Committee cuts proposed county tax levy hike

The Ozaukee County 2026 tax levy will grow 1.59% from this year, instead of by 2.61%, after the Executive Committee last week voted to cut County Administrator Jason Dzwinel’s proposed 2026 tax levy by $232,000. 

Executive Committee members, who are chairmen of the County Board’s five standing committees and County Board Chairman Lee Schlenvogt, did so by recommending that a vehicle lease program be funded with $250,000 from general fund reserves rather than by tax levy.

Those reserves stand at about $12 million.

“Based on my analysis of the available fund balance, I believe this was the right budget decision to limit the impact on county taxpayers,” Dzwinel said.

As a result, the Executive Committee proposed budget calls for a county tax levy of $23.18 million. 

That will produce an equalized tax rate of $1.15 per $1,000 valuation, down 7.95% from 2025, or about 10 cents per $1,000.

The levy for areas without a public library will be $1 million higher with a tax rate 20 cents per $1,000 higher.

The equalized tax rate differs slightly from the assessed rate that will appear on December’s tax bills.

The county tax is just one of the taxes that appear on those bills. Others include municipal and school taxes.

Other changes made to Dzwinel’s proposed budget was to accept the Wisconsin Counties Association’s estimated sales tax for 2026 of $13.2 million, $500,000 more than Dzwinel’s estimate. 

The additional sales tax revenue will be budgeted to offset increases in wages and benefits in the Human Services Department.

The county is on its way to another record year in sales tax revenue, already collecting more than $6 million through June. The 2025 budget calls for more than $12 million in sales taxes. The WCA’s estimate is traditionally higher than the county’s more conservative estimates.

Wages and benefits will go up 3% under the proposed budget and health insurance will go up 4% compared to projections that expected a 10% increase. 

The budget calls for no new positions being created and that “strict hiring limitations” be observed, Dzwinel said.

Sheriff Christy Knowles has requested adding two patrol deputies at a cost of $180,000, six jailers at a cost of $404,000, and one jail services deputy for $104,000. 

Those are not included in Dzwinel’s budget.

While positions have not been cut, some have not been funded.

That includes the number of Sheriff’s Office dispatchers. The number of dispatchers remains at 20 but another five positions are approved but not funded.

The Sheriff’s Office’s levy increase under the budget is $592,000, a 3.7% increase, with most of it due to rising wages and benefits, although jail food has become more expensive, going up $65,000 over last year.

The Sheriff’s Office makes up the largest share of the budget, with $16.7 million in levy for operations.

Last year’s budget process was the “most challenging” in decades, Dzwinel said at the time, due in large part to skyrocketing costs in the Health and Human Services Department.

Costs continue to rise there, Dzwinel said, but not as severely.

The Clerk of Courts operations levy will be reduced by $100,000 and Land and Water Management decreases its levy by $18,000 thanks to a “meaningful increase” in state funding.

“These targeted state resources provide meaningful offsets to levy growth and reduce local taxpayer exposure while sustaining core services,” Dzwinel wrote in a memo to the committee.

The Transit Department’s levy is unchanged due to a “significant” fund balance of $2 million.

The Lasata Senior Living Campus requires no levy support and will contribute $100,000 from its reserves to offset the overall  tax levy, the same as occurred in the 2025 budget.

Also, revenue from the county golf courses at Mee-Kwon and Hawthorne Hills will contribute to county park operations.

A public hearing on the budget will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 3, in the County Board meeting room in the County Administration Center, 121 W. Main St., Port Washington.

Supervisors are expected to vote on the budget on Wednesday, Nov. 5.