The County Board of Supervisors got their first look at the 2011 budget at last Tuesday’s meeting, with the various departments able to hold the line on spending to the point where the budget increases only 5.8 percent from this year, when drastic cuts were needed.
The $54.8 million budget includes a $13.34 million levy on local taxpayers, which is about a 4.3 percent increase or about $548,000 from this year. The proposed mill rate would be $5.35 per thousand dollars of assessed value for property owners in the cities of Merrill and Tomahawk and $5.65 for township residents.
Administrative Coordinator Randy Scholz told the board that the proposed budget meets the state’s three percent levy increase limit while at the same time preserving all county services and the only jobs lost will be those associated with the transition to Family Care on April 1.