Abby adopts 2025 budget with $2.1M tax levy

By Kevin O’Brien

Strong growth within Abbotsford’s TIF districts continues to drive revenue increases for the city budget, as reflected in a 2025 budget adopted Monday by the city council.

Abbotsford will collect a total of about $2.1 million in taxes next year, including $936,071 for the general fund and just under $1.2 million for the city’s two tax-incremental districts (TIDs).

While the general fund levy will actually decrease slightly from this year, by $807, due to a new state law exempting personal property, TIDs 5 and 6 will increase their tax revenues by a combined total of $70,000 due to new buildings and additions going up in various parts of the city.

TID 6 saw its value increase by $4.3 million (10 percent) following construction of the new Abby Appliance building on Opportunity Drive, Abbyland’s dry storage facility on East Spruce Street and an addition at Witmer Furniture. TID 5 more than doubled its value, growing by $3.8 million with the addition of the new Family Dollar on STH 13 and an expansion at Strek-O Door.

City administrator Josh Soyk told the council that the budget estimates for TID growth are likely on the low end at this point.

“We may collect more increment than what we budgeted for,” he said.

TIF districts work by diverting the property taxes from any new developments (known as “incremental value”) in a designated area into a fund controlled by the city to pay for infrastructure improvements and other incentives that promote growth. Normally, those taxes would be shared with the local school district, the county and technical school system.

For 2025, the TID 5 budget has been entirely allocated for paying down debt from previous projects, while TID 6 money will be used for a variety of purposes, including a portion of city employee wages, $50,000 for incentives and $500,000 for a reconstruction of Butternut Street.

The city’s total general fund budget — which includes police, fire, public works and parks — will total $2.5 million next year, an increase of 4.5 percent, or $107,419, over 2024. Besides the core government functions listed above, the budget also includes $269,655 in debt payments and $14,150 for the city cemetery. The extra revenue needed to cover the budget increase will mostly come in the form of increased state aids.

One of two pie charts included with the budget (the other one is displayed above) shows that the $2.5 million in the general fund represents just over a third of the overall expenses planned for the city’s various services.

Abbotsford’s water utility is the second largest slice of the overall budget, at $2.2 million, followed by the TIF districts at $1.2 million. When the library, sewer utility and municipal court are added in, the total amount of money to be collected and spent in 2025 is $6.9 million.

Other business

■ ■ After meeting in closed session to confer with legal counsel, the council authorized Soyk and Mayor Jim Weix to negotiate a settlement offer with Chelt Development, owner of the East Town Mall, which has been ordered by the court to pay the city about $150,000 to cover an unpaid loan from 2010, plus interest and attorney fees.

■ ■ Soyk pointed out that Mayor Jim Weix and Alds. Mason Rachu, Jon Podevels, Kevin Fliink and Sarah Diedrich will be up for reelection in the April 2025 unless they decide not to run again. The deadline for incumbents to declare non-candidacy is 5 p.m. on Dec. 27, and the deadline for candidates to turn in their campaign registrations and signatures is 5 p.m. on Jan. 7.

In order to get on the ballot, candidates for city council must submit between 20 and 40 signatures of residents in their wards, and mayoral candidates are required to submit 50 to 100 signatures of city residents.

■ The council passed several motions related to the recent extension of Swamp Buck Drive to the east in order to accommodate additional apartments. These included approving a $25,211 agreement with American Asphalt to pave 2,330 feet of roadway and a final pay request of $6,267 from Switlick & Sons for work done on the road.

■ ■ Soyk told the council that the city will have to wait about a month for DNR approval before water from its new two wells, numbers 28 and 29, can be added to the local water supply. The council approved a final pay request of $97,639 from CTW Corporation, the company that drilled and installed the new wells.

■ ■ The council approved the purchase of used ozone equipment from the city of Stanley, which recently upgraded its water treatment facilities. Soyk said the equipment, which cost a total of $10,000, will help prolong the lifespan of two of Abbotsford’s treatment facilities.