Richfield, WI – Tonight, November 18, 2021, the Richfield Village Board will be holding a public hearing regarding the proposed 2022 Village Budget.
The Village’s property tax levy is proposed to increase 0.87% in 2022, almost 1%. This increase equates to $30,000 in additional revenue towards the Village’s approximately $4.9M budget. The amount the property tax levy (the amount we collect) can increase is oftentimes referred to as our “Net New Construction”, which is a tool given by former Governor Walker to allow municipalities to account for the new growth of the Village without it being subsidized by the existing tax base. The Village’s portion of the “Mill Rate”, or the amount charged on a per thousand basis of assessed value, is proposed to decrease from $2.07 to $1.80, a decrease of $0.27 per thousand.
As a reminder, the Village receives approximately 12-15% of each property owner’s total tax bill, depending on which school district you are located in.
With the proposed 2022 Budget, the Village continues to save for equipment and vehicles according to the adopted Capital Improvement Plan which totals approximately $200,000 for the future cash purchase of fleet additions. In 2022, the Village will be purchasing one (1) new vehicle, a new F-350 patrol truck, for $43,000.
In terms of proposed future road construction, the Village is scheduled to bid out the entirety of Bark Lake Road, Plat Road from CHY Q to Monches Road, and Hubertus Road from SHY 164 to Hillside Road.
Aside from Public Works, the Village continues to also support the Richfield Volunteer Fire Company and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office with budget increases to each organization scheduled for 2022. The brave men and women of these organizations provide our residents with exceptional service at an amount a fraction of the cost it would be for similar municipal departments. As the community continues to grow, so do the needs of our public safety professionals. This is why it is so important for the Village to supplement our residential growth with a robust and diverse tax base that includes office, industrial, commercial, and retail industries. These types of developments reduce the property tax burden on our residential property owners.
Another notable change for 2022, is the potentiality that the Village will have four (4) scheduled elections. The State of Wisconsin has election dates scheduled for February (if a primary is needed), April, August, and November. Village Staff expects the same level of turnout for our Gubernatorial Election in November as we would our other General Elections. This means that the Village will be expecting 93-95% voter turnout for our approximately 9,300 of the community’s registered voters.
Last, but certainly not least, the Village’s only debt, which was incurred because of the construction of Fire Station No. 2, has been reduced from $1M in 2018 to currently less than $500,000 at the close of our current fiscal year. At this pace, the Village will be scheduled to pay off this loan several years ahead of time.
The public hearing for the proposed budget will take place tonight, Thursday, November 18, 2021, at 7 p.m. on the lower level of the Richfield Village Hall, 4128 Hubertus Road, Hubertus.