[0:12] What?

[0:14] >> Good evening. Uh, we'll get started.

[0:16] I'll call the call to order the village

[0:18] board of Oregon for Monday, October 5th,

[0:21] 2026. I'd ask the clerk to call the

[0:23] role, please.

[0:25] >> Higgins

[0:25] >> here.

[0:27] >> Kirk Dorfer

[0:28] >> here. Canifer.

[0:30] >> Oh, Le Marks

[0:32] >> here.

[0:33] >> McDaniel here and Vancampen

[0:35] >> here. Thank you. Approval of September

[0:37] 21st, 2026 village board meeting

[0:40] minutes. Uh Marks and Kurter.

[0:44] Corre corrections or changes [snorts]

[0:50] hearing. Now we have a motion by Mark,

[0:52] second by Kurt Stroer. All those in

[0:54] favor indicate by saying I. I.

[0:56] >> Those oppos say no. Motion carries. Item

[0:58] four, public appearances, comments, and

[1:00] communications. Item for discussion and

[1:02] or possible action. A presentation from

[1:05] Oregon Community Access OCA Media

[1:08] related to the 2027 village budget

[1:10] request.

[1:21] » Good afternoon. I'm Paul Zwicker, uh,

[1:24] director of OCA Media, also a resident

[1:26] here in Oregon.

[1:28] >> Mark Miller, uh, the board of OCA media,

[1:32] uh, 124 Harvest Circle in Oregon.

[1:35] >> Uh, Josiah Wampler, programming manager

[1:37] at OCA Media.

[1:44] » Um, this is my executive summary and

[1:46] it'll be my last one, too, because I'm

[1:48] retiring. um for OCA media that is uh in

[1:53] uh 2025. OCA media demonstrated strong

[1:56] operational stability,

[1:59] we uh we we reached record digital reach

[2:04] and consistent civic coverage like

[2:08] meetings like this. As we look ahead to

[2:10] 27, our 27 funding [snorts] request,

[2:14] sustained invent investment from the

[2:17] village board will help ensure OCA meet

[2:19] remains the primary trusted source for

[2:22] local transparency, news, civic

[2:24] engagement, and Oregon school district

[2:28] activities.

[2:30] With traditional local news outlets

[2:32] declining, OCA media bridges a gap by

[2:35] delivering live municipal coverage,

[2:37] short form government meeting recaps and

[2:40] local cultural programming directly to

[2:43] Oregon residents on multiple platforms.

[2:47] Um

[2:50] we have uh some key performance

[2:52] highlights on slide two from our digital

[2:55] growth um our digital growth and reach.

[2:57] We grew by 800 subscribers last year and

[3:01] by the end of the year we're at 4661

[3:05] and our viewership had about 110,000

[3:08] views across all our video um across our

[3:11] video programming. Um

[3:14] I have some social media statistics that

[3:17] Frank Kuso was going to present but he's

[3:19] unable to be here tonight. Um our social

[3:22] media impact is huge in this town. Um

[3:25] our monthly Facebook reach peaked at

[3:27] 50,000 plus people a month in 19 in 2025

[3:32] and this uh this year our highlights um

[3:35] from Facebook

[3:37] analy analytics in Facebook I can't we

[3:39] can't do annually

[3:41] um so monthly

[3:43] let me find that

[3:46] document sorry about that I hope I have

[3:49] it still

[3:51] well the September documents

[3:55] are hiding.

[3:58] Yeah, I could just read up there if I

[4:00] could read that far.

[4:04] Yeah,

[4:05] apologize. Um, Arc has them set up for

[4:09] me large enough to read. Uh, as you're

[4:12] >> 90,000.

[4:14] >> Yes. So, last month alone, we we reached

[4:16] 90,000 plus views. um 300%

[4:20] of the conversations were um had

[4:23] messaging conversations and um

[4:26] [clears throat]

[4:27] that's pretty consistent engagement for

[4:29] 28 days.

[4:31] Um

[4:33] as as uh this is Frank writing this,

[4:36] more than numbers, we're building

[4:38] connections. Our audience isn't simply

[4:41] watching, they're engaging. Uh people

[4:43] are reaching out, starting

[4:44] conversations, sharing our content, and

[4:46] turning to OCA media as a trusted source

[4:49] for what's happening in their community.

[4:52] And we're just getting started. Every

[4:54] view represents a person. Every

[4:55] conversation represents a connection and

[4:58] every story gives our community a voice.

[5:01] OCI Media is putting Oregon stories in

[5:03] front of the people who matter most, our

[5:07] neighbors, families, businesses,

[5:09] schools, nonprofits, and community

[5:11] organizations.

[5:14] Um he writes that uh

[5:17] we had 90,23

[5:22] views, thousands of connections in in

[5:24] one community. That's pretty big impact

[5:26] just on our social media Facebook post.

[5:29] Um, [clears throat] I think uh it proves

[5:31] that what we're doing is working in this

[5:34] town. People are relying on us and uh

[5:37] it's um it's important that that they

[5:40] have a source to go to. Um

[5:43] [clears throat]

[5:44] on site three, I want to talk about a

[5:46] little bit about our staffing.

[5:49] [clears throat]

[5:51] Hang on a second. We're out of

[5:54] >> Yeah. Okay. So you can see that last

[5:57] year we did 371 events or videos um more

[6:02] for the village related stories and

[6:06] events than we did for the school. Um

[6:10] you can see how easily uh it it's

[6:13] displayed nicely so you can decipher the

[6:17] impacts month by month. you can tell

[6:19] when we uh had more more events in uh

[6:23] school rel uh school related events at

[6:25] the end of the year and then drops off

[6:27] in summer obviously. Um, in slide four,

[6:32] um,

[6:33] I want you to note that our requests

[6:37] our request for two 2027 of $100,000

[6:42] should allow us to produce about 75

[6:44] municipal meetings and 25 community

[6:46] events and our use our social media

[6:50] outreach to push village news and

[6:52] notices.

[6:54] school district does contribute about

[6:56] 25,000 plus in kind through office space

[6:59] at the high school and which is

[7:01] extremely convenient for us because many

[7:04] of the events that happen in our

[7:05] community uh happen in that in that

[7:08] area. Um we raised about $30,000 this

[7:12] year, actually over $30,000 in private

[7:16] donations and civic groups and sports

[7:18] and corporate underwriting. That's up

[7:21] quite a bit from last year as we made a

[7:24] We had a we had some people actually

[7:26] come forward and want to be part of our

[7:28] organization

[7:30] and that was a really nice thing to not

[7:32] have to cold call new businesses. Um

[7:37] going to slide five, we're talking about

[7:39] trans um our franchise fees um which as

[7:42] everybody knows is declining and that's

[7:44] our core public revenue and our board

[7:47] continues to work to find alternative

[7:49] long-term

[7:51] sources of revenue. Um, someone has

[7:54] joined us recently to help out with uh,

[7:56] grant writing and we hope to continue

[7:59] that effort along with working with

[8:02] local organizations to reach private

[8:05] trusts that people may want to um,

[8:10] donate to uh, our nonprofit that way.

[8:13] Um, going on to equipment, which I

[8:16] mentioned in a a recent meeting, our

[8:18] broadcast server is was installed in

[8:20] 2017 and it's well past its life

[8:23] expectancy.

[8:25] Um, to replace that unit, it's about 15

[8:28] to $20,000. And, um, now we're thinking

[8:30] that it's going to die. So, we'll just

[8:32] probably,

[8:34] uh, at this point, um, continue to work

[8:37] towards our viewership that's online.

[8:40] um that is where we get our numbers from YouTube and and Facebook and um

[8:45] we're kind of planning for it to fail

[8:47] and we'll continue to move towards our

[8:49] online distribution that as we are now.

[8:52] We did purchase two new Sony cameras to

[8:54] replace 8-year-old cameras that are uh

[8:57] failing. And we need one more unit to uh

[9:00] complete our pack of three that

[9:04] occasionally all three are out at the

[9:05] same time at three different events and

[9:07] even then we may need a fourth. So we do

[9:10] have our old cameras that are still

[9:12] operational.

[9:14] We're hoping to fund raise for that

[9:15] final camera that that new one to match

[9:17] the other two. And every [snorts] uh we

[9:20] do rotate our editing system and and

[9:22] computers. Uh every few years we upgrade

[9:24] them so they don't fail because those

[9:26] are our lifeblood as well as our cameras

[9:28] and and our distributions.

[9:31] Um

[9:33] as I said, we are talking about grant

[9:35] funding. Uh we did receive some grants

[9:38] uh a grant from Dan County Arts last

[9:39] year to get some equipment and we're

[9:42] going to continue along that uh that

[9:44] way.

[9:45] Um,

[9:48] moving on. Um, I think it's, uh,

[9:52] slide six would be good for Josiah to

[9:54] take over, um, and talk about where

[9:56] we're going for a little bit and where

[9:59] we hope to go, providing we have, uh,

[10:01] the funds to do so.

[10:03] >> Yes. Uh so um [clears throat]

[10:07] given the uh reduction in funding uh we

[10:11] are adapting by doing some restructuring

[10:14] of staff. So currently we have four

[10:17] positions

[10:18] um all part-time executive director,

[10:20] program manager, social media manager

[10:23] and production assistant. Um next year

[10:26] that will be going down to three

[10:28] positions. Um the executive director

[10:31] will become full-time

[10:33] um uh and absorb uh some of some of the

[10:37] hours um uh needed. And then the uh um

[10:43] content manager position uh will be kind

[10:46] of a reduction of my current uh

[10:49] programming manager position. Um

[10:53] uh so all in all it's about a thousand

[10:56] less hours a year uh after restructuring

[11:00] might be actually a little bit more. I'm

[11:02] not sure exactly how we calculated that

[11:04] number. Um so yeah we're uh doing what

[11:08] we need to do to adapt to the uh

[11:11] funding. And if we can go to the next

[11:14] slide.

[11:18] So yeah, um yeah, this just basically

[11:22] shows the um village contribution, the

[11:25] franchise fees which are going down. Um

[11:28] and then shows that this year we did a

[11:30] lot to counteract what we knew was

[11:33] coming with the uh the funding decrease.

[11:36] Um uh I believe that um underwriting

[11:40] number was we basically did about 10,000

[11:44] more than last year. So um hoping to uh

[11:48] continue that uh in the coming years to

[11:52] um to uh yeah improve our uh funding

[11:55] situation uh even more so. Uh you can go

[11:58] to the next slide.

[12:01] So yeah, the funding request is

[12:02] $100,000. It's about 23 uh% down from

[12:07] last year. Um what you get is what we

[12:11] currently do. Um, we aren't planning on

[12:16] uh uh cutting too much in in in the way

[12:19] of services. We tried to make up uh for

[12:22] that with the uh staff um changes and

[12:26] whatnot. Um so the the plan for 2027 is

[12:31] just to

[12:33] do more uh to search out grants um that

[12:37] uh that we can get uh both uh state and

[12:40] federal. um try to get more uh private

[12:44] donations and and underwriting uh

[12:47] because we have a lot of ambition when

[12:50] it comes to uh what we want to do for

[12:54] this community. Um you know, we started

[12:57] doing the the video recaps of the

[12:59] meetings this year. That's been going

[13:01] fairly well. We hope to continue that

[13:03] into next year. I would even like to

[13:05] start possibly doing them for the

[13:07] schoolboard meetings if we can. um we

[13:10] want to be a source for information for

[13:14] this community because there are so few

[13:17] sources out there. Um so you know the job of the next several years is

[13:23] just trying to close the gap between our

[13:26] ambitions and what we can actually fund.

[13:30] So um but $100,000 next year um we'll be able to uh get by. So,

[13:40] >> um, yeah.

[13:42] >> Um, I think, uh, Mark, we're gonna have

[13:44] Mark, our treasurer, go through some,

[13:46] uh, request numbers on our budget.

[13:50] >> So, presented to you as a budget for

[13:52] 2027. And so, incorporating with the

[13:54] anticipated, uh, support that the

[13:56] village can provide to us um, with

[13:59] 100,000, we can look at what our income

[14:01] could potentially be. So, really focus

[14:02] on all these lines of spreadsheet. You

[14:04] guys are really good at seeing a lot of

[14:06] that. So look at the income line in

[14:08] particular and total income and so

[14:10] that's where we're anticipating our

[14:11] total income would be if you uh look at

[14:14] the 100,000 is where the village would

[14:16] be sustained and you can see as you go

[14:18] previous years um back into 2026 and uh

[14:22] from our budget 2025 2024 23 um you can

[14:26] see where that m amount has changed and

[14:29] reduced. So what we did is uh with the

[14:31] focus of staffing how we go about it um

[14:34] is that adjusting to that that income

[14:37] portion of it. What we did and um and

[14:39] continue to focus on is if we get

[14:41] quality programming that what we can do

[14:43] is we can actually do about better

[14:45] outreach and get more reliability. And

[14:47] so that's a large portion of what we've

[14:49] been doing. Certainly the granting I

[14:51] side of it. But you also notice in the

[14:52] line item regards to uh donations as

[14:56] well as underwriting. That's been a lot

[14:58] more outgoing that we've done. And so

[15:00] some of that is from our social media uh

[15:02] just putting that message out that uh uh

[15:05] the funding is changing and so we need

[15:06] some of your financial support and

[15:08] that's added a lot more to it. And so

[15:10] that's helped us to settle out some of

[15:13] the the the line items, the costs on it.

[15:15] overall uh we do have uh done some

[15:18] production [clears throat]

[15:18] that we actually will do for other

[15:20] organizations and so that's been able to

[15:22] help out a little bit with some income

[15:24] but it does take labor [clears throat]

[15:26] it does take people to be able to do

[15:27] that as well but we do have some of the

[15:29] technology and the resources to be able

[15:31] to go from there. So that's uh a little

[15:34] bit on how that income's changing and

[15:35] how we're adjusting to make that work

[15:38] and and underneath that is all our

[15:40] different expenses. And so as an

[15:42] organization uh we do have

[15:43] responsibilities accounting portions of

[15:46] it um and just technology. There's a lot

[15:49] of different devices that we do have

[15:51] with video equipment and when you move

[15:53] that equipment around you do have

[15:54] failures and you have things that don't

[15:56] work. And one of the things in keeping

[15:58] the quality up we need to make sure that

[16:00] equipment is sufficient to be able to

[16:02] function at the time. Um what does

[16:05] happen is the electronic side of it. So

[16:07] we do need video equipment and so

[16:08] keeping that video equipment and keeping

[16:10] that current that's uh that's a portion

[16:12] of that. So that's where we have a

[16:14] $1,000 budget in into that line and item

[16:16] itself. Uh we do insure ourselves as

[16:19] well. So we need to have that. So that's

[16:20] that insurance. We have a local

[16:23] supporter that provides our insurance

[16:25] and it keeps us going um and make sure

[16:27] that we're satisfied in regards to that.

[16:29] We've been effective in the sense that

[16:31] reducing the cost of streaming uh when

[16:34] we're uh mobile and reducing that cost

[16:37] and we've done a lot better job with

[16:38] that instead of having cellar cellular

[16:41] access and paying a lot of fees under

[16:43] that. We've reduced that and done a

[16:44] really nice job overall. Some of that's

[16:46] helped out with having the right kind of

[16:48] con connections whether it's here uh at

[16:50] the village hall or whether it's been in

[16:52] the school buildings themselves. So

[16:53] therefore we don't have that same cost

[16:54] as well. Um, you do see a budget line

[16:57] item for health benefits. As we move

[16:59] into a full-time employee, the cost uh

[17:02] for health benefits and offering that as

[17:03] well is something that we need to incur

[17:06] and to be ready to be able to support

[17:08] that overall. Um, so some of the other

[17:10] things are just uh from a tax

[17:12] perspective um like I mentioned Paul,

[17:14] one of the issues that as we I've gotten

[17:17] involved into it is that using older

[17:20] equipment and trying to maintain that

[17:22] and being reliable, it became a large

[17:24] cost. And so um working with Paul,

[17:27] working with Josiah, making sure that we

[17:28] keep having run equipment updated on

[17:31] regular basis and likewise you see we

[17:33] have a lot of cost for software. We

[17:35] utilize a lot of free versions of what

[17:38] we can do. So we're entirely in a Google

[17:40] enterprise because we're a nonprofit

[17:42] organization. We also get some reduced

[17:44] cost of other software and other devices

[17:46] because we're a nonprofit organization.

[17:48] So we are doing what we can to reduce

[17:50] the cost. So, what we've uh we've looked

[17:53] at, we're going to likely going to run

[17:55] short in that budget. Uh but that just

[17:57] puts an effort. You know, sometimes you

[17:58] have to put a goal out and have to go

[18:00] and reach out how we're going to get

[18:01] some of that additional uh we've been

[18:03] very effective financially looking in

[18:05] the years past in that making sure that

[18:07] we make our budget. And so, I think that

[18:09] says some some responsibility overall.

[18:13] So, just wanted to show you a little bit

[18:14] about that and how uh what we've been

[18:16] doing in regards to that overall. Turn

[18:18] it back to you.

[18:19] >> Thank you.

[18:21] Uh before I make some closing remarks,

[18:23] do you have any questions on the

[18:24] presentation

[18:28] numbers? Rick,

[18:31] >> well, I just wanted to say first of all,

[18:33] thank you so much for all the time that

[18:35] you spent here doing the work that you

[18:37] do uh in your retirement coming up. And

[18:40] again, thank you for the smooth

[18:42] transition that's going on uh with

[18:45] Josiah. You can see it here. uh both of

[18:48] you kind of working to do this

[18:50] presentation and I appreciate you too

[18:52] Mark coming in and giving us the numbers

[18:54] that at least help us understand a

[18:56] little bit better the position of the of

[18:58] the organization.

