The Wright County Board of Commissioners Tuesday approved the 2018 preliminary tax levy in the amount of $62,680,533.
That represents a 7.73% increase over the 2017 levy of $58,184,217.
Commissioner Michael Potter said a number of things affected the budget, including an IT upgrade, transportation, more staff, capital improvement and Health & Human Services increases.
“Most of that is mandated by the state and federal government,” he said. “We have to deal with that whether we like it or not.”
Potter said population increase and economic growth will offset most of the increase.
He also said the county is now in “catch-up” mode after years of holding back the reins on spending during the recession.
“God bless the former commissioners. They were very conservative, but they didn’t address the growth issues,” he said. “It was the correct decision at the time.
But holding hard zeroes comes at a price. Now we have to deal with it this year.”
He said the county will also be building a new courts facility near the jail which will impact the 2019 budget.
“So it behooved us to start addressing some of our issues now instead of kicking that down the road for another year,” he said.
With the growth and increased tax capacity, the overall tax rate will increase just slightly, from 39.599% to 39.837%.
“So a home that does not change in value will see a very small increase,” said Commissioner Charles Borrell.
Potter said even with the increase, Wright County is still levying a lot less than counties of similar size.
The county’s overall budget will increase from $113,861,809 to $126,252,299.
That includes increases in the general fund ($59,031,709 to $63,004,033), road and bridge ($22,112,702 to $27,572,846) and human services ($26,981,687 to $28,501,114). There is also a $1.8 million allocation for capital improvements. Debt service is decreasing from $5,607,186 to $5,246,354.
The preliminary budget and levy can be decreased but not increased. The final levy is due in December.
