GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — The city of Green Bay has a budget for 2023 after Mayor Eric Genrich broke a 6-6 tie Tuesday night.
"I think it's pretty darn important to fund all of our critical services in the city," Genrich said following the vote. "It's a core responsibility that I have, and it's a core responsibility of our council as well. So, I vote in favor."
Council Vice President Brian Johnson, Jim Hutchison, Bill Galvin, Craig Stevens, Randy Scannell and Mark Steuer voted in favor of the budget.
Council President Jesse Brunette, Steven Campbell, Melinda Eck, Jennifer Grant, William Morgan and Chris Wery voted against the budget.
Genrich's original budget proposal was more than $124 million in total expenditures.
Wery said in a Facebook post that the final budget includes more than $1.8 million in cuts.
"Without your efforts your taxes would be more and government bloat would be unchecked," Wery said. "We actually held up the budget a few days and asked the mayor and staff to bring back more ideas on cuts which they did and we adopted some of them. That is how the budget should work. Teamwork."
The city's mill rate is being lowered to $7.58 per $1,000 of property value, which is 26 cents lower than the mayor's proposal of $7.84.
So, if your home value is worth $200,000, your property tax to the city will be $1,516 next year.
However, the city sent a reevaluation notice to property owners prior to the budget being approved, meaning some people may still be paying more in property taxes.
"The council was able to reduce the mayor’s proposed $6+ million tax increase by about $2 million," Brunette said in a Facebook post. "Unfortunately, the mill rate wasn’t reduced nearly enough, which will require many homeowners to pay significantly more in taxes this year than last."
The current tax rate is $9.80. The city property tax for a home worth $200,000 costs $1,960.
"I successfully proposed nearly $2 million in property tax levy reductions that represents a strong compromise between the council’s desire with the Mayor’s priorities," Johnson tells NBC 26 in a statement. "Fiscal intelligence drives fiscal responsibility and we had common sense amendments supported by the majority of council that will deliver a 23% reduction in the mill rate to counterbalance appreciating property values from the revaluation."
The council reconvened Tuesday after rejecting original Genrich's budget proposal in its first meeting Nov. 10.
It took two council meetings, and a tie-breaking vote from the mayor, to pass next year's budget.
