Dunn County cuts budget

Taxpayers are invited to speak at a public hearing that the Dunn County Board of Supervisors has scheduled for Nov. 12 on the proposed 2025 county budget that continues the recent trend of reducing the property tax rate for the next year. 
 

The County Board will hold a public hearing on the budget at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 12 in room 054 of the Dunn County Government Center at 3001 Highway 12 East in Menomonie.   The board is expected to act following the public hearing. 

The proposed 2025 tax (mill) rate would go from $4.83 for each $1,000 of equalized value to $4.53, a reduction of 6.2 percent.  The 2024 budget reduced the tax rate by 14 percent as well.  The tax rate was $7.10 in 2020, and the County Board has taken numerous steps to avoid increases, said County Manager Kris Korpela. 

“The board is working hard to keep property taxes affordable in Dunn County,” Korpela said.  “Supervisors already have taken several actions to hold the line on spending and taxes in the 2025 budget.” 

For example, she said, the Executive Committee reduced the estimated shortfall between spending and revenue by about $1.5 million, decreasing the cost of operations by $1.1 million. 

Even though the 2025 tax rate may be less than 2024, that doesn’t necessarily mean a property’s tax bill will go down; changes in a property’s assessment also affects the final tax bill. 

The budget calls for total county spending of $111.2 million.  The tax levy – the total amount of property taxes the county will levy in 2025 – would increase less than 1 percent to $24.78 million under the proposed 2025 budget. The levy is made up of the portion for libraries and bridges, $925,674; debt obligations, $5.17 million; and operations, $18.69 million. 

The budget calls for $3 million of borrowing for highway projects and uses about $2.5 million from the fund balance to create a balanced budget.