[19:00] Um, I can tell you that last year at

[19:02] this time I wasn't as familiar with

[19:04] these numbers and certainly wasn't uh

[19:07] was more concerned over the fact that

[19:11] continuing to fund the organization

[19:13] without uh a real feeling that there was

[19:16] uh an outlook that we could look forward

[19:19] to as being something we can build on.

[19:21] Um, I think that's in seen in this

[19:24] current year. I think that there's been

[19:25] some some major changes as you brought

[19:28] up uh the ability to get more donations,

[19:32] uh start viewing your process in in a

[19:34] way that's more of a nonprofit model,

[19:37] making people more aware of that fact

[19:39] that what a great uh you know uh asset

[19:42] that we have here in uh the village. um

[19:47] the number of positions and the

[19:48] restructuring that you've done to

[19:50] accommodate the fact that yes, you see a reduction in the amount of uh revenue

[19:56] that you're able to get, but at the same

[19:58] time being able to find a way to

[20:00] incorporate more grant writing and

[20:02] fundraising with the folks that you've

[20:04] been able to bring on board, which I

[20:06] think is just right in line with where

[20:09] we want to be going. Um, you've also

[20:12] seen lots of increases because of

[20:14] changes that you're doing with the

[20:16] formats. I see you've talked about going

[20:18] into the shortterm formatting that

[20:20] everybody likes to see whether we like

[20:22] it or not. Uh, the shortterm videos and

[20:26] being able to uh uh chop them up in ways

[20:29] that are more uh appetizing for uh folks

[20:32] to be able to uh um consume and it's

[20:35] shown in the numbers even already this

[20:37] year. So, I do appreciate all that stuff

[20:39] and I think the way that the revenue

[20:42] that you've been getting from uh cable

[20:44] franchising fees continuing to dwindle

[20:47] because that just a format that is uh on

[20:52] its way out. um that there are plenty of

[20:55] other organizations, other villages,

[20:58] municipalities that have to run these

[21:01] kinds of uh uh programs and use uh

[21:05] village revenue to be able to accomplish

[21:07] these tasks. Um there's clearly a point

[21:10] at which the village has to support um

[21:13] this organization or we would be doing

[21:16] this stuff at probably a substantially

[21:18] higher cost. And I'm not sure what that

[21:21] number is, but I do know that I believe

[21:24] that it's worth investing in after

[21:26] spending the last year on your board and

[21:29] for what you've come back to the village

[21:31] board to present to us tonight. So,

[21:34] thank you. That's all I have

[21:37] >> else

[21:39] Tom.

[21:42] >> I don't really want to talk about your

[21:43] presentation.

[21:46] Um, what I want to do is extend my

[21:48] personal thanks to Paul. You know, I

[21:51] would I've known Paul since he came to

[21:54] work for OCA. Um, at the time that he

[21:57] came to OCA, um, we tell the stories

[22:00] about instances of of being off air for

[22:04] weeks at a time and nobody noticing and

[22:06] no emails or no messages or no phone

[22:09] calls. Um, we tell stories about uh

[22:13] broadcasting events for a year with no

[22:16] audio because we couldn't figure out why

[22:18] the system wasn't working and again

[22:20] nobody complained or nobody had a

[22:22] problem. Um, that doesn't happen now.

[22:25] Um, if if we drop a live feed, Paul gets

[22:28] a call and you know there's been a big

[22:31] turnaround in the organization. It's

[22:33] doing a lot of things and it's doing a

[22:34] lot of things that are really good. And

[22:35] I think that's from the effort and the

[22:38] work and the contributions that Paul has

[22:39] personally made to this. And I think we

[22:41] owe him a big round of thanks and

[22:43] appreciate everything he does. I know we

[22:45] have a great future with Josiah. He's

[22:46] going to do a great job. But we really

[22:48] have to appreciate everything that Paul

[22:50] has done.

[22:53] » Yeah.

[22:58] » Thank you, Tom.

[22:59] Uh one question I had is if there's been

[23:02] any consideration of using uh

[23:04] subscription model. I saw some other uh

[23:08] similar uh organizations have used that.

[23:11] Have you is that something you've looked

[23:13] at or

[23:15] >> Yeah, we we've talked about the

[23:17] possibility. Um it is a some something

[23:21] we continue to look into and it might be

[23:24] something we do down the road. Um my

[23:27] personal philosophy is, you know, we're

[23:29] public access, so we try as hard as we

[23:32] can to make everything accessible, free.

[23:35] >> Sure.

[23:35] >> Um for everybody. So if that's where we

[23:38] have to go, we have to go there. But um

[23:41] yeah, that's kind of a a last resort.

[23:43] Okay. [snorts] To a certain extent.

[23:45] >> Thank you.

[23:47] Any other questions?

[23:50] >> Oh, thank you very much.

[23:51] >> Thanks. I just quick wrap up on

[23:53] something. Um, since Tom started it, I'm

[23:55] going to uh and I wanted to thank uh Tom

[23:58] Kerstofer for his leadership on our

[24:01] board. Um,

[24:03] he uh a long time ago wanted to

[24:05] videotape something and didn't have the

[24:06] equipment. So, he found out I think that

[24:09] OCA had equipment that he could use and

[24:13] there it began. Um, now we uh seem to

[24:16] record things for him that he purchases

[24:18] copies of so [laughter]

[24:20] which is a good a good thing. Um I did want to point out I want to

[24:25] read a little something personal for to

[24:27] you. Um the last time I'll come before

[24:30] this board to present a budget request

[24:33] um for OCA Media. I'll be retiring in

[24:36] December and I think I'm leaving on a

[24:38] high note. This past January, the Oregon

[24:41] Chamber of Commerce presented our small

[24:42] staff with the community impact award.

[24:46] And for 10 years, I've had the privilege

[24:47] of leading OCA Media, and I'm proud of

[24:49] what we've built together.

[24:51] We've worked to shine more light on the

[24:53] issues that matter to our village so re

[24:56] residents can see how decisions get

[24:58] made, hear directly from the people

[25:00] making them, and feel part of their own

[25:02] community. And I believe this is a this

[25:05] has made our village stronger. I'm

[25:08] especially proud of our young team

[25:10] members. Our paid hands-on program has

[25:12] given high school students place to

[25:14] learn, make mistakes, and discover what

[25:17] they're capable of. Many have many come

[25:20] in and have never had having never held

[25:23] a camera before and left with real

[25:26] skills, real confidence, and sometimes a

[25:28] career path. Watching them grow has been

[25:31] one of my great joys.

[25:33] Ben Baker, a 26 OS graduate and a OCA

[25:37] scholarship recipient, OCA scholarship

[25:40] recipient, directed our broadcast of the

[25:43] recent homecoming football game, working

[25:45] on his skills and calling the shots.

[25:47] After we wrapped up, some of the crew

[25:50] came over to my house and hung out

[25:51] around the fire and had some pizza. And

[25:53] Ben talked about his future dreams in

[25:55] professional broadcasting.

[25:58] Thought I was going to be a mechanic

[26:00] to someday own his own production, his

[26:03] own broadcasting truck, and produce

[26:05] college sports. It's a pretty lofty goal

[26:07] for a 18-year-old, and I hope it comes

[26:09] true for him.

[26:11] None of this happens alone. In 1984,

[26:14] this organization came into existence to

[26:16] provide public access to meetings like

[26:18] this.

[26:19] board has stood behind OCA year

[26:21] after year, and I'm deeply great, deeply

[26:24] grateful. I want to especially thank

[26:26] you, our elected officials, and the OCA

[26:29] media board of directors, for believing

[26:31] in our award-winning work and in the

[26:33] people who do it.

[26:35] OCA is a little unusual in that we're an

[26:38] independent nonprofit. uh community

[26:40] support and community efforts supported

[26:43] by this village and our ne neighbors

[26:45] organizations

[26:46] and employees employers who give it give

[26:49] to it. I hope the leaders who come after

[26:52] you will keep that partnership strong

[26:55] and keep OCA a priority because what

[26:58] happens here in this room in this

[27:00] village belongs to everyone.

[27:04] And I leave knowing OCA is in great

[27:06] hands. Josiah brings energy, heart, and

[27:10] a real commitment to this community. I

[27:12] couldn't be more confident in where

[27:14] he'll take it.

[27:17] So, I'm not saying goodbye with worry.

[27:19] I'm saying it with gratitude and with a

[27:21] great deal of hope for what comes next.

[27:24] Thank you. It's been the honor of my

[27:25] career. Thanks. Thank you.

[27:27] >> Thank you.

[27:29] [applause]

[27:43] Okay, we'll continue then with public

[27:45] comment. This part of the agenda allows

[27:47] me members of the public to provide

[27:48] information to the village board,

[27:50] including items both on and off the

[27:52] agenda. 15 minutes will provided for

[27:54] this item with a three minute maximum

[27:56] per speaker. Otherwise, the agenda will

[27:58] proceed as posted. We have one

[28:01] registered uh uh speaker and and that is

[28:05] John Blanchard.

[28:18] Hello, this is John Blanchard. I live at

[28:21] 470 Lisa Court in Oregon. I realize that

[28:24] this is probably not on the agenda

[28:26] tonight or any discussion. I was at the

[28:29] uh planning board meeting during their

[28:32] discussion of this topic. I support the

[28:35] 40 plus members of the Oregon Fox

[28:38] Boxboro Senior Golf League on the uh

[28:41] future of Foxboro. Um, first of all, our group supports the request by

[28:47] several residents to convert the areas

[28:50] of Foxboro Golf Course currently shown

[28:52] on the comprehensive plan um from an

[28:56] amendment in 2023.

[28:59] It shows up as lowcale neighborhood. Um,

[29:02] it should go back to parks and open

[29:05] space. Um, I think that would impact the

[29:08] future of the golf course or the

[29:10] development in that area. Um, I myself

[29:14] learned how to play golf at Foxboro and

[29:16] want to very much continue playing there

[29:18] for many years.

[29:20] We would love to see the course remain

[29:22] as 18 holes. However, it appears the

[29:26] continuation of an 18hole Foxboro is not

[29:30] a financially viable option. There seems

[29:33] to be too many large expensive repair

[29:36] needed. I don't have any answers as to

[29:39] um the financials on that or anything.

[29:42] It's just what we have been informed to

[29:45] um from Mike, the uh current manager of

[29:50] the course.

[29:52] [clears throat]

[29:53] Our

[29:56] um our group also supports the proposed

[29:59] new plan to convert Foxboro to a 9-hole

[30:02] golf course going forward if the 18-hole

[30:06] cannot continue.

[30:09] [clears throat]

[30:10] The 9-hole course option has been

[30:12] provided to us by Mike. Seems to be a

[30:14] very reasonable option. The design would

[30:16] provide a very usable course for many

[30:18] years to come.

[30:20] It is very important that there continue

[30:23] to be an affordable golf available in

[30:25] Oregon, which includes a course for the

[30:27] high school teams to practice.

[30:29] Furthermore, we want our league to be

[30:32] able to continue playing golf on Tuesday

[30:34] mornings in Oregon and not go outside

[30:37] looking for a place to play.

[30:41] Please consider supporting the nine-hole

[30:42] course if we lose the 18-hole option.

[30:47] It would continue to provide a great,

[30:50] reasonably priced place to play, learn,

[30:52] and play golf for all ages for many

[30:56] years to come.

[30:58] Um, that's pretty much all I have to say

[31:00] about it. I just wanted to go on record.

[31:02] If anybody has any questions that I can

[31:04] answer, I'm happy.

[31:08] >> Well, really can't comment back to your comments, John.

[31:13] >> All right. Thank you.

[31:14] >> Thank you.

[31:15] Uh, anyone else for uh Derek Belo,

[31:23] [clears throat]

[31:26] » Derek Bo, Johnson Street in Oregon. I'm

[31:29] here today to talk about some public

[31:31] safety issues. I was in in attendance

[31:33] for the joint fire EMS meeting. As an

[31:36] outside observer, it seems as though the

[31:37] village is struggling to address a

[31:39] couple of public safety safety issues on

[31:41] multiple fronts. Be it the fire EMS

[31:43] building or the SRO contract. For the

[31:46] fire EMS building, it seems like the

[31:48] village has been dragging their feet.

[31:49] From someone who's been watching, it

[31:50] appears like you would rather just the

[31:52] issue disappear. First, village

[31:54] representatives on the fire EMS

[31:56] commission wanted more data to address

[31:58] the location. And once the data was

[32:00] received and was being discussed by the

[32:02] commission, one of the village reps at

[32:04] the time implied in a meeting that

[32:05] response time shouldn't factor into the

[32:07] location. It's an interesting opinion

[32:09] since response times can make the

[32:11] difference between life and death.

[32:13] You've had the data for months and it

[32:14] all points to the downtown location

[32:16] being best for public safety and for any

[32:18] reasonable work to be done, using a

[32:20] portion of old village hall would be

[32:21] necessary.

[32:23] The district has now been discussing

[32:24] location and building options for the

[32:26] last four years. And that's an

[32:27] incredible injustice to the staff of the

[32:29] fire EMS district who are working from

[32:30] an environment that doesn't house proper

[32:33] decontamination equipment and allows for

[32:35] no future growth.

[32:38] The village objecting to any reasonable

[32:40] discussion about old village hall is

[32:41] coming across as obstructive and

[32:43] counterproductive. Which brings me to

[32:45] the lapsed SRO contract. Much like the

[32:48] fire district, the village board seems

[32:49] to be taking an all or nothing approach

[32:50] to negotiations with the school district

[32:52] as well. I'd encourage you to change

[32:55] your course on negotiation strategies

[32:56] for both village partners. The tactics

[32:59] cannot lead to counter or cannot lead to

[33:02] productive future relationships with the

[33:04] other government agencies. The board's

[33:06] stances are coming across as combative

[33:07] which seems to be making these

[33:09] negotiations unproductive.

[33:12] The SRO contract has been lapsed now for

[33:14] over a month and the discussion of with

[33:16] the fire district is in the same spot as

[33:17] it was four years ago despite having

[33:20] spent significant amounts amount of

[33:23] funds to provide the village with the

[33:25] data it requested. I'll just say that

[33:27] consultant that that you all hired to do

[33:29] that work that she did a tremendous job

[33:32] and she compiled all sorts of

[33:34] information. If you're considering

[33:37] options for the down for the

[33:39] [clears throat] old village hall, I

[33:40] would question how you're making a uh

[33:43] informed decision without any numbers

[33:45] regarding what your fire district

[33:47] currently needs. Thank you.

[33:49] >> Thank you.

[33:51] Anyone else for public comments?

[33:54] No. Okay. Moving on. Uh item five,

[33:58] approval of vouchers in the amount of

[34:01] $774,99512.

[34:07] Higgins and

[34:10] Marks [clears throat]

[34:14] questions. Tim had two questions on page

[34:19] 25.

[34:20] Uh Oregon water and sewer. There were

[34:22] four charges all less than a dollar. Why

[34:25] are we processing tiny transactions?

[34:28] It's got to be more expensive to process

[34:29] that than it's worth.

[34:34] These are for um services that no longer

[34:38] exist and the people have moved out and

[34:41] most of the time they are a finance

[34:44] charge maybe that was allocated and then

[34:47] during the process of selling the

[34:50] property or whatever these small amounts

[34:53] were not paid. So what this is an annual

[34:56] thing that we do then the village

[34:59] just pays off these small amounts. So we

[35:01] have to transition money to those

[35:04] accounts to

[35:04] >> Oh, so it's just a credit to clear the

[35:07] Okay.

[35:07] >> Yeah, it's just a credit to clear these

[35:09] small um

[35:12] >> Okay.

[35:12] >> residential accounts that we have.

[35:15] >> Thank you. Then my second question was

[35:17] on page 28.

[35:23] Um what is a se sewer easement machine?

[35:29] Like you knew I was going to ask.

[35:30] >> [laughter]

[35:31] >> I looked at the page and I'm like, I bet

[35:33] I know.

[35:35] It is um essentially a very big, very

[35:40] expensive um hose extension for our

[35:43] sewer vac truck. And what it does is

[35:45] allow our staff to get in and jet out

[35:48] and clean sewer lines that are back away

[35:52] from the road where they can't safely

[35:53] get the vac truck. Um and a really good

[35:58] example being um the line that runs from

[36:01] Oak Hill to the village. Um it, you

[36:05] know, prevents potential damage to uh

[36:08] equipment um and dangerous to staff and

[36:11] it just keeps those lines clean such

[36:13] that we don't have a very expensive

[36:15] sewer backup out there.

[36:16] >> Cool. Thank you.

[36:19] >> Good.

[36:20] >> Um I have two. One of them was this

[36:23] sewer easement machine. So, I'm glad to

[36:25] know that my radar is honed in on Tim's.

[36:28] My question though with that is just a

[36:30] secondary question. Is this an expense

[36:32] we anticipated? This isn't like an

[36:35] emergency. We all of a sudden had to buy

[36:38] this. We've anticipated this cost.

[36:41] >> Correct. This was in the CIP for the

[36:42] last couple of years.

[36:43] >> Fantastic. I apologize for overlooking.

[36:46] >> It's all good.

[36:46] >> That one line item. Um, my second

[36:49] question is on that same page. This is

[36:51] probably for chief 14815.

[36:54] The PD camera project.

[37:02] » Sorry. What page?

[37:03] >> Uh it's right. Uh

[37:05] >> 28 third line down.

[37:08] >> It's with the Associated Technical

[37:10] Services if that you

[37:14] >> Yes. If I recall correctly, this was

[37:16] part of RCIP as well, but this was to um

[37:20] redo all of our computers. Many of them

[37:22] were failing, just old, outdated.

