Altoona tax bills beat Eau Claire's

Thursday, December 10, 2015
Andrew Dowd | Leader-Telegram

A surprising drop in state aid to Altoona schools led to an increase in property taxes seen on bills mailed in recent days to Altoona property owners.

The school district even held back how much it could raise taxes - stopping about $700,000 short of the total property tax levy increase allowed by the state - to ease the impact on homeowners.

"We didn't levy to our max authority because we didn't want to burden the taxpayers as much as we could've," said Michael Markgren, the school district's business manager.

City leaders increased taxes for municipal services by the maximum allowed by state limits in a 2016 budget that included new spending intended to manage Altoona's growth.

City finance director Tina Nelson noted Altoona's first city planner position is budgeted for next year, along with additional hours for parks maintenance and public works temporary employees. Rising staff costs -  including 1.5 percent employee raises and an 8.5 percent increase in the city's health plan - also are part of the budget.

"The health insurance is a big one," Nelson said.

However, the city is getting more revenue in other areas, including transportation aids and building permits, she said.

Overall, the owner of a $125,000 home in Altoona will pay about $150 more on their property tax bills, mainly due to rate increases for the city, school district and Eau Claire County.

Rising taxes in Altoona have now overtaken neighboring Eau Claire for homes that are assessed at the same value. On 2016 taxes, Altoona residents in $125,000 homes will pay $135 more on their tax bill than neighboring Eau Claire, based on a Leader-Telegram analysis.

A Leader-Telegram article published in October noted that Altoona taxes were rising in recent years while neighboring Eau Claire had been fairly level.

Growth roller coaster

While Markgren expected a cut in Altoona schools' state aid, a major part of the district's funding, the 6 percent decrease confirmed in mid-October was deeper than he'd anticipated.

The state aid considers factors including a community's property values and enrollment when determining how much school districts will get. A great year for growing Altoona's tax base followed by a weak one contributed to the recent aid decrease, according to Markgren.

And although the city's River Prairie development along U.S. 53 opened the area's largest grocery store this fall near a hospital and other new buildings, he noted those are not yet part of the tax base. The development driving Altoona's growth is in a tax increment financing district, which uses taxes on new buildings to pay for the infrastructure the city installed to attract developers.

"People see all the construction and must think we're all up, but that's in the TID," Markgren said.

River Prairie is expected to bring significant tax relief around 2022 when the buildings there go onto the regular tax roll.

In the meantime, Markgren said state aids will rebound next year for the school district, filling in the current cut.

"We will see a big spike in aid next year," he said, adding that it should be steady afterward.

Altoona school district taxpayers saw a significant tax increase in bills that went out a year ago because of building projects. Voters approved a $23 million referendum in November 2014 for Altoona's new elementary school and renovation of its existing campus. Those building projects will be paid off over 20 years.

Altoona residents likely already received their 2016 tax bills in the mail. They were sent out on Dec. 3 by the Eau Claire County treasurer's office - the same day Eau Claire's tax bills were mailed out.

People who want to claim that property tax payment on their 2015 income taxes will need to pay their bill by Dec. 31. Otherwise, residents must pay at least half of their property tax bill by Jan. 31 to the Eau Claire County treasurer's office at the courthouse, 721 Oxford Ave. Property taxes are due in full by July 31.

In addition to city, school district, county, technical college and state forestry taxes, residents living by Lake Altoona also pay a special tax to the lake rehabilitation district, which has historically made them the highest-taxed homeowners in Eau Claire County. 

That lake district tax adds another $3.61 per $1,000 of assessed property value to their bills mailed last week.

Contact: 715-833-9204, andrew.dowd@ecpc.com, @ADowd_LT on Twitter

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