Overall property tax rate drops in Hudson

By Randy Hanson

Residents of the city of Hudson will see a drop in their overall property tax mill rate of 87 cents per $1,000 of assessed value in 2000.

Monday night, the City Council adopted a mill rate for next year that is the same as this year's - $7.52 per $1,000 of property value.

City Finance Director Betty Caruso reported that the overall mill rate will decline, however, because of decreases in the mill rates for the Hudson School District and St. Croix County. The school district's mill rate in the city will be $12.17 per $1,000, a 5 percent decrease from last year. The county's mill rate will drop to $4.51 per $1,000, 5.8 percent less than last year.

The state's and Wisconsin Indian Technical College's mill rates are up by a few pennies from last year.

A $144.17 lottery credit also will help to reduce the property tax burden for homeowners. Last year's credit was just $44.81.

What it all means for the owner of a $150,000 house is that he or she will pay $226.72 less in property taxes in 2000 compared to 1999.

The owner of a $100,000 house will pay $183.27 less in property taxes in 2000, and the owner of a $200,000 house, $270.17 less.

The relief is coupled with a promised sales tax rebate from the state of $360 to $534 for married couples and $184 to $267 for single people.

The City Council adopted a 2000 budget of $7,480,048, an increase of 16 percent from last year's budget. The city's total tax levy (including tax incremental financing districts) is $3,236,258, up 6.8 percent from 1999.

An increase in the city's total assessed valuation to $430,165,000, a 6.4 percent increase from last year, offset the levy increase and allowed the mill rate to remain unchanged.