Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels
The Manitowoc Common Council met last night, where Mayor Justin Nickels presented is proposed 2023 Executive Budget.
As one may expect, there was a lot of information thrown at the Council and the public during the presentation, but the first thing that many may notice about the 2023 Executive Budget is a tax levy increase.
The levy rose 6.03% from this year’s number to roughly $19.7 million.
But what does that mean for the average homeowner?
Mayor Justin Nickels explained, “The proposed tax rate increase is 2.21%, well less than our current inflation rate. The owner of a $100,000 home would see their city property taxes increase by $18.12 for the entire year or $1.51 per month.”
Nickels, who has been in office since 2009, said that this budget is one of the most difficult he has ever constructed due to rising inflation, rising costs across the board, and the focus on employee retention and recruitment.
Nickels said that the 350 employees on the payroll are vital to the success of the Clipper City.
“85% of our budget is people,” he revealed. “We need to be in the business of recruiting and retaining the best-qualified workforce that we can”
And to do that, Mayor Nickels suggested a “5% increase across the board for all non-union employees, while implementing our recently completed compensation analysis update.”
A big reason for the monetary success of the City this year has been the amount of new construction.
The percent net new construction for next year is at 2.61%, far and away the highest in the County.
“The City of Two Rivers is at .77%. The County overall is at 1.46%,” the mayor said. “You can see that the City of Manitowoc is the economic driver of Manitowoc County.”
The 2023 Budget is not set in stone.
It now transfers over to the Finance Committee, Chaired by Alderman Jim Brey, who will spend the next month combing through it.
You can view Mayor Nickels’ full presentation on the City of Manitowoc YouTube page, and Mayor Nickels has posted the numbers on his Facebook page.