[37:24] >> Got it. Okay. So, it's more technical.

[37:26] This is not the body cam.

[37:28] >> No.

[37:28] >> Got it. Okay.

[37:31] >> Okay.

[37:32] Rick.

[37:34] >> Um uh I guess uh on page 24 uh the you

[37:38] have the bike pedestrian study and the

[37:40] bike pedestrian plan. I'm sure that's

[37:42] part of the CIP. Could you remind me is

[37:45] we're paying for it now. When do we

[37:46] expect to see like the outcome of that?

[37:50] >> Do we know?

[37:51] >> Yep. I can explain a little bit. So,

[37:53] this is a uh grant funded project. It's

[37:56] an 8020 split. So, actually quarterly I submit to the DOT for reimbursement

[38:01] for

[38:03] um their 80% that they are basically the

[38:07] grant is covering. Um this is basically

[38:10] just started. We're kind of in the

[38:12] middle of the engagement phase, about to

[38:14] start working on some focus group

[38:16] interviews. We've already did a public

[38:18] kind of kickoff workshop in the middle

[38:19] of September and have a survey and map

[38:22] online. So, please fill it out and share

[38:24] with your friends. Um, this will get

[38:27] ultimately probably spring will be when

[38:29] we see, you know, adoption, but you'll

[38:31] start to see drafts probably um this

[38:33] winter of that plan.

[38:36] I noticed this specifically because uh

[38:39] I'm thinking about a week without

[38:41] vehicle or driving or whatever. Uh and

[38:44] in in that trying to ride a bike and

[38:47] trying to get back and forth and

[38:48] thinking about going there and

[38:50] alternative uh transportation this week

[38:52] has stunk. It's not great. And I would

[38:56] like to do better in our community and

[38:58] I'm hopeful that this will help address

[39:01] some of those issues. It would be nice

[39:02] to have an ability to get a bus into

[39:06] Madison or a park and ride or many other

[39:09] ways that we might be able to improve

[39:11] transportation through our communities.

[39:14] It is definitely we have a community

[39:16] that I find difficult to uh transport

[39:20] across. But with that, I'd also like to

[39:22] say I am on another committee for the

[39:25] county [snorts] that is the ADRC aging

[39:28] disability and rehabilitation committee.

[39:30] And one of the focuses on that, just as

[39:33] a reminder for folks, is that they do

[39:36] try to find ways, one of their goals is

[39:38] to get you to where you need to go,

[39:40] especially if you are under some

[39:43] circumstance that's temporary that

[39:45] doesn't allow you to be able to get

[39:47] there under your normal circumstance.

[39:48] And it's not necessarily age or

[39:52] financially impacting. We pay a lot of

[39:54] taxes in Dayne County, and this is a lot

[39:56] of the programs that we're able to take

[39:58] advantage of. So, just a reminder for

[40:00] folks especially in our village that do

[40:03] see significant uh difficulties in being

[40:06] able to get to uh some a doctor's

[40:10] appointment while you're recovering from

[40:12] an injury or something. Thank you.

[40:16] Additional questions?

[40:19] No. This is a roll call vote. We have a

[40:22] motion by Hagen, second by Marks.

[40:25] >> McDaniel. Yes. Vancampen.

[40:27] >> Yes.

[40:27] >> Marks. Yes.

[40:28] >> Higgins.

[40:29] >> Yes.

[40:30] >> Kirk Dorfford.

[40:30] >> Yes.

[40:32] >> That's it.

[40:33] >> Thank you. [snorts]

[40:35] Uh item six, consent agenda, staff, uh

[40:38] items a 6A through 6F. Staff

[40:42] recommendation motion to approve.

[40:44] Christopher Higgins.

[40:50] Questions? Lynn and then Tim.

[40:54] I just have a question on 6F, the KL

[40:58] engineering. I think that's 6F. Yeah.

[41:01] >> Yep.

[41:01] >> Thank you. Um, can you give us an update

[41:05] on this project?

[41:07] How how are we doing?

[41:10] [clears throat and laughter]

[41:11] >> Well, it's open, so that's probably an

[41:14] improvement to the last time we were

[41:16] talking. Um,

[41:19] so we are at the moment largely waiting

[41:22] on the city of Madison traffic

[41:24] engineering group. So they're the ones

[41:26] that program our traffic signals for us

[41:28] as they do for a lot of different

[41:30] municipalities uh as well as their own

[41:32] city which means of course they have

[41:34] quite a backlog. They're very busy. Uh

[41:36] they're busy because they're the best at

[41:37] what they do and so um so that's why we work with them. They also are very

[41:43] competitively priced. They did indicate

[41:47] a couple of weeks ago that this was

[41:49] about the time frame they'd be looking

[41:51] at testing the cabinet. Um they are also

[41:55] kind of at the mercy of Alliant Energy

[41:58] who is needing to put in an additional

[42:01] electrical service out here to actually

[42:04] run all of these lights. So um things

[42:08] are going well. largely we are just

[42:11] waiting on two outside agencies that

[42:13] kind of run on their own schedules um

[42:16] that don't always even match each others

[42:19] uh not not to say anything about ours to

[42:22] get uh get up and moving. Um

[42:27] there is a lot less construction

[42:30] inspection involved in those two items.

[42:33] Obviously Alliant will do their own. Um,

[42:35] and the city of Madison really doesn't

[42:37] need somebody hovering over their

[42:39] shoulder because they're not actually

[42:40] excavating. Um, so really this amendment

[42:45] is to cover

[42:47] time that was already kind of incurred

[42:49] as a cost because of those delays that

[42:53] we are going to leverage liquidated

[42:55] damages for. Okay. Have we wrapped has

[42:59] the contractor essentially wrapped their

[43:01] portion of things or are we still

[43:05] Um, are they still paying that fee?

[43:09] >> They are still paying that fee. Uh, the

[43:12] kind of major items yet to be done are

[43:16] the fencing. So, they're obviously big

[43:21] drops on those retaining walls. Um, we

[43:24] don't want

[43:25] >> people of any age getting close to them

[43:27] and going off the edge. So, they do have

[43:29] to install fencing out there. Okay.

[43:31] That's kind of the major thing that

[43:33] remains as well as just making sure that

[43:36] the site looks good at the very end of

[43:38] everybody's work. Uh we do have a

[43:40] walkthrough with them tomorrow. Okay.

[43:42] >> To check in on how things are going and

[43:45] make sure that they're satisfied and

[43:46] that they can give us an update on the

[43:48] schedule.

[43:48] >> Okay, great. Thank you.

[43:51] >> Okay, Rick.

[43:53] >> Um item 6C, um the approval of the wage

[43:58] adjustment for the custodian. Um, I

[44:01] would like to see if it'd be possible to

[44:03] I hope it doesn't need an amendment to

[44:05] apply retroactively back to July when

[44:08] the decision was made to hire somebody

[44:11] at a higher pay range if that's

[44:14] possible. Thank you.

[44:17] Okay.

[44:20] Do you need an amendment?

[44:23] >> Yeah.

[44:24] Okay. So, we have a motion. Uh so

[44:27] that would be an amendment by Rick.

[44:31] Um I will second that. So we will now

[44:33] vote on the amendment unless there are

[44:35] questions.

[44:37] >> Okay. So

[44:40] >> let's get to Can we make that amendment

[44:43] to the beginning of the pay period of

[44:46] when whenever that date is that we will

[44:48] decide?

[44:49] >> Yes. Thank you.

[44:50] >> Yes. Just so we're all clear just for

[44:53] administrative

[44:54] >> sanity.

[44:56] Thank you.

[44:57] >> Okay. So, Tim,

[44:59] >> I had a question just on a different

[45:00] issue though on the

[45:01] >> Well, you want to do the amendment

[45:03] first?

[45:03] >> Let's clean this amendment up first.

[45:05] Yes. Thank you.

[45:06] >> So, uh let's vote on the amendment.

[45:10] Motion by Marks, second by uh the chair.

[45:13] All those in favor indicate by saying I.

[45:15] >> I.

[45:15] >> Those polls say no. Motion carries.

[45:18] Okay. Timmy,

[45:19] >> I just had a question about B. Is there

[45:21] a cost to this program?

[45:24] >> No. Okay.

[45:26] >> Okay. All right. So, returning to the

[45:28] main motion. Further discussion hearing

[45:32] none. Motion by Kurt Der, second by

[45:34] Higgins. All those in favor indicate by

[45:36] saying I.

[45:36] >> I.

[45:37] >> Those opposed. Motion carries. [snorts]

[45:39] Thank you. Item seven, boards of

[45:42] committees. Items for discussion and our

[45:44] possible action. A public works and

[45:47] utilities committee. One, amendment to

[45:49] task order number 20 23-03

[45:53] with Rukert Mili for additional

[45:55] engineering services for the East

[45:57] Lincoln reconstruction project

[46:00] increasing

[46:02] the contract amount by $80,20.50

[46:06] to revise not to exceed total of

[46:09] $223,330.

[46:13] [sighs]

[46:14] uh committee and staff recommendation.

[46:17] Motion to approve Higgins and Marks

[46:22] questions on this.

[46:27] Okay. Motion by second by Marks. All

[46:29] those in favor indicate by saying I. I.

[46:32] >> Those oppos say no.

[46:33] >> Motion carries. Item eight, unfinished

[46:35] business. None. Item nine, new business.

[46:38] Items for discussion and or possible

[46:40] action. a presentation review of the

[46:43] draft 2027 village budget.

[46:50] » All right, Rich is going to get me set

[46:53] up here.

[46:54] >> Okay.

[46:55] >> Uh I could probably talk for

[46:59] three or four hours straight on this. So

[47:01] I'm I'm gonna

[47:02] >> Is that a warning?

[47:03] >> I'm going to contain myself. Um

[47:05] >> no breaks.

[47:06] >> Yeah. Yeah. Nobody can leave. Um, so I'm

[47:10] going to try to contain myself and I'm

[47:13] going to try to move briskly. Um, but if

[47:16] there's any questions or if there's any

[47:20] area where you want me to talk more,

[47:23] just interrupt me. I want this to be

[47:26] helpful for you. Um, so just guide me

[47:29] appropriately.

[47:31] Um,

[47:32] so let's talk the 2027 budget. So you

[47:36] have the full budget in front of you.

[47:38] So, it is uh 300 pages of budgets and uh

[47:42] supporting information uh that you

[47:44] certainly have time to read through and

[47:47] digest and we'll come back and talk some

[47:49] more in some future meetings. But for

[47:52] where we are right now, we've we've

[47:54] fully gotten it together. Um there are a

[47:57] few remaining items at this point of the

[47:59] year that we're still waiting on. We're

[48:01] always waiting on employee benefit open

[48:02] enrollment that can have an impact on

[48:05] the budget that goes through October.

[48:07] We're talking about the SRO agreement

[48:09] that is a revenue source uh that right

[48:12] now we don't have in the draft budget so

[48:14] we're not accounting for that uh to be

[48:17] conservative but hopefully we will. Um

[48:20] and then we have the police union

[48:22] contract negotiation going on which will

[48:24] also be a factor again. Hopefully that

[48:26] will be something that gets addressed

[48:27] before the budget is completed. Right

[48:29] now our draft operating budget has a

[48:32] deficit of about $49,000.

[48:35] Um,

[48:37] in my world that is substantively

[48:39] balanced. I think we can we can find an

[48:42] amount in a $10 million budget of

[48:45] $49,000 to solve. Um, but we have some

[48:49] of these other factors that are at play

[48:51] right now. Um, but all things

[48:53] considered, I have a glass half full

[48:56] mentality that we will figure that out.

[49:01] Um, other than that, just quality

[49:03] control right now and just

[49:04] double-checking and triple-checking

[49:06] everything. We will have several more

[49:08] meetings. The next meeting at the 19th,

[49:10] the 2nd, and then the 16th, we have the

[49:12] public hearing and village board

[49:15] approval. And then we continue on to the

[49:18] tax collection process at the end of the

[49:20] year.

[49:22] And that is perfect segue to where I

[49:24] like to start with budget presentations,

[49:27] which is the property tax. Um it is the

[49:31] biggest source of revenue that we have

[49:33] as a local government. It covers uh

[49:36] typically 60 to 70% of the revenue that

[49:39] we use to uh pay for our services. And

[49:42] that's true of all local governments in

[49:44] Wisconsin. In fact, some might be even

[49:46] 80 or 90% supported by property tax. Uh

[49:49] there just really isn't a comparable

[49:51] revenue alternative to the property tax

[49:54] in Wisconsin. Uh we don't have the

[49:56] ability to charge sales tax. we don't

[49:58] have the ability to charge income tax. A

[50:01] lot of other revenue sources are uh

[50:03] restricted by state law uh or they just

[50:07] don't provide the sort of reliable

[50:10] unrestricted revenue that property tax

[50:13] provides at a comparable scale. Uh and

[50:17] of course if you've been around local

[50:19] government you will know that uh this

[50:22] source of revenue is also highly

[50:24] restricted uh by state law and it has

[50:27] been done so for uh in the current

[50:29] dynamic for the last 20 years. Uh so we

[50:33] have

[50:34] uh what's known as property tax levy

[50:36] limits in Wisconsin.

[50:39] And uh what that does and I'll just read

[50:42] it from my narrative here. The levy

[50:44] limit law restricts how much the village

[50:47] may increase its total property tax levy

[50:49] from one year to the next. The village

[50:51] must follow a statutory calculation when

[50:54] establishing its levy. Subject to

[50:56] specific adjustments and exceptions, the

[50:58] baseline allowable increase in the levy

[51:00] is primarily tied to a factor referred

[51:02] to as net new construction.

[51:05] And when municipal employees and

[51:07] municipal consultants use that term kind

[51:10] of drives me crazy because not all

[51:13] elected officials in the public have any

[51:15] clue what net new construction actually

[51:17] means. Um so just to

[51:22] expound on that point. So what happens

[51:25] with our property taxes is the village

[51:27] or any local government in Wisconsin

[51:29] generally gains additional ongoing

[51:32] property tax levy capacity when new

[51:35] taxable value is added to the community

[51:38] through construction.

[51:40] So we can't tie our property taxes to

[51:43] inflation. They are not tied to

[51:46] appreciation in the value of existing

[51:48] property values. uh we can't raise more

[51:52] levy because of those factors. It's all

[51:54] tied to the creation of new construction

[51:58] value.

[51:59] Uh and the net part of that is if you

[52:03] happen to have some demolition of value

[52:05] in your community. So if you have a

[52:08] couple houses demolished or something is

[52:10] demolished, you have to remove that from

[52:13] your uh calculation of the net new

[52:16] construction and then that impacts on

[52:18] how much uh property taxes you can

[52:20] raise. So absent uh any adjustment or uh

[52:25] statutory adjustment or voter approval

[52:27] through referendum, the village can't

[52:30] increase its base property tax levy

[52:32] however you want, however the village

[52:34] wants. um it's tied to the statutory

[52:37] calculation. And so this table right

[52:38] here shows that net new construction

[52:42] value. So in 2027 we had $67.7 million

[52:47] of net new construction value and then

[52:50] you uh divide that by your total value

[52:53] of your community which was 2.1 billion

[52:56] and then you get that 3.18%.

[53:00] And I will show you in a moment how that

[53:03] then dovtales and factors into how you

[53:06] calculate your property taxes. So

[53:08] there's a couple things about property

[53:10] taxes that I always like to point out to

[53:13] uh policy makers, elect officials. One

[53:16] is again the inflation part of this

[53:19] which is we can't raise our levy based

[53:21] on inflation. Um and that becomes

[53:25] important when you are in high inflation

[53:27] environment. And so this uh table here

[53:32] uh shows how this has impacted on the

[53:35] village and of course a lot of local

[53:36] governments over the last few years. Uh

[53:39] when you have inflation that is running

[53:41] 7% 6 and a half%

[53:44] uh and your net new construction percent

[53:46] allows you to raise your primary revenue

[53:48] source by threes or twos and in some

[53:51] communities less than 1%.

[53:55] uh it's really hard to even stand still,

[53:58] right? Your cost for your your services,

[54:00] your goods, your employees continues to

[54:03] rise and there's pressure on those

[54:04] things rising. Uh and if you if your

[54:07] primary revenue revenue source is not

[54:09] rising with that uh that becomes a

[54:11] problem.

[54:15] The other thing uh with this is uh

[54:20] community growth, right? And so

[54:22] obviously with your re with the main

[54:25] revenue source being property taxes tied

[54:27] to new construction value that creates

[54:30] pressure to create growth in your in

[54:32] your community. But obviously growth

[54:35] also creates some challenges because it

[54:37] increases uh the number of people, the

[54:40] number of facilities, the number of

[54:42] infrastructure that the community must

[54:44] serve. Uh so there is sort of uh two

[54:48] sides of the coin under this

[54:49] environment. One is if you're not

[54:52] growing as a community, your primary

[54:54] revenue source is not growing at all

[54:56] either. But inflation of course creates

[55:00] uh costs for fuel and utilities and

[55:03] employee compensation and benefits that

[55:05] keep going up and there's no way to

[55:08] continue to support that uh at least as

[55:11] it currently exists when your revenue

[55:13] source is not moving at all. On the

[55:16] other side of that coin is your

[55:18] community is growing and so now you

[55:20] actually have some growth in your

[55:21] primary revenue source. Uh but then it

[55:24] creates additional um liabilities,

[55:27] right? You have more infrastructure,

[55:29] there's more people going to your

[55:30] library. There's more people going to

[55:32] your senior center. There's more people

[55:33] at elections. And so you in order to

[55:36] keep your services going at the same way

[55:38] that they were uh you have to sort of

[55:40] expand with the community. And so some

[55:45] people will answer the question of well

[55:47] we need to grow a lot more some people

[55:48] will say we don't need to grow at all

[55:50] and that will solve it and the answer is

[55:52] probably somewhere in the middle in that

[55:54] u both sides present problems and

[55:56] tradeoffs um and and positives and and

[56:00] different uh consequences.

