The Prescott City Council approved a schedule for the replacement of streetlights in downtown Prescott. City Administrator Matt Wolf announced that $187,826 in the TID #4 fund which would be …
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The Prescott City Council approved a schedule for the replacement of streetlights in downtown Prescott. City Administrator Matt Wolf announced that $187,826 in the TID #4 fund which would be allocated toward the cost of the lights.
“The lights that we currently have have had wiring issues,” Wolf stated.
He added that with the available funding, the Parks and Public Works Committee discussed replacing a couple of the lights that are broken. After seeing that Xcel Energy didn’t have decorative options for the lights, the city approached Pulse Products, a company that supplies lights and controls to municipalities and businesses, who then provided five decorative options. Wolf said Wisconsin Department of Revenue recently released the Tax Increment District Statement of Change reports that increased the balance in TID #4. As members of the council gave their opinions on the style of lights they preferred, Wolf verified that the style would be chosen later in September and the lights would be installed by January 2025.
Alderperson Maureen Otwell inquired whether the matter would be presented to the Chamber of Commerce for their input, to which Wolf confirmed that this was the intended course of action.
The council approved establishing the water property tax equivalent for the water utility. Wolf explained that the city is allowed to own and operate a public utility but because of the state statute, the municipal utility is required to make a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) to the municipality's general fund.
“This payment is meant to compensate the municipality for the property tax revenue that would have been collected if the utility were privately owned and subject to property taxes,” he said.
The city is allowed to lower the payment to keep water utility rates lower for customers. Since 2010, the city has been making a 35% PILOT towards the general fund. Wolf said the Wisconsin Public Service Commission requires cities to pass a resolution authorizing a lower PILOT and they recommend using a five-year average. Prescott city staff requested council to approve a PILOT payment of $38,107.39 through passage of resolution 37-24.
In other news
The Parks and Public Works Committee decided to remove all trash containers at the boat launch after it was found that individuals are using the trash containers as a “dumping site.”
