Pleasant Prairie Village Board approves 2015 budget which includes 5.87% tax increase

PLEASANT PRAIRIE (WITI) -- During a November 25th meeting, the Pleasant Prairie Village Board considered and approved the 2015 General Fund Budget. The municipal tax levy will increase by 5.87%, from $9,522,410 in 2014 to $10,081,081 in 2015.

The levy increase is in accordance with State levy limits based on growth in new construction. Additional dollars will mainly be allocated to increased road maintenance, increased hours in the Police Department, and paying down debt for the construction of a larger fire station.

Pleasant Prairie’s mill rate will change from $4.37 in 2014 to $4.42 in 2015. For a home valued at $191,600 (the median home value in the Village), the Village portion of the property tax is expected to increase by approximately $26 (3.1%) to $847. Despite the 3.1% increase in the Village portion, total property tax bills are expected to decrease by approximately 4.33%. For a median valued home in the Village, this would translate to a decrease of approximately $169 overall.

Village Administrator Mike Pollocoff explained the Village’s approach to the 2015 budget, “Given some of the experiences we’ve had in recent years related to the economy, levy limits, and weather events, a sustainable approach lone is no longer enough. It is time to draft a budget in such a way that we can modify as we go based on the challenges  we encounter in a given moment.” Pollocoff added, “We looked out several years and tried to anticipate the types of challenges or pitfalls we may face and how we can become more nimble or flexible enough to accommodate them without compromising our stability. We don’t just want to respond to challenges in the moment, we want to be resilient and nimble enough to recover from them quickly and fully.”

Large capital projects planned for 2015 include: completion of the new fire station; repurposing the former fire station into a public meeting space; and road maintenance. Information related to the 2015 budget is available at PleasantPrairieOnline.com under the Assessments & Taxes/Finance Department tab.