Dispatch transfer adds $454,738 to county levy

The City of Cedarburg Common Council voted last month to transfer its emergency dispatch service to the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office, forcing county supervisors to make a last-minute adjustment to its 2024 budget, which they were slated to vote on Wednesday morning.

Cedarburg is the last municipality to join the county Sheriff’s Office combined dispatch center.

The move was expected to occur eventually, perhaps next year.

But Cedarburg Police Chief Michael McNerney asked the Common Council on Oct. 9 to make the change.

The timing was right, he said, with two city dispatchers looking to retire in 2024, a pending 911 system upgrade that will cost between $60,000 to $75,000 and maintenance costs of the city dispatch center of $35,200 next year.

“With the impending costs to keep the dispatch center operational, and the difficulty of hiring additional qualified dispatchers,” McNerney recommended transferring the city dispatch service to the county, according to the Common Council meeting minutes.

The change becomes effective on Jan. 1. The transfer will occur with no cost to the city.

The transfer was accepted by the county Executive and Public Safety committees on Monday, which required increasing the 2024 county property tax levy by $454,738 — $323,791 to add four dispatchers and $130,947 in equipment and software costs — increasing  the levy 2.11%.

With the addition of the dispatchers, the county budget totals $98.7 million with revenues of $76 million to offset costs, requiring a total property tax levy of nearly $23 million, up from the previous proposed levy of $22.5 million.

The 2023 total levy was almost $22.3 million.

Even with the added expense of the new dispatchers, the county tax rate will be $1.30 per $1,000 of equalized value, down 7% from 2023.

That means the owner of a $300,000 house will pay about $390 in county property taxes.

Residents living in areas without a library, such as Fredonia and Belgium, will pay an additional property tax of 22 cents per $1,000 of equalized value.

The actual number on homeowners’ property tax bills in December will vary based on their municipality’s assessed rate. The county levy and rate does not include assessments from school districts, municipalities, technical colleges or special districts.

The county is allowed to increase its levy to accommodate Cedarburg’s dispatch because the state’s tax levy freeze exempts funding of positions and other costs incurred by governments that assume a service of another municipality

The county will provide dispatch services for law enforcement, fire and emergency medical and 911 services. Cedarburg non-emergency calls will still go to the city Police Department.

On Monday, the Executive Committee also recommended approval of a 5.9% pay increase to supervisors and the County Board chairman spread over the two years of their next term, which begins in April.

That would mean supervisors would be paid $5,796 annually and the County Board chairman, a seat currently held by Lee Schlenvogt, would be paid  $17,388 a year until April 2026.