Who Needs Your Money More, the County, or You?

September 19, 2024

Septemeber 2024

Update on Ongoing 2025 County Budget Plans

BACKGROUND: The Rock County Board of Supervisors (BoS) are currently in the 2025 budgeting process. There is more work and discussions to take place between now and the November vote on the budget. So far, it appears the BoS’s have taken your Financial Freedom to heart as they appear to be much more focused on reining in tax levy spending (which is responsible for a significant portion of your property taxes), and not dipping into other pools of taxpayer money (i.e. the general fund or sales taxes, as they have the last three years) to fund their significant spending.

CURRENT KEY TAKEAWAYS:

  • Many County Supervisors got the message from voters in the Spring 2024 election. Here are a few positive developments versus the previous two annual budget planning cycles:
    • There is much more discussion, transparency and alignment in the 2025 budget planning process, than the previous two years. Particularly early in the budget planning process.
    • The Board is currently targeting a modest 2.3% year-over-year increase in tax levy spending. (Some Supervisors obviously have not received the message from the voters as they are proposing a double-digit increase in spending.)
    • Additionally, the County Administrator (Josh Smith) does not believe approval for additional borrowing, which requires 22 of 29 Supervisors to vote “yes,” will pass this (more fiscally responsible) board. Therefore he is not proposing to the board funding additional spending, via debt. This is good as the county is carrying higher debt due to the new County jail complex.
    • Also, the County Administrator has proposed to the Board to reverse the previous trend of funding excessive spending by reallocating taxpayer dollars from other sources – the general fund or sales taxes.
    • The Administration and Board Committees are considering significant cuts to the County budget. Department heads are being asked to priotitize their spending and look at whether staffing levels are appropriate. Additionally, capital funding is being analyzed as well.
    • Based on the guidelines above, the County will need to cut between $4M and $6.5M from the budget. This will need to come from the operating budget.
      • If the Board is true to their intentions, this will be the first time in the last three budget cycles they have actually cut their annual budget.
  • So far, the County Administrator has a reasonable proposal for the 2025 budget and you hear him propose it to the County board in the video link below.
  •  The County Administrator is scheduled to present the proposed budget to the full Board, based on the intentions discussed above, on September 26th. The Board will vote on the budget in November.

LEARN MORE:
● Video: Rock County Administrator (Josh Smith) presentation on preliminary 2025 budget planning (date June 27, 2024). Click HERE.

KEY QUESTION: In today’s poor economy, given the already high Rock County property taxes, who needs your money more, you or the County?

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? YOUR FINANCIAL FREEDOM IS IMPACTED BY YOUR LOCAL PROPERTY TAXES!

  • Did you know? According to tax-rates.org, Rock County property taxes, as a percentage of personal income, is 143rd out of 3143 counties across the US. This makes Rock County property taxes higher than 95% of counties in the US!
    • Reminder: Your property taxes go to pay County, Municipality, School District, and Blackhawk Tech tax levys.
  • To learn more, click HERE.

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS FOR:

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
Contact your Supervisor and tell them you expect: 1) no more than a 2.3% increase in tax levy spending, 2) no additional borrowing, and 3) do not allocate general fund or sales taxes to fund tax levy spending in the 2025 budget.

This matters as it takes 20 Supervisors, out of 29 to pass the budget (a two-thirds majority). Because of our collective success in the Spring election, we believe there may be as many as 14 fiscally conservative County Supervisors. Enough to hold the line on spending!

You can find their contact information HERE.

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