Municipal News: Sturgeon Bay Municipal Spending Report

City of Sturgeon Bay: The Finance/Purchasing & Building Committee meets at 4 pm on Aug. 30.

Sturgeon Bay municipal spending: Total operational spending in Wisconsin’s cities and villages with populations of more than 2,000 saw modest increases for a second straight year in 2014, rising 1.8 percent from $841 to $856 per resident, according to a new study.

MunicipalFacts16, an exclusive annual study released by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance (WISTAX), reviews spending in Wisconsin’s 245 most populous municipalities. WISTAX is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization devoted to public policy research and citizen education.

The operating figures represent key government services, such as general government operations; police; fire and ambulance services; and road maintenance, plus other programs such as health and human services, recreation, and public works.

WISTAX also examined these first four categories – “basic spending” – which rose one percent from $561 to $567 per resident. Police expenditures (40.3 percent of basic spending) accounted for the largest share of spending, followed by fire-ambulance services (24.7 percent) and street maintenance (20.4 percent).

Spending on municipal operations in Sturgeon Bay was $844 per capita, a -5.2 percent change from 2013 vs. the 1.8 percent increase among the 245 municipalities studied by WISTAX. In 2014, average law enforcement spending was $228 per resident, while police spending in 2014 was $238. Street maintenance spending totaled $142 per capita, compared to $116 elsewhere. While net fire and ambulance expenditures averaged $140 statewide, they averaged $131 per person in Sturgeon Bay.

Town of Jacksonport: The town board meets at 7 pm on Aug. 30.