During the last Fiscal Year (June 1, 2022 – May 31, 2023) the village’s two municipal dams generated $136,201.33 worth of (electric) credit. That sounds like a lot, but the Fiscal Report of 5/31/2023 states that the municipal dams cost the village $533,183.06 during that same FY. The two dams, therefore, generated a revenue shortfall of $396,981.73 during FY23. This nearly $400,000 shortfall is paid for by tax dollars from the General Fund.
By how much do Trustees have to raise the village tax rate to cover a shortfall of $400,000? The village’s total taxable property-value in FY23 was $210,000,000 and the tax rate was $17.16 per thousand dollars of property value. For every $100,000 reduction in appropriation requests (expected expenses), therefore, the board can lower the village tax rate by $0.48 per $1000 of property value. To pay for the shortfall generated by the hydrodams, the board increased the village tax rate by $1.90 per $1000 in property value. For the average village home valued at $104,000 this corresponds to an increased property-tax levy of $198.00 to the homeowner.
The municipal dams have been operating at a loss since at least 2014 in spite of repeated and generous infusions of funds to upgrade performance. In fact, the losses reported by the Hydro Fund have been growing bigger year after year, as new and growing debt payments come due. As of the end of last year, the municipal dams owed the general fund approximately $1,052,122.95. Is it time to try to transfer responsibility and ownership of the municipal dams to an agency specialized in operating these complex machines?
Local Government Matters 