County to boost levy 18.5%

By Judy Wiff

ELLSWORTH - For the last 2 years, the Pierce County Board has been using a property tax levy rate lower than it could have been under state law. Tuesday morning, when the board adopted a year 2000 budget, that changed.

The mill rate (the amount assessed each $1,000 worth of taxable property) for operating expenses will increase from $5.24 to $5.48 per $1,000. That's about a 5% increase.

A growing tax base will also allow the county to collect $976,986 more than last year. The total amount of money collected in property taxes will increase 18.48% to $8,967,582. The 1999 levy was $7,568,763.

The gross levy is 21.4% higher than last year, but administrators are suggesting using 1999 balances to bring the levy rate to the legal limit. The county will apply balances of $100,000 from the Highway Fund, $130,000 of unspent GIS (Geographic Information System) money and $92,492 from other sources to lower the overall levy.

An anticipated $1.1 million in county sales tax will also offset the property tax levy.

Because of a miscommunication between the auditor and the Finance Committee, for a couple of years committee members believed they could keep the levy rate below the 5.48 state-mandated cap, and then have a one-time opportunity to go back and collect that unlevied money, probably for new jail expenses, said Financial Director Julie Brickner. They found out this year that they can't.

"In that respect we missed being able to establish a jail fund," said Administrative Coordinator Mark Schroeder. But, he said, there are also problems with collecting money before it's needed. "You can't just tax and stockpile money."

In 1999 the county levied $324,321 below its levy cap, said Schroeder.

The new budget includes $143,104 for new or expanded jobs.

Major among those are the positions of county surveyor and surveyor technician. Since 1969 the county has contracted with a private surveyor for an ongoing remonumentation program.

There never was a real deadline for completing the work, and it's not nearly done, said Schroeder. Last year the county budgeted $79,000 for this work.

The county surveyor position is expected to cost $68,834 a year while the technician position will cost $45,044 a year.

"Between the two of them it's probably still a 10-year job," said Schroeder. At the end of a decade the county could re-evaluate the positions, but "We always have need for a surveyor to do other things too," said Schroeder.

The budget also includes $20,000 for a truck for the surveyor, $31,000 for GPS equipment and $5,000 for computer software for that office.

The budget includes $19,000 to buy a van to haul county prisoners back and forth to out-of-county jails. Only two prisoners can be transported in a squad car at one time, and officers often need to transport five or more prisoners at a time, said Schroeder.

The jail budget was increased by over $50,000. Of that amount, $35,000 is to pay for boarding.

The County Board is also budgeting $250,000 for jail design and development work in 2000.

"We're concerned that the (amount budgeted for) boarding of prisoners is low," said Schroeder, explaining that the county is budgeting $60,000 to board prisoners in other jails in 2000.

Other major capital equipment expenses include $29,500 for remodeling and furniture in the administration office; $138,000 to buy six new squad cars; and $50,650 to replace and upgrade computers.

The new budget includes funding to expanded these positions: a parent aide ($2,091) and an accountant ($4,094) position in the Human Services Department; an accounts clerk ($14,257) in the treasurer's office; the fair secretary ($1,534); the insurance coordinator ($5,323) in the administration office; and clerical assistance ($1,928) in the county clerk's office.

The Human Services budget was increased by $335,530 to $1.2 million. That budget has been overspent the last few years, and a $400,000 deficit is expected in 1999.

The Home Health Care budget was also increased to cover funding losses. The 1999 budget was $50,665; the 2000 budget will be $128,257.

On the revenue side, the county can expect a $156,000 drop in state shared taxes. The shared aids formula takes into account property values and population.

The climbing value of Pierce County real estate means a drop in shared taxes. "Since our increase was greater than the state average, we lose," summarized Schroeder.