[56:03] [clears throat]

[56:04] Another thing on property taxes that I

[56:07] like to mention every year is this

[56:08] concept of taxing to the max. Uh and

[56:12] just um

[56:15] in a nutshell, uh this value back in

[56:20] this table right here, this adjusted

[56:22] property tax levy that I call a base

[56:24] levy, you get to keep that levy every

[56:28] year. So this amount of money carries

[56:30] forward every year and it adjusts

[56:32] upwards based on new construction value

[56:35] and you can keep carrying that forward.

[56:36] So, it's called a base levy and you can

[56:39] use that for your operating expenses.

[56:43] And there might be a scenario where, for

[56:46] example, the village board wants to seek

[56:50] property tax relief. Uh, and so you

[56:53] might want you might think about levying

[56:55] less than the full amount allowed in the

[56:58] particular year. And so you would reduce

[57:01] the le village levy relative to what it

[57:03] otherwise could have been otherwise known as taxing to the max. Uh

[57:09] but by lowering the village's recurring

[57:11] levy base, it constrains the revenues

[57:14] available in subsequent budgets. So if

[57:17] you take it out of your base, it's

[57:19] pretty much gone. You can't come back

[57:21] another year in the future and say,

[57:23] "Hey, we we actually need that money um

[57:26] for something that came up." It's pretty

[57:28] much gone. So, it's like a use it or

[57:30] lose it system. There's some there's

[57:32] some very limited ways that you can

[57:35] extract that money back in the couple of

[57:37] years after it happened, but it's capped

[57:40] and it's limited and it's conditional

[57:42] and then eventually it falls completely

[57:44] out. So, folks in your position as

[57:47] elected officials, once you start to

[57:49] understand that, you realize

[57:52] um by lowering your taxes, you are

[57:55] constraining your future flexibility. Uh

[57:57] and so a lot of uh communities end up

[58:01] taking the policy position of we have to

[58:04] tax to the max because that's the

[58:06] environment that we're in.

[58:09] Uh and then the last thing I would say

[58:11] on property taxes in general uh from a

[58:14] policym perspective is these things have

[58:17] been in place for 20 years now. Um

[58:21] there's sort of different eras and I've

[58:24] worked through almost all of this era of

[58:26] levy limits. Um in the first maybe 5 to

[58:30] 10 years after levy limits went into

[58:32] place

[58:34] um communities uh sharpened their

[58:37] pencils, tightened their belt, got

[58:39] honest, took the fluff out. I think

[58:41] that's what the levy limit law was

[58:43] probably intended to do at the time was

[58:45] just to keep local governments honest.

[58:47] And so a lot of local governments did

[58:50] that and that's when around the time

[58:51] that I started working in local

[58:53] government and that was sort of the

[58:55] mentality of we were still trying to

[58:58] find ways in our budgets that we could

[59:01] save money and that was done through

[59:03] contracting things out um combining

[59:06] positions um all sorts of things. And

[59:10] then sometime around like 10 years ago,

[59:12] like 2015,

[59:14] um those things started to run out uh

[59:17] for most communities, sort of the

[59:19] lowhanging fruit. And so now communities

[59:22] started thinking about revenue options.

[59:25] And a great example of that is the wheel

[59:27] tax, which has been allowed since the

[59:30] 1970s, but as recently as 15 years ago,

[59:35] there was only like single digits of

[59:36] communities that were using that thing.

[59:39] Now there's over 70 communities and

[59:41] counties that are using the wheel tax.

[59:43] So that was sort of what happened 10

[59:46] years ago was communities had cut things

[59:49] and now they were trying to find more

[59:50] revenue and there was this cat cat-and-

[59:52] mouse game in the 2010s between

[59:54] municipal uh governments and state

[59:57] legislature where municipal governments

[59:59] would find new revenue source and then

[1:00:01] the state legislature would create a law

[1:00:03] that would basically remove it or cap it

[1:00:05] or something to that effect. And then

[1:00:09] about just before the 2020 2018 2019

[1:00:14] communities started moving towards the

[1:00:16] referendum. So they had cut things, they

[1:00:19] had found other revenue sources and

[1:00:21] those things ran out. And so the last

[1:00:23] place to go was either cut your services

[1:00:26] or go to referendum. So right at at

[1:00:28] 2018, you started to see referendums

[1:00:32] spike quite a bit. There before that

[1:00:34] time, there was rarely ever a municipal

[1:00:36] referendum. Now they're very common.

[1:00:38] There's do there's been dozens and

[1:00:40] dozens in the last few years including

[1:00:41] ours.

[1:00:43] Um, and so that's where communities have

[1:00:45] gotten to now. And that's been sort of

[1:00:47] the era that we're living in now, which

[1:00:49] is we're going to be in this cycle of

[1:00:51] referendums or we're going to have to

[1:00:54] start reducing our services or trying to

[1:00:58] find those last pieces of other revenue

[1:01:01] sources that um could make up uh some

[1:01:05] substantial amount of revenue for us.

[1:01:09] So [snorts]

[1:01:11] all that aside, so what does it look

[1:01:14] like when we actually have to do the

[1:01:16] worksheet for the levy limit? So this

[1:01:19] worksheet, and I've I've shown this in

[1:01:21] the budget uh presentation for the last

[1:01:23] couple of years. Uh this is the

[1:01:25] worksheet that Department of Revenue

[1:01:26] puts out. Every community and county in

[1:01:29] Wisconsin has to fill out this levy

[1:01:30] limit worksheet and submit it in

[1:01:32] December.

[1:01:34] And this calculates how much property

[1:01:36] taxes you can get as a community. And

[1:01:38] this first section here is entirely

[1:01:41] filled out by the department of revenue.

[1:01:43] Uh or it's a number that gets populated

[1:01:46] by something else later in the

[1:01:48] spreadsheet.

[1:01:50] So in order to calculate your base levy,

[1:01:53] you start with what you levied last

[1:01:55] year. So that's the top number.

[1:01:59] Then you kind of back out of some

[1:02:01] things. So you start to exclude some

[1:02:04] things you can't carry forward into the

[1:02:06] next year. So that would be expenses

[1:02:09] related to emergency, nothing for us.

[1:02:12] Expenses for general obligation debt,

[1:02:15] and we've talked about this where you

[1:02:16] can exclude your debt service payments

[1:02:18] and you can take more levy for that. So

[1:02:20] we levied 3.8 million for debt service

[1:02:23] last year. So you back that out. We

[1:02:25] can't take that forward into the next

[1:02:27] year. So, what you end up with is this

[1:02:29] base levy of 6.3 million. That's your

[1:02:32] operating levy.

[1:02:35] Then you apply your net new

[1:02:37] construction, which is that 3.18%

[1:02:40] that I showed earlier. And that gets

[1:02:42] applied to this number. And then you

[1:02:44] have your number, your base levy for the

[1:02:47] year moving forward. And then they do a

[1:02:49] little thing, some funky stuff with some

[1:02:51] personal property. Um, so they got to

[1:02:53] take a little bit more money away from

[1:02:55] you. Um, and then at the end of it, you

[1:02:59] add your adjustments back in for the

[1:03:01] year. It's 4.2 million we have. I'll

[1:03:04] show that in a second. And there's your

[1:03:06] levy for your property taxes.

[1:03:10] The rest of the worksheet is these two

[1:03:13] sections. Section B and C are these

[1:03:15] carry forwards. So, if you had used some

[1:03:17] unused levy, there is some conditions

[1:03:20] under which you can bring it back. But

[1:03:23] again, those are conditional. they are

[1:03:26] more limited. You can't bring back all

[1:03:27] of what you could have had in the year

[1:03:29] that you could have had it. Um, so

[1:03:33] there's some look backs there. We have

[1:03:35] obviously texted to the max. So there's

[1:03:37] no nothing going on in these sections.

[1:03:40] And then you have your adjustments uh in

[1:03:43] your worksheet. So uh things that you

[1:03:45] can do to modify your otherwise

[1:03:48] allowable levy.

[1:03:51] Most of these we are irrelevant to most

[1:03:54] communities. Um there's some things on

[1:03:56] some debt service prior to 2005. We

[1:03:59] don't have any debt service left from

[1:04:01] that time. The big one here on E is debt

[1:04:04] service for uh our normal debt service

[1:04:08] which is 4.1 million. So we add that

[1:04:10] back in. Um

[1:04:14] increase uh attributable to a

[1:04:16] referendum.

[1:04:17] uh again in uh increase related to an

[1:04:20] emergency there's some increases or

[1:04:22] decreases so there's some adjustments

[1:04:24] that can happen downwards

[1:04:26] um related to some intergovernmental

[1:04:28] things and we have our joint fire and

[1:04:31] EMS district which allows us to take a

[1:04:33] little bit more there

[1:04:36] um there's an adjustment for annexation

[1:04:38] uh we had a very tiny annexation this

[1:04:41] year which would allow us $4 I don't

[1:04:45] know if we'll actually submit that or

[1:04:47] Um there's some more on debt service

[1:04:51] that's not applying to us at all. This

[1:04:55] uh line Q is probably going to be

[1:04:57] important to us next year potentially if

[1:05:00] we end up moving forward with a storm

[1:05:02] water utility. So this is part of that

[1:05:05] cat and mouse game that happened last

[1:05:07] decade with the state legislature and

[1:05:09] municipal governments. uh this is you

[1:05:12] have to take a reduction to your

[1:05:14] property taxes if you adopt a fee or fee

[1:05:18] increase for particular services that

[1:05:20] were partly or wholly funded by levy in

[1:05:22] 2013.

[1:05:24] So uh one of those covered services is

[1:05:27] storm water management. So if you create

[1:05:29] a storm water utility and now you use

[1:05:32] fees to pay for that service you have to

[1:05:35] take a reduction on your property taxes.

[1:05:38] So you cannot just sort of automatically

[1:05:40] divvy that up um for having a new source

[1:05:44] of revenue.

[1:05:46] And then there's uh this S1 is an

[1:05:50] increase in levy for occupancy permits

[1:05:51] issued in 2025 for qualifying new single

[1:05:54] family residential dwelling units.

[1:05:56] There's a lot of uh conditions behind

[1:05:58] the scenes on that one. I do think we

[1:06:01] are qualified to get about $5,000 for

[1:06:04] that this year. So there's your total

[1:06:06] adjustments, 4.2 2 million that gets

[1:06:10] plugged back up into here and there's

[1:06:13] your levy. So the base levy is that 6.5

[1:06:18] at four is mostly debt service and some

[1:06:20] things that we can carry forward to

[1:06:23] increase our base for the following

[1:06:25] year. Uh and that's settles out your

[1:06:28] property taxes. That's how that all

[1:06:31] comes together.

[1:06:34] Now, how that all works um in terms of

[1:06:38] the actual uh impact on properties

[1:06:41] themselves.

[1:06:43] So, moving ahead to

[1:06:46] uh what that levy looks like, breaking

[1:06:49] it down a little bit further. Uh so, the

[1:06:51] 10.7 million is here compared to last

[1:06:55] year. Uh the general fund, library

[1:06:58] operating fund, that's considered what I

[1:07:00] would consider just the villages

[1:07:02] operating. when we talk about operating

[1:07:04] those are the two funds

[1:07:06] um you can see the increase there you

[1:07:08] can see the increase uh to debt service

[1:07:10] on the general and then the tax

[1:07:12] increment district number three side uh

[1:07:15] and that's how that all shakes out so

[1:07:17] about 3.5%

[1:07:20] increase from last year

[1:07:23] have a couple things in here on sort of

[1:07:26] the makeup of that uh obviously debt

[1:07:28] service is a big factor we've talked

[1:07:30] about that quite a bit debt service has

[1:07:32] gone up quite a bit for the village.

[1:07:34] We've done quite a bit of investment in

[1:07:36] our public facilities and other

[1:07:38] infrastructure over the last 10 years or

[1:07:40] so. And so you can see the rise in levy

[1:07:43] for that. Um it's been it's been pretty

[1:07:46] significant although I think as a

[1:07:47] percentage it's uh starting to sort of

[1:07:50] ease up and that's when we talk about

[1:07:51] sort of those stepped increases to uh

[1:07:54] debt service moving forward.

[1:07:57] The other piece is the joint fire and

[1:07:59] EMS levy limit exception. have an

[1:08:01] explanation there. Um, we saw some

[1:08:04] information on that last week at the

[1:08:05] joint meeting. Uh, in short, we're able

[1:08:08] to get a little bit more levy because

[1:08:09] we're part of a joint district and

[1:08:11] because we met some standards that are

[1:08:13] in state law, we get a little bit more

[1:08:15] levy that we can take for that. Uh, have

[1:08:19] some information on the

[1:08:22] calculation error that occurred with the

[1:08:24] department of revenue two years ago.

[1:08:26] That is now resolved. Um, we had some

[1:08:29] levy that was in our levy that was not

[1:08:32] supposed to be there, but was told that

[1:08:35] it could be there by the Department of

[1:08:36] Revenue. And two years later, we have

[1:08:39] our very own special state legislative

[1:08:41] law that was passed just for us and the

[1:08:45] towns of Oregon and Rutland to fix that.

[1:08:48] So, um, yeah, we're in state law forever

[1:08:51] now, hopefully. Um, so it's interesting.

[1:08:56] We have something that's probably the

[1:08:58] three of our communities probably have

[1:09:00] something that's I would think unique

[1:09:03] almost entirely to our three communities

[1:09:04] in Wisconsin. I'm sure there might be

[1:09:06] some other ones out there, but uh when

[1:09:09] you go back and look at the levy limit

[1:09:10] worksheet because of this error, this

[1:09:13] number is actually smaller than it was

[1:09:15] last year and it normally shouldn't be.

[1:09:17] [snorts]

[1:09:18] But what has happened is they have now

[1:09:20] corrected that error that happened and

[1:09:22] they had to take money out of our levy

[1:09:24] and now that will be made up for a grant

[1:09:27] that the state will provide us. So it's

[1:09:30] making whole of that whole issue.

[1:09:34] [cough]

[1:09:35] [clears throat]

[1:09:35] Have some information on the property

[1:09:38] tax levy contribution to tax increment

[1:09:40] districts. Um the summary here is that

[1:09:43] our levy was supporting our tax

[1:09:45] increment districts quite a bit uh in

[1:09:48] over the years and that has now trailed

[1:09:50] off. Uh there's only a little bit left

[1:09:53] for us to cover in tax increment

[1:09:55] district 3. Uh and that is because those

[1:09:57] districts are performing well uh and

[1:10:00] they're covering their costs better than

[1:10:02] they were in prior years.

[1:10:07] Uh so what does this mean for

[1:10:10] impact on properties? Uh and so in the uh information I have um info about

[1:10:19] village assessed value and where that's

[1:10:21] gone over the last 10 years. Uh village

[1:10:23] equalized value, where that's gone over

[1:10:25] the last 10 years. All of those things

[1:10:27] are important in how property taxes are

[1:10:30] end up being calculated. I won't belabor

[1:10:33] those points right now, but suffice to

[1:10:36] say when it comes to the property tax

[1:10:39] rate itself and we talk about the amount

[1:10:42] that's going to be levied and the amount

[1:10:44] that that can be spread over in terms of

[1:10:45] assessed value, what we have at the end

[1:10:48] of the day is our tax rate is basically

[1:10:50] flat. Uh it's showing just a hair of a

[1:10:53] percentage less right now just based on

[1:10:56] what we have. Um, but I would take that

[1:10:59] to mean that it's either going to be a

[1:11:01] hair better, hair worse, or just about

[1:11:04] the same as it was last year.

[1:11:06] Um, and so because we had a a uh an

[1:11:10] assessment year that was uh just a

[1:11:14] maintenance year, we weren't doing a

[1:11:15] market update, it's a lot easier to

[1:11:18] compare your property taxes from

[1:11:20] year-over-year because most property uh

[1:11:23] most properties won't change in value

[1:11:25] from the prior year. Uh so here's uh a

[1:11:29] table that shows uh you know if you had

[1:11:31] a $500,000 home uh and that was your

[1:11:34] assessed value in 25 and it stayed the

[1:11:37] same because of the maintenance year. Uh

[1:11:39] right now we would be showing just a

[1:11:41] little bit less for village share of

[1:11:43] taxes. And that would be the point that

[1:11:45] I would make is this is just the village

[1:11:47] share of taxes. Your property tax bill

[1:11:50] includes school districts, the counties

[1:11:52] and the tech colleges. That's not

[1:11:54] something that's shown here or factored

[1:11:56] here. This is just the village portion.

[1:12:01] And then as I like to show every year

[1:12:03] too, where are we in comparison to our

[1:12:07] peers cities and villages in Dayne

[1:12:09] County? Um we have over the last couple

[1:12:13] of years hovered around the median to a

[1:12:17] little bit below the median. the the uh

[1:12:20] table on the left shows the net total

[1:12:22] property tax on a $500,000 home. So,

[1:12:25] this is the property tax bill. It's

[1:12:28] inclusive of all of the taxing

[1:12:29] jurisdictions. So, if you uh look there,

[1:12:32] we were a little bit below the median.

