Outagamie County's proposed 2024 budget is out. Here's what to know, and how to chime in
Editor's note: This story has been updated. Prior versions of this story included information on capital projects approved in 2023, not 2024.
APPLETON - The 2024 Outagamie County budget unveiled by County Executive Tom Nelson includes a minimum 3% wage increase for county employees to help retain and attract employees during a time of high turnover.
A recent study identified a $4.1 million shortfall in county employee wages with 60% of county positions paying uncompetitive wages compared to similar private and public sector jobs.
With the wage increases for all full-time employees, the 2024 budget proposes spending $82.4 million in salaries across its 1,264 full-time positions and 186 part-time employees.
Starting next year, the county will start using a 10-step wage structure with each full-time employee's salary moving up at least 3% to get on the structure, ensuring everyone has an average or competitive market wage.
Here are some other highlights of the Outagamie County's 2024 budget.
How much is the county spending?
As drafted, the budget totals $360.3 million. That's down 14.6% from the 2023 adopted budget.
The tax levy necessary to support the budget is $67.5 million.
Read the proposed 2024 Outagamie County budget here.
What's it going to cost me?
The owner of an average $254,326 home would pay $739.43 in property taxes for the county next year. That's a $14.65 increase from 2023.
That does not include property taxes from cities or school districts.
What's driving the change?
Part of the budget decrease is attributed to the 65% decrease in the Appleton International Airport's budget from $103 million in 2023 to a proposed $44.4 million in 2024.
The Appleton airport began a $66.7 million expansion project last year, significantly increasing its budget and making it the most expensive department in the county for 2023.
Now that the expansion project is mostly funded, the airport's budget is dropping back down and bringing the county budget with it.
The airport is a self-funded county department that uses federal and state money and operating revenue to pay for its projects — meaning its budget is not typically supported by the county tax levy and doesn't affect property taxes.
When can I weigh in?
The Outagamie County Board will hold a public hearing for the budget at its Oct. 24 meeting. It will be held at 7 p.m. in the county board room.
When am I going to get the bill?
The property tax bills will be mailed out the first two weeks of December.
Sophia Voight is a local government and politics reporter with The Post-Crescent. She can be reached with feedback and tips at svoight@postcrescent.com.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Outagamie County proposed 2024 budget includes county employee raises
