Employee Compensation Cuts Help Balance Oak Creek Budget

The Oak Creek city property tax levy will not rise under the budget passed unanimously by the Common Council Monday night.

The city was able to balance the budget and hold the line on property taxes mostly on the backs of its employees, Alderman Steve Scaffidi said. Employees and will also pay 50 percent of their pensions - 5.8 percent of earnings - under the Act 10 bill approved by the state Legislature.

The budget also allocates and eliminates the , though it curbs the yard's hours of operation.

The budget does not include any layoffs or fee increases.

Other budget facts and figures:

• The city will spend $24,033,945 to fund its general operations, an increase from $23,577,760 last year.

• Of that, $10.8 million goes to fund public safety (police, fire and paramedics), a decrease from $11.1 million last year. Public safety accounts for 36 percent of the city's expenditures.

• The property tax levy is set at $18.9 million, up $89,956 from 2011. The increase only accounts for new growth, as stipulated by state law.

• The municipal tax rate for 2012 is estimated to be $6.33 per $1,000 of assessed property value. That means a resident whose home is worth $200,000 will pay $1,266 in municipal property taxes. The city accounts for about 25 percent of an Oak Creek resident's tax bill. The school district accounts for 36 percent; the county 23 percent; MATC 8 percent; MMSD 6 percent; state 1 percent.

• The rate is up from $5.79 a year ago. The increase is due to the city's overall assessed value going down an average of 8.9 percent.

• Forty percent of the city's revenues is derived from property taxes. The others? Eighteen percent from fees/charges for services; 17 percent from intergovernmental payments (from the county, state, etc.); 13 percent commercial, such as land sales, interest payments and sales of assets; 7 percent other tax; 3 percent grants; 1 percent licenses and permits; and 1 percent from the city's reserves.

All numbers supplied by the city of Oak Creek in its PowerPoint presentation to the Common Council Monday. It can be found online here.