[1:12:34] This black line, thicker black line is

[1:12:36] the median. Uh and on average, we had

[1:12:39] about $108

[1:12:41] less than the average for a $500,000

[1:12:44] home. And then when we're on the table

[1:12:47] on the right is just the municipal

[1:12:50] portion. So the village and city portion

[1:12:52] of the tax bill. Uh and that excludes

[1:12:55] the school district, county, and tech

[1:12:57] college. Again, we're sort of hovering

[1:12:59] right there uh below the median.

[1:13:04] Anything I can answer on property taxes

[1:13:08] at all? We'll continue on to the budget.

[1:13:15] Okay,

[1:13:16] so budget. Um, how do we bring the

[1:13:19] budget all together? What are all the

[1:13:22] things that play into it? Is it just

[1:13:24] totally arbitrary about how I feel that

[1:13:26] day or are there some things that we

[1:13:29] actually use to try to help us guide

[1:13:31] what we're doing? The answer is we have

[1:13:35] some things that guide us. Um, so first

[1:13:38] of all, we uh adopted a budget direction

[1:13:42] resolution earlier this year in June.

[1:13:44] The village board adopted that right

[1:13:46] here. Uh, and so that told us a few

[1:13:50] things that we need to be doing when we

[1:13:51] put the budget together. Um, so number

[1:13:54] one, the the goal was we want to try to

[1:13:58] keep doing what we're doing, keep doing

[1:14:00] the services that we're doing, keep

[1:14:02] doing the functions that we're doing,

[1:14:03] and try to keep doing them at the

[1:14:04] current level.

[1:14:06] that's addressed in the budget. So, the

[1:14:08] budget does that. Um, this one here, the

[1:14:12] second one talks about capital. We've

[1:14:14] been progressing again through our

[1:14:16] capital process that we did over the

[1:14:18] last two months. We've continued to do

[1:14:21] that. That's addressed. Uh, we've

[1:14:24] incorporated a one-step compensation on

[1:14:26] our compensation plan, and I'll talk a

[1:14:28] little bit about that uh in a second,

[1:14:31] but we've addressed that. We've put that

[1:14:32] into the draft budget. Police union

[1:14:34] negotiations are ongoing. We've got a

[1:14:36] placeholder in the budget to hopefully

[1:14:39] address what 2027 might look like. There

[1:14:42] were four positions identified in that

[1:14:44] resolution that we wanted to target for

[1:14:47] uh addition to this budget. A full-time

[1:14:49] police officer, a full-time custodian, a

[1:14:51] full-time human resources director, and

[1:14:53] one part-time library position. Uh as it

[1:14:57] relates to the police officer and the HR

[1:14:59] director position, we have fit that in

[1:15:01] the budget with six months of funding.

[1:15:04] Um, so what that means is we can start

[1:15:06] those positions and start paying those

[1:15:08] positions starting July 1. And we had to

[1:15:12] do that uh in order to balance the

[1:15:14] budget and get to it get it to where we

[1:15:16] are right now with the $49,000 deficit

[1:15:20] um we had to make a choice on making

[1:15:22] those halfyear. So in 2028 we will have

[1:15:26] to annualize those costs and try to

[1:15:29] cover them in the full year which I

[1:15:31] think we can do. But I'll talk a little

[1:15:33] bit about that in just a second, too.

[1:15:35] Uh, same thing is true with the

[1:15:37] custodian position. We're gonna we have

[1:15:39] that funded in the budget to start in

[1:15:41] April, which coincides with roughly the

[1:15:44] time frame that the building the new

[1:15:45] building will open. And then we have one

[1:15:48] part-time library position. We have that

[1:15:50] 50% covered by library donations. So,

[1:15:53] that position is in there full-time or

[1:15:55] is is in there for the full year. um but

[1:15:58] only half is covered by what we would

[1:16:01] consider ongoing revenue. So we'll have

[1:16:04] to make that up again in 28.

[1:16:08] The rest of the budget resolution

[1:16:09] covered contributions to external

[1:16:11] agencies. One was the fire and EMS

[1:16:14] district. We wanted to try to hit that

[1:16:15] property tax levy limit exception uh

[1:16:18] again this year, which we have done.

[1:16:21] OCA media was here talking about the

[1:16:23] $100,000 contribution. There's some some

[1:16:25] reasons behind that that have been

[1:16:26] discussed.

[1:16:28] um that has been included. The youth

[1:16:30] center contribution has been maintained

[1:16:32] at 17,000. Um that is the same uh again

[1:16:36] and has been included in the budget. And

[1:16:38] then we've asked some asked the

[1:16:40] departments to put together a uh

[1:16:42] assessment and budget worksheet and I'll

[1:16:44] talk about that in a second, but that

[1:16:46] was also done as well.

[1:16:49] Another thing that factors into putting

[1:16:51] the budget together is the board's

[1:16:53] two-year strategic plan that was adopted

[1:16:55] and approved in uh June of this year as

[1:16:58] well. And so there are some things that

[1:17:01] were identified in that that we have

[1:17:03] gotten into the budget. One is the four

[1:17:07] priority positions that we talked about.

[1:17:09] Uh another is funding for work on

[1:17:12] intergovernmental uh discussions with

[1:17:15] the town of Oregon and the capital area

[1:17:17] regional planning commission. So,

[1:17:18] there's funds in there for that. We have

[1:17:21] funds in there to study the storm water

[1:17:23] utility, which we've discussed. There

[1:17:25] are some funds in there to continue uh reviewing the feasibility of

[1:17:30] the solar improvements at Village Hall,

[1:17:32] although we talked about that project

[1:17:34] maybe more years out, but we still have

[1:17:36] some funds to just continue that work,

[1:17:39] continue that planning work. We have

[1:17:41] funds to reconstruct uh County Highway

[1:17:43] MM phase one, County Highway MM Wolf

[1:17:46] Street. uh funds to support continuing

[1:17:49] and completing the storm the wastewater

[1:17:51] treatment plant upgrade. Uh the continue

[1:17:54] the future water system improvements

[1:17:56] including the the elevated storage and

[1:17:58] interzone booster station. Uh obviously

[1:18:01] funds to complete the new senior center

[1:18:03] and then we have funds to do the Bethl

[1:18:05] Green Acre project and uh planning funds

[1:18:09] for phase one of improvements to the

[1:18:12] Oregon Conservation Park. So, those are

[1:18:13] all things that were in your strategic

[1:18:15] plan that you approved in June and

[1:18:18] things that we have now funded uh in the

[1:18:21] budget or at least the draft budget.

[1:18:26] One thing I want to talk about a little

[1:18:28] bit is these department worksheets that

[1:18:30] we had departments fill out. Um, and I

[1:18:34] think this has been a very useful

[1:18:35] exercise in showing uh what we've talked

[1:18:38] about over the last few years and

[1:18:40] obviously what precipitated the uh

[1:18:42] referendum in 2025, which is um you can

[1:18:46] balance your budget, but you and it

[1:18:49] might look good on paper, but you might

[1:18:51] have to do it by holding things back.

[1:18:53] And that might look like holding wages

[1:18:55] back. It might look like holding pos

[1:18:57] needed positions back. Obviously an

[1:18:59] example here is we these are positions

[1:19:01] that have been identified as needs and

[1:19:03] we can only fund them for half the year

[1:19:05] to make them work. Um so uh one thing

[1:19:08] that is uh we started last year was

[1:19:11] having some worksheets that sort of

[1:19:13] capture how departments are feeling um

[1:19:16] and and where they are with what they're

[1:19:18] doing. And so I have some information in

[1:19:21] here about that. I could probably talk a

[1:19:24] long time about this. I'm going to try

[1:19:25] to summarize it as best as possible. Um,

[1:19:29] but probably the best way to capture it

[1:19:32] is just this paragraph right here. So,

[1:19:33] the 2027 assessments describe continuing

[1:19:37] pressure on organizational capacity.

[1:19:39] Many departments identified recurring

[1:19:41] challenges involving limited staffing

[1:19:43] and administrative support, growing

[1:19:45] service demands, employee turnover and

[1:19:47] retention, and technology or facility

[1:19:49] problems. These pressures often pull

[1:19:51] staff away from their primary

[1:19:52] responsibilities and reduce the time

[1:19:54] available for planning or service

[1:19:56] improvements. Several departments also

[1:19:58] describe funding constraints or public

[1:20:00] expectations that exceed available

[1:20:02] resources.

[1:20:04] So in in the the uh materials here I

[1:20:08] have all of the submitted worksheets

[1:20:11] that departments provided. It's three

[1:20:13] pages. Um first page is just a

[1:20:17] describing of the first question which

[1:20:20] the first question is this survey of

[1:20:23] rating how um uh sort of the stress

[1:20:28] within the department. So this first one

[1:20:29] is staff overload and burnout you know a

[1:20:33] rating is given an expected trend is

[1:20:35] given and then an example is given.

[1:20:38] Second question is

[1:20:40] um what sort of challenges are you

[1:20:42] facing that are limiting your service

[1:20:44] delivery? And so there's a narrative

[1:20:46] that answer that each department has

[1:20:48] provided and then the third one is what

[1:20:50] is your biggest priority investment for

[1:20:52] 2027 that would help you try to get at

[1:20:55] addressing some of these challenges.

[1:20:58] Uh and so

[1:21:00] looking at the the survey of the

[1:21:03] ratings, um this is a capture of of all

[1:21:07] of those um ratings that departments

[1:21:10] provided. Um so when we look at the

[1:21:15] factor of staff overload and burnout,

[1:21:17] you can see what that has been rated by

[1:21:19] all the departments. 4.5,

[1:21:22] you know, severe is a five, significant

[1:21:24] is a four. The way that's described in

[1:21:28] the worksheet is five severe persistent

[1:21:32] potentially departmentwide and

[1:21:33] critically undermining core operations

[1:21:35] and service delivery for significant

[1:21:37] occurs frequently or is widespread

[1:21:38] clearly disrupting work impacting

[1:21:40] multiple areas or causing notable staff

[1:21:42] strain and then from proceeding down

[1:21:45] from there. So obviously you look at

[1:21:48] these you can see there's quite a bit of

[1:21:50] significant and severe strain that's

[1:21:52] being felt in departments right now. not

[1:21:54] universal. There's certainly some areas

[1:21:56] that um are a little bit less so. Um and

[1:22:00] obviously clerk, community development,

[1:22:02] library um those are some areas that

[1:22:05] we're feeling it. I think if you were to

[1:22:06] ask me anecdotally about what my

[1:22:09] observation is of the the organization,

[1:22:12] I think this captures it pretty darn

[1:22:14] well.

[1:22:16] Um I've attempted to summarize some of

[1:22:19] these assessment summaries um for each

[1:22:22] of the departments. Um so you can read

[1:22:24] those in brief a little bit. Um what is

[1:22:28] very helpful now that we've done this

[1:22:29] two years is we can see what how things

[1:22:32] have changed from the prior year to this

[1:22:34] year. And this little chart little table

[1:22:38] here sort of captures that. Um, so

[1:22:41] anything that's uh orange is showing a

[1:22:44] higher rating from compared to 2026.

[1:22:47] Uh, anything that's unchanged is gray

[1:22:50] and then anything blue is is a decrease.

[1:22:53] Um, and that's not to say, you know,

[1:22:56] this might give the impression that

[1:22:57] things are okay, but a four is still a

[1:22:59] significant strain. It just hasn't

[1:23:01] changed from the prior year. Um, so you

[1:23:05] can see there's increasing pressure. I

[1:23:07] think a police is maybe a great example

[1:23:09] where um there was a lot of focus on

[1:23:12] that in the last year's budget um with

[1:23:15] um trying to get some increases to the

[1:23:17] management staff but then also kind of

[1:23:19] fingers crossed that we didn't have any

[1:23:21] turnover um and that's what happened.

[1:23:24] There wasn't any turnover this year and

[1:23:26] so I think you can see that reflected in

[1:23:28] some of the easing. Now, I would

[1:23:30] probably caveat that with saying, and I

[1:23:32] think the chief would agree, and I think

[1:23:34] her assessment worksheet would uh be in

[1:23:37] line with this, is that it won't take

[1:23:39] much for that to slip away. Um, if we

[1:23:42] have some turnover again, it's probably

[1:23:44] going to go right backwards again. Um,

[1:23:47] so, uh, this particular moment in time,

[1:23:50] things might feel a little bit better,

[1:23:51] but, uh, those worksheets will help, uh,

[1:23:54] give a little bit more context and

[1:23:55] nuance to, uh, that information. So,

[1:24:00] when we looked at question three, which

[1:24:02] was what's that number one thing that if

[1:24:04] you could get it into the budget, what

[1:24:05] that would provide the most help for

[1:24:07] your department? Um, we've added uh and

[1:24:11] addressed quite a few of these things.

[1:24:13] Most of them centered around the

[1:24:14] positions that were already identified.

[1:24:17] Um, and so that was able we were able to

[1:24:20] get those things into the budget and and

[1:24:22] speak to those. Uh, but not everything.

[1:24:24] Um, so community development has a

[1:24:26] position there. public works is

[1:24:28] identifying some software solutions. Um

[1:24:32] those things are not in the budget and

[1:24:33] things that we'll have to continue

[1:24:35] considering uh for future years.

[1:24:42] All right,

[1:24:46] couple more things to speak on uh in

[1:24:50] terms of wider scale sort of impact on

[1:24:55] the budget and

[1:24:57] probably the the place to go for how for

[1:25:01] a significant sort of 30,000 foot view

[1:25:04] of how the budget moves uh is personnel

[1:25:07] costs, cost of labor,

[1:25:10] 70% of our operating budget uh is

[1:25:13] employee costs. Uh that's $7.7 million

[1:25:17] of our budget. Um so uh we're obviously

[1:25:21] a a service uh organization and services

[1:25:24] are delivered by employees. Um and

[1:25:28] service quality can eb and flow uh based

[1:25:31] on the amount and the quality of

[1:25:32] employees that we have. Um, we have an

[1:25:36] employee compensation plan that was

[1:25:38] adopted by the board in in 2023.

[1:25:41] Um, and that helps guide how we uh divvy

[1:25:44] up our what funds that we do have for

[1:25:47] compensation. Uh, obviously balancing

[1:25:50] other factors such as the additional

[1:25:52] addition of positions and things like

[1:25:54] that. Uh, but the goal of th that plan

[1:25:56] is really twofold. is to ensure external

[1:25:59] competitiveness with our uh other

[1:26:01] village peers, other cities and villages

[1:26:04] and then just to maintain internal

[1:26:05] consistency within uh our organization

[1:26:09] based on uh employees responsibilities

[1:26:12] and complexity of their job. What this

[1:26:15] looks like takes the form of this. This

[1:26:17] is our employee wage schedule. This was

[1:26:19] adopted in 2026 as part of the 26

[1:26:21] budget. Um, and you can see it

[1:26:24] stratifies the positions based on

[1:26:26] responsibility and complexity and

[1:26:28] organizational impact into different

[1:26:31] grades. And then there's a uh wage scale

[1:26:35] that's been established based on uh the

[1:26:37] compensation study that was done in 22

[1:26:40] and then updated in 2025.

[1:26:42] Uh and so the range essentially means

[1:26:46] this is what a pos this position is

[1:26:49] likely to be found being paid within the

[1:26:52] market and the range of that from a step

[1:26:55] one to all the way up to a step 16.

[1:26:58] We've delineated it by step six is what

[1:27:01] we would consider the market median for

[1:27:03] the position or sort of the market rate.

[1:27:06] and that if you wanted to try to pay

[1:27:08] your employees at a market rate, that

[1:27:11] would be the goal that you want to try

[1:27:13] to get positions and people to. Um, now

[1:27:17] if you don't have, it's not necessarily

[1:27:20] a bad thing that employees might be paid

[1:27:22] below that because they might not have a

[1:27:24] lot of experience and they're just

[1:27:25] learning their position. Uh and so our

[1:27:28] policy brings people in generally

[1:27:30] speaking in those below steps when

[1:27:32] they're getting hired and then they can

[1:27:34] progress up to the market median. Uh and

[1:27:37] it's not necessarily a bad thing if

[1:27:39] employees are over the market median

[1:27:41] either because they might be very well

[1:27:42] experienced employees and we want to

[1:27:44] compensate for that. Um so all of those

[1:27:48] factors uh play into it.

[1:27:53] Um,

[1:27:55] a couple points I would make on employee

[1:27:57] compensation and and just kind of it's

[1:28:00] important kind of to remember a little

[1:28:01] bit of the history of this. So when we

[1:28:04] before the compensation plan, it was

[1:28:06] essentially an ad hoc system and that

[1:28:10] whenever we had to hire somebody, we

[1:28:11] decided what we wanted to pay them and

[1:28:13] went out and looked, you know, at peers

[1:28:15] and things like that. It wasn't a a

[1:28:17] consistent or cohesive system that sort

[1:28:19] of worked within itself.

[1:28:21] Um when we did the compensation study in

[1:28:24] 2022, 82% of the employees were earning

[1:28:29] less than the bottom of the market pay

[1:28:31] range and that they were less than step

[1:28:34] one on this scale. So 82% of employees

[1:28:37] were less than the bottom range of their

[1:28:40] market for their position.

[1:28:43] Village did some pretty uh substantial

[1:28:47] policym policy decisions at that time.

[1:28:49] They put the wheel tax into place and

[1:28:52] they put in the street light uh charge

[1:28:54] that is on our utility bills. And

[1:28:56] together that generated about half a

[1:28:58] million dollars in revenue that got

[1:29:00] divided up into sort of the buckets that

[1:29:02] they need to go to and that ended up

[1:29:05] freeing, you know, about a half million

[1:29:07] dollars to be spent on and put towards

[1:29:10] addressing this compensation issue. And

[1:29:13] so this uh chart right here does a

[1:29:16] really good job of capturing this. Um

[1:29:19] when we implemented it for the first

[1:29:21] year, we had this large amount of

[1:29:23] revenue that was new that got

[1:29:25] implemented and that we could use for

[1:29:27] these wage increases.

