The Chippewa Falls 2009 city budget was put together with a cut here and there, city council member Greg Dachel said.

“We were getting down to nickels and dimes,” he said, shortly before the council voted 6-0 to approve the budget Tuesday night. Council President Dennis Doughty was absent from the meeting.

“We didn’t gut one program,” council member Robert Hoekstra said.

Instead, the council took money from several programs. Two unfilled staff positions were eliminated and one person was laid off at the city library.

“That’s 21 positions (gone) in the last six years,” Dachel said.

The new city tax levy of $5,721,795 is an increase of 3.7 percent from the 2008 levy of $5,515,311.

The state has a two percent cap on city tax levies. But the new Chippewa Falls levy includes tax incremental financing debt, which is not covered by the cap.

Under the 2009 budget, the city tax rate increased 2.9 percent to $8.17 from the 2008 figure of $7.94. The new tax rate means the owner of a $125,000 house will pay $1,021.25 in city taxes.

City spending will increase from $11,778,824 to $11,952,067, a rise of 1.5 percent.

The city tax is one of five parts of a property tax bill.

City Finance Director Lynne Bauer said the estimated net tax for a Chippewa Falls resident is $20.42 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. That’s an increase of 2 percent from the 2008 figure. She stressed the figures from other taxing jurisdictions are preliminary.

Here’s a breakdown on the estimated net taxes for city residents, and the percentage increase or decrease:

- City tax, $8.17, 2.9 percent increase;

- Chippewa Falls School District, $8.39, 3 percent increase;

- Chippewa County, $3.45, a decrease of 1.7 percent;

- Chippewa Valley Technical College, $1.75, 0.97 percent increase;

- State forestry tax, $0.19, 0.5 percent increase.

“Surely it was not an easy process, but I think we’re coming through this in quite good shape,” Mayor Greg Hoffman said.

In other action

- Three people opposed to a proposed sand processing plant operated by Canadian Sand and Proppant spoke to the council, even though the item was not on the council’s agenda.

A group calling itself Concerned Chippewa Citizens is suing the city’s Plan Commission over granting a conditional use permit for the project. The council took up the lawsuit in a closed session.

A spokeswoman for the group, Patricia Popple, said she talked with two state Department of Natural Resources officials about the proposed plant’s emissions. According to Popple, if the processing plant is built, no other industry could be built in the area without having an emissions control.

“Is this really the vision we have for our city?” she asked.

- The council had a first reading of an ordinance for the city to annex the property of the Wissota Health and Regional Vent Center at 7490 156th St. from the town of Eagle Point.

City Public Works Director Rick Rubenzer said the owners of the vent center petitioned for the annexation.

The council will likely vote on the annexation at its Dec. 16 meeting.