Chairman says town needs levy limit hike to fix roads

The Town of Saukville needs it but residents probably won’t like it, Chairman Kevin Kimmes said last week in reference to a $250,000 to $350,000 levy limit increase to repair and repave roads.

He proposes putting the question of exceeding the levy limit to voters at an elector meeting, although he is not sure if it will be this year, next year or later.

Kimmes said the town’s road maintenance budget is woefully inadequate to keep up with maintenance demands.

With its current budget, the town can only repave a quarter mile of road each year, he said. Since the town has a total of 41 miles, that means it would take the town 164 years to get to all of them.

Just because it’s necessary, Kimmes said, won’t make it easy to convince voters. In March, they approved a $205,000 paramedic referendum that created the Ozaukee Central Fire Department.

When Kimmes brought up the idea of a levy increase for roads at the recycling center, it got a negative reaction, he said. He expects it could take a couple of elector meetings to pass.

“At the same time, the EMS thing was a large increase in taxes but it was overwhelmingly approved. People wanted it and people understood it,” he said.

The town is cash strapped because it is limited to raising its tax levy only up to the added value from new construction and has had town boards that “let the roads crumble.”

“The prior administrations were keeping taxes low, low, low,” he said.

Kimmes’ proposed levy increase would be between $250,000, or about $79 per $100,000 valuation, to $350,000, or about $111 per $100,000 valuation — an amount that he said would allow the town to “properly address its needs.”

Wisconsin law allows the town a one-time levy increase by elector meeting, otherwise it needs to go referendum, Kimmes said.

He said he didn’t use this one-time funding mechanism to fund the fire department so it could be used for the roads.

Kimmes said funding the repaving of roads should be a higher priority than fixing the town hall.

In July, the Town Board was presented with cost estimates to repair, remodel or rebuild town hall. The cheapest option was $1.07 million.

“I have concerns over us raising so many issues with town hall,” he said. “But if suddenly town hall can’t stay open, then that’s an issue.”

The cost of running the town is ballooning while the levy remains the same, Kimmes said.

“For example, because of the environment we are in right now, we are going to need security guards at the election,” he said, noting garbage collection rates have also increased.

Kimmes said he is trying to make sure the levy increase isn’t sprung on voters.

“I am trying to be loud and proud about it,” he said.