[1:29:29] And so using that half million dollars,

[1:29:32] we were able to get

[1:29:35] everybody actually onto the scale

[1:29:37] itself. So we were able to every get

[1:29:39] everybody into the the wage ranges that

[1:29:42] were uh found through the wage study.

[1:29:46] We got most of uh the employees up to a

[1:29:50] minimum of step one. And then some of

[1:29:52] the more experienced employees, I think

[1:29:54] we picked five years. If you had five

[1:29:56] years of experience with the village, we

[1:29:58] tried to get everybody of those

[1:30:00] individuals up to a step three. And so

[1:30:03] that first year that's where uh the

[1:30:06] percentage of employees sort of fell. So

[1:30:09] about 90% of employees were now on the

[1:30:12] scale or everybody was on the scale but

[1:30:14] 90% were below the market rate. Uh and

[1:30:17] there was just a couple people that um

[1:30:19] happened to have more competitive rates

[1:30:21] already that were a little bit higher.

[1:30:24] done some work over the last few years

[1:30:26] trying to get employees progressed

[1:30:29] through that understanding limitations

[1:30:31] of revenues that we have and that the

[1:30:34] first initial sort of uh jump was

[1:30:37] because we had a new source of revenue

[1:30:39] and that can't really be replicated

[1:30:41] again. Uh but we have now gotten 50 uh

[1:30:46] 1% of our employees who are now below

[1:30:48] step six. So we've progressed from 90%

[1:30:51] below step six to 51%.

[1:30:54] And we've gotten 24% of our employees to

[1:30:57] the market median and another 25% who

[1:31:00] are above the market median. So about

[1:31:02] half are below step six, half our step

[1:31:05] six or above. So we've done a a really

[1:31:08] good job of making some interventions

[1:31:12] and making some choices and then getting

[1:31:14] employees up onto a competitive scale

[1:31:19] even if they are not sort of ideally

[1:31:22] located within that scale. I think, you

[1:31:24] know, we would want to see some of our

[1:31:26] more experienced employees being in that

[1:31:28] higher range

[1:31:30] um than where they are currently. But

[1:31:33] again, you have a fixed amount of

[1:31:35] revenue. You have other priorities. You

[1:31:38] have you want to add positions to help

[1:31:40] with capacity. You have other

[1:31:42] inflationary factors that you have to

[1:31:44] address with your limited amount of

[1:31:45] revenue. So you have to balance all of

[1:31:48] those things uh and try to find a happy

[1:31:51] median especially if you don't have a

[1:31:53] new source of revenue and you're not

[1:31:55] willing to sort of reduce uh services

[1:31:57] somewhere else to sort of reassign

[1:31:59] funds.

[1:32:01] So all that to say we have a one-step

[1:32:05] increase on in the budget. So that means

[1:32:09] we are moving everybody wherever they

[1:32:12] are up one more step on the scale.

[1:32:19] And depending on where you are on the

[1:32:21] scale, if you're below step six, it's a

[1:32:23] 2.5% increase. And if you're above step

[1:32:25] six, it's a 1.25% increase. And the

[1:32:29] thought being behind that that was

[1:32:30] approved last year is that we want to

[1:32:33] try to get people moved up into the

[1:32:35] market median quickly. If you are at

[1:32:37] five years of experience, you should

[1:32:39] know how to do your job at that point.

[1:32:42] Uh, and we should hopefully be paying

[1:32:43] you at the market rate. And if you're

[1:32:46] above that, it becomes a cost

[1:32:47] containment factor, right? And and a

[1:32:50] perception factor in some ways. If this

[1:32:52] is we're saying this is the market

[1:32:54] median,

[1:32:55] um, do we want to show that a bunch of

[1:32:58] employees are moving really quickly

[1:33:00] above that market median or does that

[1:33:02] make it appear like we're paying above

[1:33:04] the market? And then also because it's a

[1:33:06] higher uh rate and we're applying

[1:33:08] increases, that's going to consume a

[1:33:11] larger amount of cash to continue

[1:33:13] funding that. And that kind of plays out

[1:33:16] this year with this increase because

[1:33:19] um if we were doing an across the board

[1:33:22] increase for example, the limited amount

[1:33:25] of revenue that we have towards putting towards employee increases,

[1:33:31] a greater share of that revenue would be

[1:33:34] being taken and given to what we would

[1:33:37] consider high more highly compensated

[1:33:39] employees who are above the market

[1:33:41] median. And so you would end up what you

[1:33:43] would end up if we did an across the

[1:33:45] board increases it would probably look

[1:33:46] like maybe a 1.5 or 1.75%

[1:33:50] increase. And then what that would look

[1:33:53] like in terms of dollars is uh you would

[1:33:56] have people who are higher on the scale

[1:33:58] getting a lot more dollars and people on

[1:34:00] the lower end of the scale. And then

[1:34:02] when you factor in things like health

[1:34:04] insurance premium contributions and

[1:34:06] retirement insurance contributions,

[1:34:08] health insurance is a regressive

[1:34:10] contribution. And so if you're making

[1:34:12] less, a greater percentage of your

[1:34:13] salary is going to the health insurance

[1:34:15] contribution. And that [clears throat]

[1:34:17] plays out when you look at health

[1:34:19] insurance in this year's budget. It's

[1:34:22] about a 4% increase for the vill's

[1:34:25] contribution, the employer's

[1:34:26] contribution, but it is a 20%

[1:34:29] contribution increase for uh those who

[1:34:33] are selecting GHC or courts UW. And that

[1:34:36] equates to about $700 or $900 more in an

[1:34:41] employee salary from this year, this

[1:34:44] upcoming year to this last year. And so

[1:34:46] what's happening with our percentage

[1:34:48] increases for our steps is that uh

[1:34:51] because we are sort of dividing it

[1:34:54] differently amongst wherever you are in

[1:34:56] the scale, we have about uh

[1:35:01] 78% of the employees getting between

[1:35:04] about $1,000 and $2,000 more onto their

[1:35:07] wages. And then we have a couple that

[1:35:10] are getting about $1,000 less and a

[1:35:12] couple who are getting about $2,000

[1:35:14] more. And so what we're do what this has

[1:35:18] done is we are able to give more dollars

[1:35:22] to more people

[1:35:24] and their take-home pay will be less

[1:35:26] affected by changes to health insurance

[1:35:29] and retirement or more equitably

[1:35:33] uh um aortioned. So, if we were doing

[1:35:36] more of an across the board, what you

[1:35:39] would probably see is a greater

[1:35:40] percentage falling below that 1,00 uh

[1:35:44] and a higher percentage going above that

[1:35:46] 2,000. So, it would have kind of would

[1:35:48] go in sort of opposite directions. So,

[1:35:50] we're trying to kind of thread that

[1:35:53] needle a little bit of sort of fairness

[1:35:56] um and all sorts of other different

[1:35:58] factors there.

[1:36:01] Uh [clears throat] so to that point, um

[1:36:04] as far as I think I've covered health

[1:36:07] insurance and wages there broadly

[1:36:09] enough, retirement,

[1:36:12] it's going up a little bit. That's set

[1:36:14] by the state. Uh the village has to

[1:36:16] provide a little bit more. The employee

[1:36:17] has to provide a little bit more. All

[1:36:19] that factors into about $25,000 more for

[1:36:22] the village to cover uh in cost for

[1:36:25] pension costs. And you know, when we go

[1:36:27] back to that levy limit um page where

[1:36:31] it's, you know, we're only getting maybe

[1:36:32] a hundred to $200,000 in new levy and 25

[1:36:36] of that thousand of that is already

[1:36:38] being made up in new pension

[1:36:39] contributions. You're already consuming

[1:36:41] a ton of large percentage of your new

[1:36:44] revenue just to maintain your pension

[1:36:47] contributions.

[1:36:49] Uh workers compensation, we've been

[1:36:51] really good in this in LA in the last

[1:36:54] few years. Fortunately, we had an injury

[1:36:56] in late 2025 that was a little bit more

[1:36:58] significant and that has impacted on the

[1:37:01] 2027 rates. So, what you're seeing

[1:37:03] across the whole village budget is a 41%

[1:37:06] increase to workers compensation costs

[1:37:09] or about $25,000. Again, um so that went

[1:37:13] from 61,000 to about 86,000

[1:37:16] uh in premiums for work comp. Again,

[1:37:20] you take 25,000 of work comp premiums,

[1:37:22] new new work comp premiums, 25,000 of

[1:37:25] new pension contributions. It's $50,000

[1:37:28] in your budget. We got about $150,000

[1:37:31] in property tax money to play with

[1:37:34] already. You've consumed about a third

[1:37:36] of the new revenue that you get from

[1:37:37] your primary revenue source just to

[1:37:40] figure out these two things.

[1:37:45] Another big uh element of the budget is

[1:37:48] shared revenue and state aids. Um so if

[1:37:51] property tax is you know 60% 60 to 70%

[1:37:54] of your revenue state aids and shared

[1:37:57] revenue make up another good healthy

[1:37:59] chunk of your revenue which is about

[1:38:01] 20%. When you take these two things

[1:38:03] together state aid and share uh property

[1:38:05] taxes it's about 80 to 90% of our

[1:38:09] budget. Um so these are this is a big

[1:38:11] factor that comes into play as well and

[1:38:13] it's another factor that we don't really

[1:38:15] have the ability to control for. Um so

[1:38:19] shared revenues make up uh there's a few

[1:38:21] different programs under the umbrella of

[1:38:23] shared revenue um county and municipal

[1:38:25] aid utility aid expenditure restraint uh

[1:38:28] supplemental county and municipal aid.

[1:38:30] That was a new program created a couple

[1:38:31] years ago. See the history of those

[1:38:34] here. It's going up uh marginally for

[1:38:37] 2027.

[1:38:39] Um, the one thing that I would just

[1:38:41] point to and and point out is when we

[1:38:43] talk about levy limits over the last 20

[1:38:46] years, those also coincided with uh

[1:38:50] changes to state aids and state shared

[1:38:53] revenues. So, if you go back to 2003,

[1:38:56] the county and municipal aid, which is

[1:38:58] an unrestricted amount of shared revenue

[1:39:00] that the all communities get, is about

[1:39:03] 344,000.

[1:39:06] And so today, when you look at county

[1:39:08] and municipal aid, you look at the

[1:39:10] supplemental county and municipal aid

[1:39:11] that was created and you count for

[1:39:14] inflation, we're still behind what the

[1:39:17] purchasing power of those dollars was in

[1:39:19] 2003 compared to what we're getting in

[1:39:21] 2027. We're about $100,000

[1:39:24] short of what that money meant in 2003

[1:39:28] compared to what it now means in 2027.

[1:39:32] Um so that's another factor to think

[1:39:36] about and again we don't control those are dictated to us and given to

[1:39:40] us.

[1:39:43] Another revenue from the state is

[1:39:44] general general transportation aids. We

[1:39:47] this is an area where we have done been

[1:39:49] able to uh get some decent increases in

[1:39:52] uh and that's a factor of uh this

[1:39:55] program really relies on you need to

[1:39:58] help yourself before we will help you

[1:40:01] sort of thing. Uh and so what has

[1:40:04] happened over the last few years, uh

[1:40:06] certainly since 2019, 2010 or 2020, the

[1:40:10] village has been doing a lot more street

[1:40:12] work, uh a lot more major street work,

[1:40:14] always doing at least one or two major

[1:40:16] street reconstruction projects every

[1:40:18] year. That is a factor that plays into

[1:40:21] how much general transportation aids you

[1:40:23] get. So if your amount of money that

[1:40:25] you're spending on this work is going

[1:40:27] up, you have a good chance of getting

[1:40:29] higher calculation of general

[1:40:31] transportation aids in the following

[1:40:32] year. And if you stop investing in your

[1:40:34] infrastructure, this amount starts to

[1:40:36] slowly creep down. Um so it's a good uh

[1:40:41] suggestion to always do at least one

[1:40:43] major street reconstruction project a

[1:40:45] year. it nets you a little bit of

[1:40:47] operational uh revenue from [snorts]

[1:40:50] this side of things um to the tune of

[1:40:53] about 40,000 more for 2027.

[1:40:59] Uh the last thing um I'll kind of cover

[1:41:02] here from this sort of 30,000 foot view

[1:41:04] is investment income.

[1:41:07] So, uh, this table here shows, uh, what

[1:41:11] we've been able to get from investment

[1:41:13] income over the last, uh, 10 years or

[1:41:16] so, 10, 15 years. And, uh, this

[1:41:20] obviously es and flows by what our

[1:41:23] interest rates are in the greater

[1:41:25] economy. And you can see that uh, about

[1:41:29] a decade ago, there wasn't very good

[1:41:31] interest rates. Uh, there were very low

[1:41:32] interest rates. And you can see that we

[1:41:34] have not we didn't were not making uh

[1:41:36] hard nearly any investment income back

[1:41:38] at that time. Last few years it's been a

[1:41:41] different story. And you can see the

[1:41:42] amount of revenue that's been generated

[1:41:45] uh over those last couple of years. Uh

[1:41:48] this is a little bit of a tricky area

[1:41:50] for you to rely on as a revenue source

[1:41:52] for operating because operating is a

[1:41:55] cost that happens every year and if you

[1:41:57] rely on it and it doesn't happen, you're

[1:41:59] going to have a deficit. Um and so uh

[1:42:04] last year we increased the amount of

[1:42:07] revenue that we rely on for paying for

[1:42:09] operating expenses to 170,000.

[1:42:13] Uh it looks like that's going to be

[1:42:15] okay. We were at 187,000 recently. So

[1:42:19] we're going to come in assuredly above

[1:42:21] that 170 and we have as part [snorts] of

[1:42:24] this proposed budget kept that 170,000

[1:42:28] the same this year. So we did not need

[1:42:29] to rely on any more uh generation of

[1:42:33] investment income but no less either. Um

[1:42:38] and if there's a major economic downturn

[1:42:42] um you can see that that can dry up

[1:42:44] really quickly. Uh and so that is

[1:42:46] something a risk that you need to think

[1:42:49] about and uh consider.

[1:42:53] Um

[1:42:55] last thing uh on just the overall budget

[1:42:59] I have a little bit on a little bit more

[1:43:02] on the sort of organizational capacity

[1:43:04] discussion that we just talked about

[1:43:05] with departments and it's a a

[1:43:08] conversation that's been belabored if

[1:43:10] you've been on the board for the last

[1:43:12] couple of years and obviously why it um

[1:43:15] we went to referendum uh last year only

[1:43:18] 18 months ago um

[1:43:22] but uh so I have some conversations on

[1:43:24] that and and and where that is. Um but

[1:43:26] one thing I wanted to just point out was

[1:43:28] the 2028 budget outlook. So with this

[1:43:32] budget, we are funding these position

[1:43:35] these new positions for half the year in

[1:43:36] order to balance the budget. In 2028,

[1:43:40] you can almost do virtually a copy and

[1:43:42] paste of this budget for 2028 because

[1:43:44] we're going to have to annualize those

[1:43:46] decisions. So, if there's only six

[1:43:48] months of funding for the HR director

[1:43:50] position in 27, we're going to need 12

[1:43:53] months in 2028. So, we're going to have

[1:43:54] to come up with that funding in 2028. I

[1:43:57] think that's reasonable. I think we'll

[1:44:00] have

[1:44:01] roughly the same generation of revenue

[1:44:04] that we have this year that we can apply

[1:44:06] to in 2028 as well.

[1:44:09] Um, so I but I just want everybody to be

[1:44:12] with the understanding departments,

[1:44:14] elected officials, public as well that

[1:44:18] if you're thinking that something

[1:44:20] interesting or special is going to

[1:44:22] happen in the 2028 budget, I would say

[1:44:24] you're very wrong. [laughter]

[1:44:26] Um, it is probably going to be the same

[1:44:29] budget that we had this year, but just

[1:44:32] making sure that the priorities we put

[1:44:33] into 2027 can be funded completely in

[1:44:37] 2028. The only thing the only suggestion

[1:44:40] that I would have um is that if we do

[1:44:45] have some sufficient capacity and

[1:44:47] there's a few factors that might play

[1:44:49] into that one is the storm water utility

[1:44:52] if that is something that we end up

[1:44:53] moving ahead with that will have some

[1:44:56] additional revenue generation qualities

[1:44:58] about it. Um the other factor is if we

[1:45:02] can keep up with our uh new construction

[1:45:06] um which that is slowing down a little

[1:45:09] bit. Um and I would expect a little bit

[1:45:11] more of a slower year. Um

[1:45:15] so if if there is capacity there um if

[1:45:20] for 2028 I would suggest if we're adding

[1:45:22] a position

[1:45:24] um I would suggest we add it in

[1:45:26] community development. Um it is uh it is

[1:45:30] the most thinly staffed department that

[1:45:32] we have. Uh there's virtually only one

[1:45:35] person who is doing planning and

[1:45:36] economic development. Uh and that person

[1:45:39] is responsible for tens if not hundreds

[1:45:41] of millions of dollars of potential uh

[1:45:44] investment in the community, the face of

[1:45:46] the community. Um and if she decided to

[1:45:49] hang it up, we would be in uh in

[1:45:52] trouble. I would be in trouble because I

[1:45:53] would have to do her job for a little

[1:45:55] while. Um so uh we are to the point

[1:45:59] where um we need some help there. Um we

[1:46:03] desperately need some help there in

[1:46:05] terms of risk management. That is one

[1:46:07] that's starting to to flash red for me

[1:46:10] from at an organizational level.

