ELLSWORTH — The Ellsworth Village Board approved the sale of general obligation promissory notes and decided to look into becoming a Tree City during the Monday, May 5 meeting.

Ehlers representative Josh Low presented on the sale of $5.84 million general obligation promissory notes which was later approved by the board. The bond has a 20-year term starting in 2026, with debt service schedule payments starting at $464,000 and winding down to $368,000 by the end of the term.

“General obligation borrowing is all the debt that’s backed by the property taxes of the village,” Low said. “What that means is you’re going to use any and all meaning, including the tax levy and especially the tax levy, to pay that debt back.”

Low said investors are interested in these bonds because of that backing of the levy. According to Low, the village has a debt levy in 2025 of around $230,000, which is not a lot of debt in comparison to its peers. The new debt will raise taxes and will be reflected in statements down the line.

An expected $150,000 payment will be used to avoid a massive tax rate spike when the bond goes into effect. The funds for the excess payment will come from TID #7, as it has owed the general fund money for years.

“If you deviate from this structure, and if you don’t make those contributions from the TID to pay down your debt, that’s what’s going to create a spike in your mill rate,” Low said.

Tree City

Ellsworth students Milan Johnson, Max Olson and Cameron Lutfi presented a capstone project through the high school to work with the village to become a “Tree City.”

The four standards to become a part of Tree City USA are forming a tree board or department, establishing a tree care ordinance, maintaining a community forestry program with an annual budget of at least $2 per capita and proclaiming and observing Arbor Day.

The students felt that with trees dying in the community, this is a great time to replace them to both bolster the environment and the beauty of the village.

Village President Becky Beissel said she believes the village already meets the $2 per capita spending requirement.
“I think this is good timing. We take trees for granted until they are gone,” Beissel said.

The board decided to send this idea through committee to see what could come of it down the line.

Tractor purchase

Village Trustee Tony Hines questioned why the board was discussing the purchase of a tractor with a mowing deck for the Department of Public Works. During his department head report, Director Bradley Vick mentioned they bid $25,000 for one but were outbid. While they were interested in bidding higher, they were unsure the legality of crossing the $25,000 and wanted to know if they needed a Request for Proposals.

Hines does not view the tractor as a need, but Village Administrator/Clerk-Treasurer Brad Roy said it is an item in the village’s budget slated for $65,000.

“Why are they getting a tractor?” Hines said. “They’ve got a tractor down there, they’ve got a new Toolcat, they’ve got a new payloader, a new grater. What do they need the tractor for?”

The purchase was not an item on Monday’s agenda, rather a question from Vick on whether an auction purchase is a way the department can go in the future. Roy said he will work with the village attorney to determine the legality. While he said he cannot speak on the need itself since he is not the Public Works Director, he is “certain” it was approved in the budget.

Other business

• Approved a Certified Survey Map for the Habitat for Humanity build on Panther Drive and a site plan, final plat and developer’s agreement for C&E Wurzer.
• Discussed the creation of an ordinance that would regulate driveway dimensions in the village. Driveways already in place would not need to meet the ordinance, but new driveways and driveways changing their dimensions would have to be up to code. Roy said the village could make the ordinance allow for resurfacing work to be done without triggering the code.
• Authorized a second payment for Grant and Piety Street improvements and approved a change order.
• The board approved a fund balance policy that deals with how they should manage village funds.
• Approved a lease agreement for a Wisconsin DNR Forester’s office in the Village Hall.