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Whitefish Bay reviews 2025 budget amid $8.8M storm-sewer collapse borrow; approves owner's-advisor contract
Summary
Trustees examined a draft 2025 budget that rose to about a 6.03% levy change after adding debt for an emergency storm-sewer collapse, debated shifting pedestrian-safety funding from levy to borrowing, and authorized an owner's-advisor contract for storm repair oversight estimated at about $122,400.
Whitefish Bay trustees spent the bulk of the Oct. 7 meeting reviewing the draft 2025 budget, debating ways to reduce levy pressure and authorizing an owner's-advisor contract to support emergency storm-sewer collapse repairs.
Staff presented an overview of the proposed 2025 budget and said that before adding next year's debt the budget was roughly a 3.96% market-basket increase; including debt related to a major storm-sewer collapse raised the projection to about 6.03%. Jamie, village finance staff, noted the village's reassessment raised assessed value by about 42.83% (to roughly $3.4 billion) and emphasized that revaluations are revenue-neutral — they change assessed values but not total municipal revenue absent levy changes.
On benefits and operating costs, Jamie said the draft assumes an 18% health-insurance increase; staff reported they do not recommend joining the state plan because first-year "pay-in" costs (about $655,000) outweigh expected savings (roughly $111,000 in the first year). Kelsey, the new village manager, told trustees she and staff are examining options and will return recommended line-item adjustments and alternatives.
Trustees discussed options to lower the levy impact. Ideas included placing certain projects on borrow instead of the levy (staff proposed adding $150,000 as a placeholder in the borrow for pedestrian/bike safety design and engineering), using Fund 44 balance or general-fund surplus to pay for a one-time server purchase (~$120,000) rather than levying, and shifting some storm-sewer costs to a storm-water fee rather than the general levy. Trustees generally favored reducing the operating levy portion for pedestrian safety while preserving a small maintenance amount (staff said they would propose $25,000 on the levy and $200,000 on borrow as a working option).
On the urgent storm repair, staff sought authorization to enter an owner's-advisor contract with Clark Dietz (owner's advisor) to assist the village with engineering oversight, cost-management services, site visits and regulatory coordination for the storm-sewer project. The contract estimate in the exhibit was $122,400 in billable hours; staff said actual billing would track hours and that the village could return to the board for additional authorization if the work exceeded the estimate. A trustee moved to approve the owner's-advisor services as presented, the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote.
The board then moved into closed session under Wis. Stat. 19.85 to discuss a cellular lease agreement and interim manager compensation, reconvened and approved the closed-session item in open session by motion. The meeting adjourned following that vote.
What happens next: staff will return a revised line-item budget with specific options (fund-balance use for the server, proposed storm-water fee adjustments, revised vehicle-replacement proposals and a refined borrow schedule) prior to the final budget publication; the owner's-advisor contract will support immediate construction oversight on the storm-sewer repairs.