[1:46:14] Um but that remains to be seen um if we

[1:46:17] even have the ability to even fund

[1:46:19] another position in 2028.

[1:46:21] Um and one thing I want to just note on

[1:46:24] the storm water utility in particular.

[1:46:26] So we talk about that as a source of

[1:46:28] revenue.

[1:46:30] So this year in the budget we have in uh

[1:46:32] in the budget to fund the study of the

[1:46:35] creation of that and to set it up. Uh so

[1:46:39] at some point probably this time next

[1:46:41] year we will come to you with a product

[1:46:44] that says here is what we're talking

[1:46:46] here's what we have. This is a storm

[1:46:47] water utility. Do you want to approve it

[1:46:49] or not approve it? And if you approve

[1:46:52] it, what that will do is it will create

[1:46:54] a new charge on utility bills. So, it's

[1:46:57] going to generate new revenue by adding

[1:47:00] a charge to people's utility bills. So,

[1:47:03] that is a political question that you

[1:47:05] will have to answer. So, when you're

[1:47:07] looking at some of these things, uh

[1:47:09] you're like, you might be thinking, wow,

[1:47:12] we need to do something, right? There's

[1:47:13] a lot of challenges here. We need to

[1:47:15] find some money. here is one of those

[1:47:18] options that might sound good, but then

[1:47:20] when you're faced with having to approve

[1:47:22] a new charge on a utility bill, you

[1:47:25] might hear that people feel differently.

[1:47:28] And so I just want to tee that up as

[1:47:31] your advisor that that is a future that

[1:47:33] could be yours to contend with.

[1:47:36] >> It might also be interesting if we have

[1:47:37] some bad storm water management issues

[1:47:40] as that's being implemented.

[1:47:41] >> Yes. And and that's it's not not just a

[1:47:44] financial choice, but it there's no

[1:47:47] doubt that a storm utility which would

[1:47:49] be better funded would have operational

[1:47:52] consequences that would improve

[1:47:55] >> um that. So there's a whole host of

[1:47:58] policym decisions and trade-offs that

[1:48:01] play into that. But from a purely

[1:48:03] financial perspective, that is will be a

[1:48:06] consequential choice that um will be

[1:48:09] posed to all of you.

[1:48:12] Um, [clears throat]

[1:48:14] capital and debt. We've covered that a

[1:48:16] ton. All that's in the budget right now

[1:48:19] as far as 2027 is taking what was in the

[1:48:23] 2027 capital plan and moving that into

[1:48:26] our actual budget. Um, so I know that

[1:48:29] we've seen this list of things uh over

[1:48:32] the last two months. You've obviously

[1:48:34] seen this tiny

[1:48:36] fonted document a ton of times. All

[1:48:40] that's being carried forward into the

[1:48:43] actual budget is this column here of

[1:48:45] 2027.

[1:48:47] We have a variety of different funds

[1:48:48] that we account for capital. Um I've

[1:48:51] listed them all here and explained them

[1:48:52] all here. And then you have the actual

[1:48:55] line item budgets that you can look at.

[1:48:59] Um, and I will just say, um, when you're

[1:49:02] looking at these 20 2027 department head

[1:49:05] budget, 2027 admin budget, 2027 fiscal

[1:49:07] year adopt budget, they're all the same.

[1:49:10] They're they just get plugged in and

[1:49:11] they're all the same. So, when you're

[1:49:12] looking at them, um, you know, you can

[1:49:15] see the 2025 prior year actual, that's

[1:49:18] the actual audited 2026 current year

[1:49:20] budget. That was the budget that was

[1:49:22] adopted. Current year actual is what

[1:49:24] we've spent. Projected is our guess at

[1:49:26] where it might end up at the end of the

[1:49:27] year. And then you can just factor that

[1:49:30] any three of these columns is what's

[1:49:32] being proposed as the draft budget

[1:49:36] [clears throat]

[1:49:36] and just for um

[1:49:40] you know just to sort of I guess show

[1:49:44] what uh this sort of looks like from as

[1:49:47] it translates over

[1:49:49] um I'll take an example here.

[1:49:53] We got

[1:49:55] camp civic campus master civic campus

[1:49:58] plan projects capital fund that shows

[1:50:00] where our uh funding for this new senior

[1:50:04] center project is going to be. Um so you

[1:50:06] can see this is obviously very tiny but

[1:50:09] loan proceeds this is what we expect to

[1:50:11] borrow. This is on the revenue side and

[1:50:13] then on the the expenditure side um you

[1:50:17] know we have a dollar amount for what we

[1:50:19] expect to expend for that project. So,

[1:50:21] it's just it's translating all those

[1:50:23] things from the capital plan into an

[1:50:24] actual functional um operational budget,

[1:50:29] so to speak. Debt service, uh we covered

[1:50:32] that. As far as the 2027 budget goes, um

[1:50:36] these are payments that are due in 2027.

[1:50:40] There are they've already happened. We

[1:50:42] have to pay those. We don't really have

[1:50:44] an option not to pay those, but this is

[1:50:46] showing what that looks like. And then I

[1:50:49] also have sort of where we've talked

[1:50:52] about the debt service going over the

[1:50:53] next 10 years.

[1:50:56] And then general fund, this is the main

[1:50:58] fund, the main operating fund of the

[1:51:00] village. I will close it out here and

[1:51:03] just cover uh a couple things. I have

[1:51:07] some narrative about what all the

[1:51:09] different sections are, how they came to

[1:51:12] be, why they are, description of those

[1:51:16] things,

[1:51:17] and then the actual line item budgets

[1:51:19] are in there. And so you can see the

[1:51:21] revenues, taxes, general property taxes

[1:51:24] for the village, there's that general

[1:51:26] property tax number that comes from that

[1:51:28] property tax levy limit worksheet

[1:51:30] translating down into the actual budget.

[1:51:33] your governmental revenues, your shared

[1:51:35] revenues. That's where that's contained

[1:51:36] right there. License permits, fines,

[1:51:40] public charges, and then it segus into

[1:51:44] the actual expenditure side.

[1:51:46] Um, and you can see your general

[1:51:48] government, and that proceeds from

[1:51:49] there. One thing I'll point out, and

[1:51:52] this will be the last thing I will say

[1:51:54] hopefully,

[1:51:56] um, is

[1:51:59] look at the makeup of these budget

[1:52:02] funds. Uh

[1:52:04] so you will either see something that

[1:52:08] looks like

[1:52:10] use a good example here.

[1:52:16] Let's use a smaller one. So village

[1:52:18] hall. This is the budget to pay for the

[1:52:21] cost of operating the village hall. And

[1:52:25] you'll see line items

[1:52:28] right here that are related to salaries

[1:52:31] and employee benefit or fringe costs. So

[1:52:35] that is that 70% of the budget. When you

[1:52:37] look through all of it, 70% of the

[1:52:39] budget is going to be in those line

[1:52:41] items across all the different funds.

[1:52:44] And then the rest of these funds

[1:52:47] are other operating costs, non-personnel

[1:52:50] operating costs. So for the village

[1:52:51] hall, what is that? that is we got to

[1:52:53] pay our electric bill. We got to pay our

[1:52:55] water and sewer bill. There's going to

[1:52:56] be some repair and maintenance costs.

[1:52:59] There's going to be property insurance

[1:53:00] that we have to pay. There's going to be

[1:53:02] supplies that we have to pay. And so

[1:53:05] you'll see a lot of budgets that look

[1:53:07] like that, right? So here's police

[1:53:10] similar thing, right? There's personnel

[1:53:13] line items and then there's the actual

[1:53:14] operating budget.

[1:53:17] And then there is other line item. There

[1:53:19] are other funds. So like the assessor

[1:53:22] for example where it's a contracted

[1:53:25] service. So you don't see those line

[1:53:27] items. You're seeing professional

[1:53:28] services or other contractual services.

[1:53:31] That's the cost to pay for the assessor

[1:53:33] this upcoming year that we have

[1:53:35] contracted.

[1:53:36] So when you put those personnel costs

[1:53:39] and those contracted costs together

[1:53:42] that's like 85% of our entire budget. 85

[1:53:45] high 80% of our budget. And then when it

[1:53:48] comes down to those operating expenses,

[1:53:50] which is paying utility, paying fuel,

[1:53:53] paying property insurance, that is a

[1:53:56] pretty small margin of our budget. And

[1:54:00] so when people ask, well, isn't there

[1:54:02] any way we place we can save money?

[1:54:05] You can't really do that without

[1:54:07] something with employees, right? Or or

[1:54:10] closing a facility for a period of time

[1:54:14] to lower costs somewhere. So if you're

[1:54:17] talking about finding a way to save,

[1:54:19] you're talking about affecting

[1:54:21] employees, which in turns affect what

[1:54:24] services you provide. Um, and so as I

[1:54:27] mentioned before, when we talk about

[1:54:29] these eras of levy limits and shared

[1:54:32] revenue uh being depressed,

[1:54:35] um, we have been through the era of

[1:54:40] controlling costs. We have been through

[1:54:42] the era of trying to find easy sources

[1:54:45] of revenue. We are now in the era of

[1:54:48] referendum harder sources of revenue um

[1:54:52] or uh reducing reducing services and and

[1:54:57] reassigning. Right? So if there's a more

[1:54:59] of a priority for one service, you're

[1:55:02] not necessarily saving money. You're

[1:55:03] basically taking it from one department

[1:55:05] and you're giving it to another

[1:55:06] department depending on whatever your

[1:55:08] priority might be.

[1:55:10] So, that's where I'll leave it. And the

[1:55:13] next meeting, we'll have an updated

[1:55:14] version and then we'll talk about the

[1:55:16] special revenue funds and utilities and

[1:55:20] tax increment districts.

[1:55:22] >> Questions?

[1:55:24] On Tim?

[1:55:25] >> I saw Fitchburg is considering a

[1:55:27] forestry fund as an addition to their

[1:55:29] utility bill. Have we looked at that at

[1:55:31] all? We know anything about it?

[1:55:32] >> Yes. Um we've talked about that a little

[1:55:35] bit and

[1:55:38] I think in the order of thinking at

[1:55:40] least for staff's part um the storm

[1:55:43] water utility would probably be the

[1:55:45] first thing that we would recommend and

[1:55:48] that is because it is a bit easier to

[1:55:52] sort of contemplate in terms of

[1:55:54] charging. It's a more wellestablished

[1:55:56] revenue that a lot of communities have.

[1:55:58] We're one of the few cities and villages

[1:56:00] that don't have a city uh stormware

[1:56:02] utility in Dane County. So that's we're

[1:56:05] kind of pulling on one of those.

[1:56:08] I I understand that and Lauren and I

[1:56:10] have talked about this a little bit.

[1:56:12] There are some communities who have

[1:56:13] pulled sort of their forestry function

[1:56:15] into their storm water utility. Um

[1:56:18] that's a sort of an odd stretch to me.

[1:56:21] Um, but

[1:56:23] apparently it's it's working and maybe

[1:56:26] that's something we want to consider as

[1:56:27] part of exploration of the storm water

[1:56:29] utility. Um, but the forestry might be

[1:56:32] something that we would maybe advise on

[1:56:35] after storm water utility if we don't

[1:56:37] decided to try to put it into our storm

[1:56:40] water utility. So there's u a couple of

[1:56:44] revenue sources that are are left. Store

[1:56:48] utility is probably the lowest hanging

[1:56:50] fruit. Forestry is one I didn't hear as

[1:56:53] much talked about uh in the past, but

[1:56:56] now it's becoming a little bit more

[1:56:58] common. City of Madison has one. Um and

[1:57:01] so now people are starting to really

[1:57:02] look at that one. That one gets a little

[1:57:04] weird because how do you charge it? Um

[1:57:07] and linear footage of frontage um is

[1:57:12] [clears throat] a factor and there's all

[1:57:13] sorts of other factors. And then you

[1:57:15] need to be careful of not making it look

[1:57:17] like a tax uh because the courts don't

[1:57:21] like that.

[1:57:22] >> Yeah. I think what Fitchburg's proposing

[1:57:24] is just a flat number on your utility

[1:57:26] bill based on single family

[1:57:27] [clears throat] or

[1:57:29] >> Yep.

[1:57:29] >> multi family.

[1:57:30] >> It would mirror probably our street

[1:57:32] light charge a little bit.

[1:57:35] >> Anybody else?

[1:57:38] >> Rick,

[1:57:39] >> um I just want to say thanks for uh

[1:57:42] putting together the budget again. uh

[1:57:45] really uh detailed um have a lot of

[1:57:48] information that I'm trying to still

[1:57:49] absorb, but do appreciate the fact that

[1:57:52] you kind of figure uh explain more about

[1:57:55] the 2.5% number versus doing a straight

[1:57:58] up um increase for employees,

[1:58:02] 70% of uh the budget, yes, 85% of the

[1:58:06] budget, yes, this is a service budget,

[1:58:08] like you said. I think I want that

[1:58:11] number to be that percentage. It just

[1:58:13] goes to show again how bare bones we are

[1:58:16] with overhead so to speak as an

[1:58:18] organization and I can appreciate that

[1:58:21] and that we're at our limits. I will say

[1:58:23] that with all the discussion you were

[1:58:25] having about uh the HR director position

[1:58:28] and waiting until the uh July, I would

[1:58:33] really like to see if we could find a

[1:58:35] way to um bring that person in sooner if

[1:58:38] possible, April 1 only in that there's a

[1:58:42] lot of evidence that you're bringing up

[1:58:44] that that could be actually cost

[1:58:46] effective in terms of you know some some

[1:58:50] opportunity that we might have for that

[1:58:52] person to be able to uh spend more time

[1:58:56] getting insight with what's going on

[1:58:58] right now. And we were talking about

[1:59:00] doing a an employee survey. You can see

[1:59:02] how valuable these check-in these annual

[1:59:04] check-ins are being able to get that

[1:59:06] started sooner so that it can help

[1:59:08] inform the 28 budget potentially

[1:59:11] especially um also just being able to

[1:59:13] potentially give you more time to think

[1:59:15] about that community development and

[1:59:17] that position coming forward. So that's

[1:59:19] the main thing I wanted to mention is

[1:59:21] just to consider moving that forward.

[1:59:23] Okay, Tom,

[1:59:25] >> I just

[1:59:27] my my general thoughts followed along the lines of what Rick was talking

[1:59:31] about. If we can find a way to pull that

[1:59:34] HR position even forward a couple

[1:59:37] months, it seemed that was one of the

[1:59:39] areas and one of the identifiers for u

[1:59:42] relieving some of the pressure and the difficulties that our staff was fa

[1:59:46] facing. I know I've talked with you even

[1:59:49] in I I noticed that a village

[1:59:51] administrator wasn't one of the lines on

[1:59:53] the the stress levels on there. Um, but

[1:59:57] I guess having worked with on a couple

[1:59:59] of new hires this year and uh watching

[2:00:03] that process and watching what people go

[2:00:05] through in relationship to just

[2:00:08] onboarding somebody and bringing them in

[2:00:10] and all of that. I mean, it's a huge drain on and I think one of your favorite expressions that we have a

[2:00:18] lot of people who are doing that job

[2:00:19] right now, but it's their tertiary job.

[2:00:21] It's the last thing on the list that

[2:00:23] they're going to do today and it

[2:00:26] Can you put it on the last list? Yeah,

[2:00:28] we're getting some of that done, but

[2:00:30] it's probably not being done

[2:00:33] as well as it could be. And I guess I

[2:00:35] would I would lean towards

[2:00:38] even just even if it's just a few months

[2:00:40] seeing how we could and again, this is

[2:00:43] on a wish list kind of basis. I

[2:00:44] understand the realities that we're

[2:00:46] dealing with here, but uh um and I guess

[2:00:49] then then it starts looking forward

[2:00:51] where what are the other stress areas?

[2:00:53] and then you know looking at the next

[2:00:56] year where where and where how can we

[2:00:58] you know time those things in too. So

[2:01:01] [clears throat] those are at least my

[2:01:02] thoughts right now.

[2:01:06] » Um I echo what everyone else is saying.

[2:01:09] I do agree I pushed on the uh worksheets

[2:01:13] before we did this. They are very

[2:01:15] valuable. I'm glad that you um continued

[2:01:18] that. I think that was good insight. Um,

[2:01:20] I also just wanted to touch on some good

[2:01:23] great news in my mind. And part of this

[2:01:26] comes from my um, time on the library

[2:01:29] board. And I don't we don't need to

[2:01:31] belabor this tonight, but I do think

[2:01:33] that maybe we should touch on it in the

[2:01:34] next meeting just so that the board is

[2:01:36] aware that um the libraries budget is

[2:01:39] seeing a large increase in the

[2:01:41] contributions from the counties um

[2:01:45] because of the usage that we're seeing

[2:01:47] and and the growth that we've had in the

[2:01:50] building and the um circulation. And um

[2:01:54] it's a huge testament to um Jennifer and

[2:01:58] how she's managing that budget. Um she's

[2:02:02] um I think using that increase really

[2:02:04] responsively and um also like following

[2:02:08] the guidelines of what the board had set

[2:02:11] um at the beginning of this this budget

[2:02:13] cycle. Um, so again, we don't need to be

[2:02:15] labored and get into it, but I do think

[2:02:16] that the board should know that the

[2:02:18] library is is seeing a great increase

[2:02:21] and um, you know, with growth comes some

[2:02:24] of that benefit. So, we appreciate that

[2:02:28] >> else.

[2:02:31] All right. Thank you, Martin. [sighs]

[2:02:33] Moving on.

