The Village of Cross Plains voted to authorize the presale and competitive sale of $3,920,000 in general obligation promissory notes to finance multiple capital projects.

Ariana Schmidt of Ehlers, the village’s municipal adviser, presented the presale report, the proposed timetable (sale Nov. 24, closing Dec. 18) and a breakdown of planned uses. She told trustees the notes "are roughly $3,920,000 in general obligation promissory notes" and described the plan to amortize portions of the issue to match asset lives (ambulance over 5 years, village hall improvements over 20 years). She said issuing now keeps the village well under its legal general-obligation debt limit (about 25% of capacity after issuance) and that the notes would be sold competitively to underwriters.

Board discussion focused on the timing and tax-rate effects. Trustees pushed back and forth over whether to modestly increase levy-funded principal payments now to smooth next year’s anticipated debt load. Staff and the municipal adviser noted that the village’s tax-rate computation uses equalized value, which can cause small year-to-year rate shifts even as net levy dollars rise. At one point a trustee summarized the estimated taxpayer effect by saying a $300,000 home would see roughly a $34 increase under the package presented; officials agreed to provide a more detailed per-$100,000 calculation to trustees after the meeting.

After debate the board approved the resolution authorizing the sale package and directed staff to return with finer tax-impact figures during the next budget discussion. The presale resolution moves the issue to market; final sale results will be presented to the board after competitive bids are received.