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Two actions of major consequence came out of the Wyoming City Council meeting last week.  Council adopted an outright ban on outdoor watering, which will last until the state’s water resources are recharged with significant rainfall.  Newly installed sod and seed may be watered. Violations can result in a daily fine or water service shutoff in aggravated circumstances.  

Use of a private well for outdoor  watering is up to the property owner.  The city can only monitor its municipal water system and is only held accountable to the state for known municipal usage.

Wyoming averages about 630,000 gallons per day and the directive is to reduce this by 415,000 gallons per day.  The Dept. of Natural Resources declared the St Croix River watershed region is in a drought warning response pahse and issues a directive on the amount of non-essential water consumption to be reduced.

Also, the council adopted a preliminary levy for 2027.  

This is a working budget scenario set at a 9.89 percent increase.  The final  numbers must be adopted in December. The city is including a Cost of Living Adjustment for employees at  three percent and health insurance hike estimated at 10 percent.

There is no market evaluation report available yet to use as part of the calculations.  Your property tax is estimated using a formula that includes market value attached to the government unit, so based on the current valuations (with no change for 2027) council learned a $200,000 home tax will go up $70 annually.  A home of $300,000 will see a hike of $114 a year and so forth.

Mayor Lisa Iverson noted,  “We have more things to look at,” when reviewing the levy over the next several weeks.  The final budget is adopted in December.  This levy was approved on a 4-1 vote (Linda Nanko Yeager opposed) as a maximum, and after holding the December 1 required public hearing, the 2027 levy will be made final.

Council member Dennis Schilling remarked that he pays property tax in Wyoming City too— and he checked his city taxes, which he feels have seen realistic growth over 10 years.  He reminds citizens there are school district budgets and the county and special taxation districts all included in property tax. 

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