Waupaca County OKs 2025 budget

Waupaca County home and business owners could see their property tax rates drop by nearly 50 cents as a result of the proposed 2025 county budget.

The proposed budget, which is scheduled for a vote on Tuesday, Nov. 12, is funded by a $30.44 million total tax levy, which represents an increase of $557,968 (1.86%) over the amended 2024 budget, according to County Finance Director Heidi Dombrowski in a letter to Waupaca County supervisors.

Property tax rates will drop to $4.52 per $1,000 of equalized value, down from the o $5.01 mill rate for the 2024 budget.

Dombrowski noted the median home value in Waupaca County is $178,500. This means the total tax levy on a $178,500 home will drop from $893.46 in the 2024 budget to %857.43 in the 2025 budget.

Waupaca County’s total expenditures have dropped by nearly 9%, from more than $139 million in 2024 to $127 million in 2025.

Of the total tax levy, $4.25 million is for debt service.

Waupaca County has $51.2 million in outstanding debt, which represents about 7.5% of the county’s total equalized property values of $6.85 billion.

The county’s direct debt burden per capita is $988. Dombrowski told the Waupaca County Board that this amount is “$413 over target.”

In 2019, the Waupaca County Debt Management Policy “established a targeted maximum of 1.25% for direct debt burden (as a percent of equalized value), and $575 for direct debt burden per capita.”

Waupaca County plans to spend $42.85 million for capital outlay in 2025.

Of that amount, $32.48 million is for the expansion and renovations at the courthouse.

While Waupaca County’s 2024 equalized values of $6.2 billion increased by 12.6% over 2023, Dombrowski noted that “the increase for net new construction remains low at 1.189% or $296,379.”