Woodstock Council adopts lower millage rate, approves playground purchase and police off‑duty vendor; several other routine items pass

The mayor and council of the City of Woodstock voted on multiple budgetary and procurement actions at their Sept. 8 meeting, including adoption of a reduced property tax rate and approval of a major playground procurement and new off‑duty police processing arrangements.

Council adopted the 2025 maintenance-and-operations (M&O) millage rate at 5.065 mills and approved a 0.50‑mill levy for parks bond debt service, producing a combined proposed millage of 5.565 mills for calendar 2025. Staff said the adopted M&O rate is lower than the calculated rollback rate of 5.093 mills and is the lowest millage rate the city has seen in decades.

The council approved the purchase of playground equipment for Little River Park totaling $593,730. Councilmember Wolf explained that the city used cooperative purchasing through Aqualas Group and that the purchase price includes freight costs of $25,000; as a tax‑exempt entity the city also saves about $53,000 in taxes, producing an additional taxpayer savings of roughly $28,000 compared with a different procurement route.

The council also approved changes to the city’s off‑duty police staffing process. Staff presented a plan to move off‑duty job administration to a third‑party vendor, Off Duty Management, which would use an app (OfficerTrack) to post jobs and pay officers weekly; the change removes the city from payroll processing for those jobs and shifts workers’ compensation and certain liability coverage to the vendor. The security rate was set at $65 per hour and traffic direction at $75 per hour; the $5 per hour vehicle fee will be removed. The council approved the vendor arrangement conditioned on final city attorney review.

Separately, staff presented a reduction in fees charged to organizations that hire officers for extra duty: the proposal removed a $3 workers’ comp add‑on (now handled by the third‑party vendor) and the seldom‑used $5 vehicle charge; council approved the fee changes.

Other routine actions: council adopted the remainder of the consent agenda (items 6.1, 6.2, 6.4–6.8) and approved the minutes for the August meeting (the minutes passed 4–0 with two abstentions). Several agenda items that were informational or were deferred to future action — including tree code revisions and a zoning/rezoning path for a previously tabled CUP/variance — were discussed but not voted on.

Votes at a glance - Consent agenda (items 6.1, 6.2, 6.4–6.8): motion carried, recorded as 6–0. - Item 6.3 (Little River Park playground equipment purchase, $593,730): motion carried, recorded as 6–0; mover: Councilmember Wolf; second: Councilmember Usher. Key details: cooperative purchase via Aqualas Group; freight $25,000; tax exemption saved ~$53,000. - Item 7.1 / 8.1 (Adopt 2025 M&O millage at 5.065 mills and parks debt service millage at 0.50 mills): motion carried, recorded as 6–0; mover: Councilmember Wolf; second: Councilmember Potts (motion amended on floor to 5.065 + 0.50). - Item 7.2 (Extra duty fee changes for police): motion carried, recorded as 6–0. - Item 8.3 (Off Duty Management vendor and contract administration for off‑duty police work): motion carried 6–0, adopted contingent upon city attorney review; mover: Councilmember Usher; second: Councilmember Wolf. - Minutes (August meeting): adopted 4–0 with two abstentions (Councilmember Potts and Councilmember Usher recorded as abstaining).

Why it matters Lowering the M&O millage rate while approving continued parks debt service preserves voter‑approved parks projects while reducing the city’s tax rate. The playground procurement and the vendor change for off‑duty police affect near‑term capital spending and ongoing personnel/payroll processing and liability exposure. Council’s conditional approval of the third‑party off‑duty vendor shifts administrative and some financial responsibility off the city pending legal review.

What council said City staff summarized the tax digest and millage calculations and emphasized that adopted figures produce additional revenue capacity before property tax appeals. Council and the mayor repeatedly framed the adopted millage rate as a deliberate effort to invest in infrastructure without raising tax burdens. Councilmember Wolf explained the procurement approach and savings on the playground purchase. Interim Chief Alligood and other staff described the operational benefits of using a third‑party off‑duty management service, including more timely officer payments and vendor‑provided workers’ compensation and liability coverage.

What’s next - The council’s adopted millage rates will be finalized with the official adoption item on a subsequent agenda. The off‑duty vendor contract will return for finalization after city attorney review. Other items discussed (tree ordinance revisions, the Johnson property rezoning path, and proposed parking‑deck/EV charging regulations) will return to council for future action or follow the standard public‑notice and hearing processes.

Provenance (transcript evidence) - Consent agenda adoption — topicintro: "Motion from councilman Aik and a second from council Member Potts. Any further discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed?" (excerpt from transcript at s1777.77–1786.33) - Playground purchase (6.3) — topicintro: "this agenda item covers the playground, the purchase of the playground equipment at Little River Park to the tune of $593,730" (excerpt from transcript at s1861.33–1869.72) - Playground purchase — topfinish: "I have a motion from councilman Wolf and a second from councilman Usher... Motion carries 6 to 0 and that item is adopted." (excerpt at s1982.29–1992.77) - Millage adoption — topicintro: "This is time for the 2025 property millage rate discussion... The calculated rollback rate would be 5.093... staff would suggest maybe 5.065 mils" (excerpt at s2006.63–2151.55) - Millage adoption — topfinish: "That motion carries 6 2 0... it is now 5.065, the lowest millage rate this city has seen in well over 30 years." (excerpt at s2385.92–2403.27) - Parks debt service adoption — topicintro: "For the 2024 Parks Bond Debt Service millage rate... FY '25 millage rate was 0.454... we're computing this millage rate that we need as 0.5." (excerpt at s2197.35–2222.95) - Parks debt service — topfinish: "That motion carries 6 to 0 and is adopted and will go to continue to fund the largest parks and trails investment in this city's history." (excerpt at s2891.26–2896.66) - Off‑duty vendor and fee changes — topicintro: "They're going to not come through our payroll system but through an outside system... we're reducing the fee... $3 for workers' comp... the charge of $5 for the vehicle that's being removed." (excerpt at s2469.08–2539.27) - Off‑duty vendor — topfinish: "That motion carries 6 to 0 and is adopted... pending legal review." (excerpt at s3331.97–3339.01)