Edgerton council adopts 2025 budget, adds $2,236 chargeback to levy and chooses lower fire-district option

The Edgerton Common Council on Nov. 15 adopted the city's 2025 annual budget and established the 2024 property tax levy, approving a version that includes a contingency insertion of $2,236 tied to a recent taxpayer chargeback and anticipating a potential reduction from the regional fire district that would restore roughly $20,000 to the city's budget.

City staff told the council the chargeback represented an illegal tax charged to a property that the city had to refund; the state authorized recovery from all taxing jurisdictions, and the city's portion amounts to $2,236. Staff recommended adding that amount back into the levy as a contingency item so the council can account for the shortfall without reopening the budget. "That amounts to $2,236," city staff said while explaining it could be added to contingency or another line depending on council direction.

Separately, staff and council discussed a late submission from the fire district chief: the district plans to present its board with a modified budget that would reduce costs for the West Side municipalities by about $60,000 overall, which the city was told would translate to roughly $20,000 of relief for Edgerton. Council members pressed for more detail about the district's proposed changes, noting the district's intergovernmental agreement includes caps on growth and that exceeding those caps would require agreement from seven of the ten member municipalities.

Councilmembers debated options: adopt the lower-fire-district version now (in anticipation of the district's board action), or adopt the original packet resolution and rely on 2024 contingency if the district's proposal does not pass. Staff suggested both approaches were administratively feasible but emphasized timing and transparency concerns: if the district does not reduce its budget, the city would need to identify $20,000 from contingency or call a special meeting to amend the levy.

After discussion the council moved and seconded a resolution to adopt the 2025 budget using the lower fire-district option and to carry forward/adjust 2024 contingency to cover any shortfall. The motion passed on roll call.

What happens next: the city will monitor the fire district board's action (the chief indicated the proposal would go before the district board the following Wednesday). If the district does not adopt the proposed reductions, the council retains the option to fund the $20,000 gap from 2024 contingency or to reconvene for a formal amendment.