County hoping for legislative relief on property tax levy

Jul 6, 2010 — La Crosse Tribune

Samantha Marcus

Jul. 6, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- After decades of keeping the lid on La Crosse County's property tax levy, officials say their frugality is coming back to bite them in the rear.

The county board is hoping to wrest a little relief from the state Legislature with help from the Wisconsin Counties Association, which lobbies on behalf of its membership.

Municipalities across the state already are fretting over reductions in state aid, but La Crosse County's budget woes may be compounded by anticipated decreased property values. If equalized values don't rise as quickly as the tax levy, the tax rate will go up. But state law limits counties to a 3 percent levy limit not to exceed a tax rate cap based on 1992 levels.

If the county's equalized value drops 2 percent, the county likely will hit that ceiling -- $3.42 per $1,000 of assessed valuation -- in 2011, forcing deep cuts in county government.

"If we're not going to get some relief on this, it's going to make all our budget issues much more difficult than anything we've been confronted with before," County Administrator Steve O'Malley said.

It's too late to make a change for 2011, but the board approved a measure asking the counties association to lobby for revised limits in its 2012 legislative platform.

The county can get by another year if property values stay level, but O'Malley predicts they'll drop 1 or 2 percent. Actual numbers, though, won't be released until the end of August.

Officials want the flexibility to exceed the 1992 limit without going to referendum, while still observing the 3 percent levy cap.

"The limits aren't tied to actual spending. They aren't tied to actual results," O'Malley said. "This wouldn't be an issue if the total value of property was rising at 3 percent. La Crosse County has $2.25 million in unused levy authority, yet we could hit the rate limit, while counties that tax much higher can raise taxes, while we have no option to pay for the rising costs of state-mandated programs because of declining values."

In 2009, the Wisconsin Counties Association urged the state Legislature to eliminate levy limits, or at the very least allow municipalities to carry forward unused levy limit, raise the cap or exempt increases in retirement contributions and reductions in state-shared revenue.

Counties like La Crosse, which boasts the 15th lowest tax rate and fifth lowest per capita county levy in the state -- 42 percent lower than that counties of similar size -- will be disproportionately hamstrung because of their historically low levies, said county board Supervisor Tara Johnson. The county also levies 22 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation for libraries and 44 cents for debt.

Just eight or nine of Wisconsin's 72 counties will be so severely impacted by a drop in equalized values. Others who have taxed at higher rates will have more of a cushion.

"To me, this is really about fairness," Johnson said.

The county's levy rate rose 2.61 percent for 2010, its lowest rate increase in a decade.

Bill Feehan, supervisor for the Third District, thinks county taxpayers already are being taxed to excess and that property taxes are just part of the story.

"That $10 million (in sales taxes) seems to be forgotten when we're talking about the tax levy, but that is money that's being taxed as well," he argued.

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