[2:02:35] Uh, item 10, reports of village

[2:02:38] officers, department heads, and

[2:02:40] consultants. This is for information

[2:02:41] only. In your packet, village

[2:02:44] administrator report.

[2:02:48] Uh the southern southern dank county

[2:02:50] shared fire EMS study update dated

[2:02:54] September 18th

[2:02:57] and the Oregon Police Department 2025

[2:03:00] annual report. Anything to add, Chief?

[2:03:02] >> Yeah, if you don't mind.

[2:03:03] >> Sure.

[2:03:06] >> I just want to highlight a few things in

[2:03:08] 2025. That was uh year of growth is best

[2:03:11] if I could sum it up. Um sorry I know

[2:03:15] report it's long. I I wish it could be

[2:03:17] one to two pages but it serves a couple

[2:03:19] different purposes. Uh number one is to

[2:03:22] keep obviously all of you informed of

[2:03:23] how our year went uh where we were where

[2:03:26] we're headed. Uh but it serves as

[2:03:29] actually a great uh document as part of

[2:03:31] our accreditation status. Our assessors

[2:03:33] come in and they look at this very

[2:03:34] closely. Um, we have found it's actually

[2:03:37] a really strong recruitment tool. Uh,

[2:03:39] we're looking for people who are serious

[2:03:41] about serving in our community and we

[2:03:43] find that the ones that truly are

[2:03:45] serious have read this from cover to

[2:03:47] cover for at least three to five years.

[2:03:50] So, it's been a great recruitment tool.

[2:03:53] Normally, we just get, hey, we watched a

[2:03:54] great recruitment video, but then all of

[2:03:56] a sudden, when you hear, I was looking

[2:03:58] through your annual report, too, and I,

[2:03:59] you know, they'll actually cite certain

[2:04:00] things. That's when we know we have

[2:04:02] somebody that's actually doing their

[2:04:03] homework. Um,

[2:04:06] it also just informs the community. Um,

[2:04:09] we have it on display in our lobby.

[2:04:11] People come in and they'll be waiting

[2:04:12] for an officer. They can read this while

[2:04:14] they're waiting to come learn more about

[2:04:16] us if they want. Um, I'll just quickly

[2:04:20] go over some of these things. Uh, the

[2:04:21] achievements we had in 2025, we did get

[2:04:24] fully accredited uh through WY Egg. Uh,

[2:04:28] that's a like they come in and they came

[2:04:31] in in 2025. They looked at all of our

[2:04:33] policies to make sure they were to a

[2:04:35] standard that um meets WY's

[2:04:37] requirements, but then also for those

[2:04:40] years of 2022 through 2025, we actually

[2:04:43] have to show physical proof that we are

[2:04:45] following those policies each year. Um

[2:04:49] the two officer minimum obviously

[2:04:51] remains a top priority for us. It's

[2:04:52] ongoing. Um we've increased our efforts

[2:04:56] for recruitment. We've made some

[2:04:57] tremendous progress and it's still

[2:05:00] ongoing.

[2:05:02] uh the self-defense program. Um we

[2:05:05] anticipated it would happen in 2026.

[2:05:08] 2025 was just a a big development year

[2:05:10] for us. So um you'll see later in uh

[2:05:15] well we were able to accomplish in 26 or

[2:05:17] goal set. We've already had our first

[2:05:19] class. It was received very well. We got

[2:05:21] a lot of compliments. Um and we're

[2:05:23] trying to get one more class on the

[2:05:24] books before the end of the year.

[2:05:27] um the implementation of the UTV program

[2:05:30] that has turned out to be far more

[2:05:33] successful than I thought it would be.

[2:05:36] Uh we're able to get out on the walking

[2:05:37] paths and bike paths more often. People

[2:05:40] are appreciating it, feel a little safer

[2:05:42] every once in a while being an officer

[2:05:44] riding around. Um we want people out on

[2:05:47] those paths feeling safe using them. Uh

[2:05:49] but secondly, and I've even used it

[2:05:51] myself uh for these ebike issues, once

[2:05:55] the kids know we're out there on that uh UTV and we can get into

[2:05:59] different tighter areas, they tend to

[2:06:01] behave a little bit more and we have

[2:06:03] some conversations even with ones that

[2:06:04] are uh behaving well on the ebikes, we

[2:06:08] stop and compliment them. Um but also

[2:06:10] with the UTV program, we use that to

[2:06:12] respond to any sort of wooded area. An

[2:06:15] example would be one of our schools.

[2:06:17] Many of our schools are have some sort

[2:06:19] of wooded area next to them. Uh we can

[2:06:22] get into that and make sure there's no

[2:06:23] threat in those areas in a matter of

[2:06:25] seconds versus a squad and getting out

[2:06:27] on foot. Uh equipping squads with the

[2:06:30] rifle rated ballistic shields. Uh that's

[2:06:33] been successfully completed and we've

[2:06:35] upgraded all of our portable radios. Uh

[2:06:38] the goals for 2026, uh staff retention

[2:06:41] top priority. Uh we've we've done a lot

[2:06:44] of work in 2025 to get fully staffed. We

[2:06:46] want to make sure we stay there. We have

[2:06:47] good people. We want to keep them uh

[2:06:50] workforce development with that younger

[2:06:52] staff. They need to be developed. Uh so

[2:06:55] we've been working really hard to get

[2:06:57] more training and really work more as a

[2:07:00] team through the training. So we've been

[2:07:01] doing a lot of in-house training.

[2:07:04] Um I already talked about the women's

[2:07:06] self-defense and then the school

[2:07:08] resource officer agreement. Uh we're

[2:07:10] still in talks with the school, so

[2:07:12] that's an ongoing project.

[2:07:15] Um, new hires is an area I want to focus

[2:07:17] on quite a bit. Uh, we hired five people

[2:07:20] in 2025.

[2:07:22] Um, that's a lot. Uh, I can't put five

[2:07:26] officers in a squad with one field

[2:07:29] training officer.

[2:07:30] >> So, it's [clears throat] like we got to

[2:07:31] divide and conquer. Um, so just to give

[2:07:33] you an idea, every single one of those

[2:07:36] officers had to go through four and a

[2:07:37] half months of uh the police academy.

[2:07:41] Um,

[2:07:44] with that said, that's five spots that

[2:07:47] we got to wait and cover until we can

[2:07:49] get them ready to go. The same with

[2:07:52] three months for field training. So, it

[2:07:54] really uh drained our instructors, our

[2:07:58] FTO's, and if if that question is still

[2:08:01] out there, why in the world was the

[2:08:02] chief the SRO? That's one of the

[2:08:04] reasons. Um, I freed up all my FTO's, my

[2:08:07] instructors to get directly to these new

[2:08:10] hires so we can get them up and

[2:08:11] onboarded as soon as possible. Um,

[2:08:14] they've all been fantastic. They've

[2:08:17] they're off and running and they're

[2:08:18] doing great. So, really happy to have

[2:08:20] them join the team. Um, as I said, some

[2:08:23] of us had some of the staff really had

[2:08:25] to step up into new roles. So, in 2025,

[2:08:28] we pushed uh a lot of our staff into

[2:08:31] some more added roles. Uh, so Officer

[2:08:35] Joel CR, he was our former school

[2:08:36] resource officer. He was assigned

[2:08:38] detective. He's doing a phenomenal job.

[2:08:40] Uh, Ted Gilbertson, he's one of our main

[2:08:42] instructors in 2025. He's already an

[2:08:45] instructor in I think four or five other

[2:08:46] disciplines, but we added uh taser

[2:08:49] instructor and then a ballistic shield

[2:08:51] instructor. So, the ballistic shield is

[2:08:54] obviously the the large shield that we

[2:08:56] use to keep ourselves safe. Um there's a

[2:08:59] lot of training that goes into how an op

[2:09:01] an officer approaches using that while

[2:09:03] still being able to use force when

[2:09:04] necessary or deescalate.

[2:09:07] Uh officer Anheimer um he is become one

[2:09:10] of our AR-15 armor. So every year we do

[2:09:13] a full inspection of every single uh

[2:09:15] firearm including our AR rifles to make

[2:09:18] sure they're properly functioning and

[2:09:20] well maintained. Um,

[2:09:23] Detective Ty and Officer Anheimer uh

[2:09:27] became drone operators. So, I believe

[2:09:29] now we have six drone operators. Uh,

[2:09:32] Sergeant Shuy took on an assignment

[2:09:34] nobody ever wants, and that's the

[2:09:35] defense and arrest tactics instructor.

[2:09:38] Uh, he has to put on the big padded

[2:09:41] outfit and get beat up by a bunch of

[2:09:43] cops. So, we make sure we're fully

[2:09:45] trained and ready to take on combative

[2:09:46] people. Um, he was willing to do it. He

[2:09:49] was the only one and I'm very grateful

[2:09:51] for it. He also added on to his resume

[2:09:54] here uh field training officer. So he's

[2:09:56] been uh helping out with that as well.

[2:09:59] Uh we needed another firearms

[2:10:00] instructor. Uh so I I signed up for

[2:10:03] that. And then nobody really wants to be

[2:10:05] the law enforcement physical fitness

[2:10:07] assessor.

[2:10:09] So I took that one on. Um that's where

[2:10:11] before anyone can go through the

[2:10:13] academy, they have to pass a physical

[2:10:15] fitness test. And so you have to go

[2:10:18] through a training, learn the system,

[2:10:20] know it inside and out, and then be able

[2:10:21] to certify those that either pass or

[2:10:23] fail the test. So I'm that person now.

[2:10:28] Um, so other things we've added on, uh,

[2:10:31] just real quick, calls for service, we

[2:10:33] had 9,388.

[2:10:35] That's it. Slightly dropped from prior

[2:10:37] years. Reason being, we were five

[2:10:39] officers down trying to climb back up

[2:10:41] the hill. Um that decline is as you

[2:10:44] heard from the operational study, you

[2:10:47] don't have officers out there looking

[2:10:48] for traffic. Those numbers start to

[2:10:49] drop. They've increased now. Um out of

[2:10:53] those calls for service though, we only

[2:10:55] had two citizen complaints received and

[2:10:58] both were exonerated. And we have a

[2:11:00] policy. We take every complaint

[2:11:01] seriously, fully document it, look into

[2:11:04] it, investigate it, and it not only is

[2:11:06] investigated by the lieutenant, but then

[2:11:08] he turns all facts over to me and I do a

[2:11:10] second review of everything. uh the

[2:11:12] definitions of uh how what the outcome

[2:11:15] is for each of these complaints is in

[2:11:17] there, but for exonerated, it's

[2:11:19] investigation indicated the incident

[2:11:20] occurred but was justified, lawful, and

[2:11:22] proper under circumstances.

[2:11:25] Um use of force incidents, again, out of

[2:11:28] those 9,388

[2:11:30] calls for service, we only had 20 use of

[2:11:33] force incidents.

[2:11:34] Um, and then there's a graph on that

[2:11:37] page, but 50% of those were escort

[2:11:42] compliance holds, and that's where we

[2:11:43] have to still while standing mostly. We

[2:11:46] put their hands behind their back to get

[2:11:47] them into handcuffs because they're

[2:11:49] [snorts] not cooperating. Um, there was

[2:11:53] uh obviously no firearms discharged at a

[2:11:56] person. Uh,

[2:11:58] I believe we had one taser deployment.

[2:12:03] Um,

[2:12:05] and that was about it. Uh, pretty

[2:12:07] standard from year to year. Um, in here,

[2:12:12] most people aren't interested in this

[2:12:13] stuff, but we added in, uh, is our

[2:12:17] Wisconsin uniform crime reporting

[2:12:18] numbers, uh, that we're required to

[2:12:20] report. And then, uh, people like to

[2:12:23] know what our training looks like. Uh,

[2:12:25] we take our training very seriously. Uh

[2:12:27] we appreciate the investment the village

[2:12:29] gives in our officers uh sending them to

[2:12:32] great training. So there's just some

[2:12:34] photos in there of that.

[2:12:37] Uh I tried to squeeze it all in one page

[2:12:39] for drone K9 and SRO. Gives you an idea

[2:12:43] of the numbers for the K9 I'm sorry the

[2:12:46] SRO

[2:12:48] assignment. Um the K9 assignment is

[2:12:52] quite active. 61 deployments and then it

[2:12:54] breaks it down with arrests, people

[2:12:56] found. He found Archie found 10 people

[2:13:00] uh whether they were running from law

[2:13:01] enforcement, lost or confused. Um and

[2:13:06] then also our drone unit. Um yeah.

[2:13:10] >> Um our drone unit. Just showing you how

[2:13:12] often we're using that. Again, that's

[2:13:14] another uh investment we're we're

[2:13:16] grateful village um put into this

[2:13:19] because it has been monumental. You

[2:13:22] know, we're a smaller department.

[2:13:23] Resources are limited and being able to

[2:13:26] get a drone up in the air and give us so

[2:13:27] much information so quickly covering

[2:13:29] such a broad area, especially with the

[2:13:32] newest drone. Um number one, it's

[2:13:34] getting used. Number two, it's very

[2:13:37] successful. And number three, it's um

[2:13:39] probably got the most interest interest

[2:13:42] from all of my staff. This is something

[2:13:44] they all want to be a part of. Um they

[2:13:46] see the benefit in it and they want to

[2:13:48] um be a part of the team.

[2:13:51] Um the next one is just awards. If

[2:13:54] you're interested in knowing what awards

[2:13:56] were given out in 2025,

[2:13:59] those are there. And we're always

[2:14:00] grateful Optimus Club um recognizes one

[2:14:04] of our officers for officer of the year.

[2:14:07] Uh, and then just the last page about

[2:14:08] community engagement. Um, even when five

[2:14:11] officers down, it's not going to keep us

[2:14:13] from being engaged with our community in

[2:14:15] these positive ways. That's honestly

[2:14:17] what I think attracts many people to our

[2:14:18] department to want to work for our

[2:14:21] community. But something we're proud of

[2:14:23] in the middle, uh, the Oregon area

[2:14:25] Chamber of Commerce recognized us and

[2:14:27] gave us an award for community impact.

[2:14:29] So, very much appreciate that. Uh, happy

[2:14:33] to take any questions. [clears throat]

[2:14:34] It's hard to follow the budget

[2:14:36] conversation,

[2:14:37] [laughter]

[2:14:38] >> but happy to take any questions.

[2:14:41] >> Anyone?

[2:14:43] Okay, thank you very much, Chief.

[2:14:48] Let's see. Uh item 11, announcements and

[2:14:51] miscellaneous business. A announcements,

[2:14:53] comments, communications, upcoming

[2:14:55] meetings, and events and miscellaneous

[2:14:58] business. Uh department heads [snorts]

[2:15:03] nothing there. Okay, village board

[2:15:05] members.

[2:15:07] Uh, Lynn,

[2:15:09] >> I'm going to do it this one and the next

[2:15:11] one because two announcements is better

[2:15:13] than one. Um, trunk or treat is taking

[2:15:16] place this month on Saturday, October

[2:15:19] 31st. It's the same day as actual

[2:15:21] trick-or-treating. But if you don't want

[2:15:22] to take your kids out in the evening,

[2:15:24] take them out in the morning and call it

[2:15:25] done. Right? [laughter]

[2:15:27] >> That's what I'm going with. That's how

[2:15:28] I'm attempting.

[2:15:28] >> I don't think that's going to work.

[2:15:30] >> Um, thank you for the optimism. Um,

[2:15:33] we'll see if I can convince them. There

[2:15:35] will be a uh police department has

[2:15:37] signed up. The fire department has

[2:15:38] signed up. Um, some village uh board

[2:15:42] members have signed up as well as

[2:15:43] departments have signed up. So, um, I

[2:15:46] think the turnout will be good. Um,

[2:15:48] there is still opportunity for people to

[2:15:49] sign up um for spots. Village board or

[2:15:53] area businesses. Um, but to the general

[2:15:55] public, bring your kids 10 to noon on

[2:15:58] the 31st for trunk or treat here at the

[2:15:59] village hall.

[2:16:01] Okay, anybody else?

[2:16:05] Uh, item

[2:16:07] 11B, future agenda items. Anyone?

[2:16:11] Okay. [snorts]

[2:16:14] Uh, item 12, discussion, possible action

[2:16:16] regarding the negotiation of the school

[2:16:18] resource officer program agreement with

[2:16:21] the Oregon School District. The village

[2:16:23] board may convene in close session

[2:16:25] pursuant to Wisconsin statutes 19.851E,

[2:16:27] 851E. Deliberating or negotiating the

[2:16:31] purchasing of public properties, the

[2:16:32] investment of public funds, or

[2:16:34] conducting other specified public

[2:16:36] business whenever competitive or

[2:16:38] bargaining reasons required a close

[2:16:40] session for the purpose of deliberating

[2:16:43] and developing negoti negotiation

[2:16:45] [clears throat]

[2:16:45] strategy for the school resource officer

[2:16:49] program agreement with the Oregon school

[2:16:51] district. The village board may convene

[2:16:53] an open session for the purpose of

[2:16:54] taking action on any matter discussed in

[2:16:57] close session as necessary appropriate.

[2:17:00] The chair would entertain a motion to

[2:17:02] Ker and Higgins. This is a vocal vote.

[2:17:06] >> Higgins,

[2:17:07] >> yes.

[2:17:08] >> Vanampen, yes.

[2:17:10] >> McDaniel,

[2:17:10] >> yes.

[2:17:11] >> Marks, yes.

[2:17:12] >> And Kirker,

[2:17:12] >> yes. We are in close session. Thank you.

[2:17:19] Feel free.

Oregon Village Board Meeting (10/5/26)

Transcript