that the owner of a $100,000 home in Antigo will pay $980 in city taxes, up $32 from last year. That total does not include tax bills from Langlade County, the Antigo school district, Northcentral Technical College and the state of Wisconsin.
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