Why is the withdrawal of $5.5 million of Village utility reserves being proposed?
The Village’s tax rate is currently much higher than the City’s. One of the reasons for this is the higher debt load carried by the Village. Under current State law, a consolidated Pewaukee would be required to have the same general property tax rate throughout the combined municipality. In order for City taxpayers to share in the cost savings from a merger, the tax rate for the consolidated Pewaukee should be less than what the City’s current tax rate would be. If the tax rate for the merged Pewaukee is set lower than the City’s current rate, Village taxpayers will pay much less in taxes than they currently do. The funds withdrawn from utility reserves would be used as part of the Village’s contribution to the revenues of the merged City in order to make up for the reduction in property taxes levied on Village properties. Without these funds, the initial tax rate for a consolidated Pewaukee would likely need to be higher than the City’s current tax rate. Since part of the reason the V
