The number one challenge in municipalities preparing their 2023 budgets is inflation.
Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels tells Seehafer News News that he’s already met with Department Heads advising them to prepare for some possible difficult decisions moving forward.
He says despite some relief recently, City Hall is feeling the pain at the pump on many levels.
“We must deal with the increases in gas prices too. All those police officers, firefighters, buses and parks and street crews are driving around all day long,” Nickels explained. “Pay raises? Absolutely. We want to keep quality employees because they are the ones who provide services to you.”
Nickels says that keeping quality people is the number one priority but is just one of many that need to be addressed with funds being spread thinner this budget season adding that “funding for parks, roads, The library, The Rahr West Art Museum, The Zoo, 36 Parks and everything else must come from some other revenue source(s).”
He did say that State-shared revenue is one of those revenue sources, but “that has not kept up with the cost of living in recent years.”
The Mayor also said that “100 percent of our property tax revenue goes towards Police and Fire. That means everything else is on us and our state legislators hopefully to figure that out.”
The amount allocated to City Police and Fire through collected property taxes is about $15 million.
Municipalities are bound by state law that they can’t raise the property tax levy except for debt services, which Manitowoc has done the last couple of years.
Budget preparations will continue through the fall with Public Hearings generally held in October and passage expected during the Council’s regular monthly meeting in November.
