If you’ve been living in or around Fredonia wi and sort of paying attention you may realize a few things lately. A fantastic new school addition, a new park, and renovated wastewater treatment plant. In December you’ll see a substantial increase in your water and sewer charges, and make no mistake the village board approved the $400,000 cost overrun and the increase in costs unanimously. The wastewater treatment overruns, to the tune of $400,000, were due to project management oversight and lack of communication by the contractor. Guess who pays? You…and me.
In the not so distant future, overruns in other areas, street construction, new developments, and buying land for new industrial park space will happen. You see these things are overruns only in that you don’t know about them and they are not budgeted. These will all cost the village plenty of money. We often look at other municipalities for leadership for ordinances and other things, I suggest we lead them in not taking on their tax bills. When the village board spends money, we all pay. Make no mistake about it, there is no municipal allowance received from the state or federal government. Every dollar that gets spent comes out of one of the many taxes each of us pays daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.
Keep your eyes on the budgets, and make decisions about where you stand by your vote. I love Fredonia wi and have met lots of wonderful residents who have become good friends. I can’t imagine having to move to another place or out of the village because I can’t afford the taxes or the sewer and water fees. I do know people in hardship over this, and they will move away if they cannot figure out how to afford higher fees come December.
Let’s be reasonable about what Frediona is, and why it’s great. We can grow it in a way that is smart, yet economical and doesn’t blow up everyone’s tax bill.