GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – It was take two Tuesday night for Green Bay’s city council in attempting to pass a budget for next year.
With a tie-breaking vote from Mayor Eric Genrich, the council passed a budget after failing to do so during the original budget meeting last Thursday.
Combining the two council meetings with a committee meeting, the council spent about 12 hours debating Genrich’s 2023 budget proposal. It ended up making about $1.8 million in changes to his original plan.
“I thought we could have made some more cuts that would not have been major cuts,” said Jesse Brunette, Green Bay’s city council president. “Most people would not have noticed the cuts, but the council I felt was not going to support some of the more modest cuts I was proposing.”
Genrich originally proposed about a $6.6 million increase in expenses compared to last year. It would have cost taxpayers $7.84 per $1,000 in value on their property. The council’s changes brought that mill rate down to $7.58. On a $250,000 home, that is about a $65 difference.
FOX 11 asked Genrich if he felt there was anything taken out of his plan that residents will notice.
“No, I think we did a good job of staying away from cuts to programs and services that people really rely on, so that was something I’m very happy about,” said Genrich.
Genrich broke a 6-6 tie to have the budget passed with the changes the council made.
One concern he and others have with the amended budget is an increased use of one-time funding.
“There is some ARPA spending here for costs that are going to continue into the future. There is a little bit of fund balance spending as well. It’s just something we have to be cognizant of as we look forward to the 2024 budget.”
Despite trimming the budget from Genrich’s original proposal, there is still fear many property owners could be paying hundreds more in property taxes compared to last year. That’s because of a city-wide reassessment that raised the median home value by about 48%.
Brunette proposed a number of other cuts that failed to gain enough support, like not filling the open diversity and inclusion coordinator position.
“I think that is reasonable, given some of the other cuts or increased fees that were being proposed,” said Brunette.
“You’re burdening our staff that is pretty tight already,” said Alderperson Randy Scannell in response to the proposal to not fill the diversity and inclusion coordinator job.
City officials credit inflation and rising costs for the increased spending in this budget.
The police and fire departments account for 43% of the total budget.
Green Bay’s $7.58 mill rate is lower than Appleton ($9.48), Racine ($13.58), Madison ($7.69) and Milwaukee ($9.16).
Property tax bills are expected to be sent out in early December.
