City of Schulenburg Taxes and Fees to Increase in 2018

Residents and property owners in the City of Schulenburg will pay more in property taxes and may see utility fees increase in the coming fiscal year. The City Council approved the 2017-18 tax rate and budget at a meeting on Monday, Sept. 18.

Council set the tax rate at the rollback rate of $0.1747 per $100 valuation. That’s the highest rate the Council could have set without triggering a tax rollback election. 

The new rate is slightly lower than the current rate of $0.1750. However, the new rate will bring in $41,864.86 more revenue than last year due to higher property appraisals in the City. Owners of a $100,000 home will see their city tax bill increase by $12.90.

The Council held a public hearing on the tax rate and budget before the regular meeting Monday night, but no one from the public spoke at the hearing.

Council has not yet voted to increase utility fees, but that vote is expected since the budget they approved Monday night relies on fee increases. Walker said Council will consider the fee increases at the next Council meeting on Monday, Oct. 2.

“We are very behind on infrastructure and everything has gotten more expensive,” said Mayor Otto Kocian at the meeting on Monday.

City Administrator Tami Blaschke-Walker reported that both water towers recently failed paint inspections. Kocian said the paint jobs will cost $375,000 for the new tower on Interstate 10 and $366,000 for the old tower near the fire station. Walker said the budget includes funds to repaint the old tower this year.

In addition, Kocian said the City will spend $263,000 on a sewer line replacement in the coming year. He said the City will also need to add two new water wells at some point in the future, which will cost an estimated $2.6 million each. 

“We’ve got a lot of work that needs to be done,” Kocian said.

Also at the Sept. 18 meeting, Councilwoman Wendy Fietsam asked for an update on the street and utility replacement project on Black Street. 

Council voted 3-2 to begin that project on June 5. The dissenting votes came from Councilmen Harvey Hercik and Arnold Stoever, who recommended that the City hire contractors to perform the work instead of using City workers. 

At the time, Kocian said he hoped City workers could complete the job in time for the Schulenburg Festival, which took place the first weekend in August. The street is still under construction.

On Sept. 18, Kocian said the City crews were waiting for engineers to finish plans, which he said should be ready in two weeks. In addition, Walker said water department workers had to be taken off the street project to work on the ground storage tank rehab project near the Police Station, which delayed water line work on Black Street.