ELLSWORTH – Ellsworth Chamber of Commerce members heard a “State of the Village” update from Village President Becky Beissel and Administrator/Clerk-Treasurer Brad Roy at the April …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in, using the login form, below, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account and connect your subscription to it by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
ELLSWORTH – Ellsworth Chamber of Commerce members heard a “State of the Village” update from Village President Becky Beissel and Administrator/Clerk-Treasurer Brad Roy at the April 24 member meeting.
Beissel said being an elected official was not on her radar, “not even a little bit,” but the Design Ellsworth initiative in 2018 “kind of lit a fire.” Working alongside community members on their vision of Ellsworth’s future inspired her. She was elected a trustee in 2020 and village president in 2021, an office she’s held since after two re-elections.
The village hired Roy, who worked in the Pierce County Land Management department for 17 years, as the administrator/clerk-treasurer in 2022.
“It’s been kind of a whirlwind, but I think we’re starting to see good results,” Roy said.
The village board updated its comprehensive plan in 2022, which is a plan Roy refers to constantly. Almost 1,000 people had a hand in forming it, through surveys, listening sessions and meetings. Beissel said while the state requires the village to update its plan every 10 years, it’s not just going to sit on a shelf getting dusty.
In 2024, the village board worked on implementing downtown design guidelines, which are guidelines on things such as building materials, window sizes, etc. that help define what a downtown should look like. To that idea, the board also plans to implement a façade improvement program, but funding is not yet in place for it. It may be changed to a more general “rehab” program in order to include interior improvements as well.
In 2025, the village completed an outdoor recreation plan.
“The main driver for this was that we could not apply for any DNR grants for any kind of improvements without it,” Beissel said. “The fact that the village never had one really held them back from any potential funding sources.”
And currently underway, the village is working on solidifying its strategic plan, which will outline the village’s mission, vision, strategies, goals, values and tactics.
Finances
In 2025, the village passed a balanced budget with an 8% reduction, Roy said. The budget has decreased by 15% over the past three years. This is the first year that the budget has truly been balanced, Roy said, as reserves were used to balance shortfalls in the past.
“That’s a good plan when your reserves are healthy, but that can’t support those practices anymore. A lot of cuts were made. I don’t know how much else we can cut,” he said.
At the next village board meeting, elected officials will look at a new fund balance policy and its criteria. The current fund balance is $786,041, which is 28% of revenue.
The mill rate is calculated by dividing the total taxes needed by the total assessed value of the community. Ellsworth’s current budget of $3,359,321 stems from a mill rate of 0.01749603, which is lower than many surrounding communities including Baldwin, Durand and River Falls. This includes all portions of taxes, such as the school district, tech college, village and county; the village’s portion of a tax bill is about 30%. The state sets the limits on the total taxes a municipality can collect.
“It’s walking that fine line of making those improvements that we need to make without taxing people out of their homes,” Beissel said.
Water and sewer utility rates
Roy shared the water utility had been operating in the red since 2017, and the sewer since 2019. The village had to dip into its general fund to cover the shortfalls.
“Costs are up 40%, but rates have only increased 9.3% since 2007 (simplified rate cases),” Roy said.
The Fire Protection Charge was also shifted from being part of people’s tax bills to their utility bills. This is a mandated charge from the Public Service Commission that covers the cost of the extra water capacity that firefighters need to fight fires while not disrupting water service to other people’s homes.
“There are two options: the village can pay for it out of the tax levy, or it can go to each user through the water utility,” Beissel said. “We made the change this year to put it onto the user.”
This also includes tax exempt properties, such as schools and churches. The village was paying about $220,000 out of its general budget each year for this charge.
“Any tax-exempt entity wasn’t helping to pay for that,” Beissel said. “In an effort to be fair, if you put it onto each utility user and each property owner, this is a more fair option.”
Beissel stressed that the village staff and board do not decide the amount for water rates – that falls to the PSC.
“We negotiate with the PSC on what the rates need to be,” Beissel said.
“It’s one of those things that has to happen once in awhile, but nobody wants it to,” Roy said. “We never want to let it fall behind to the extent that it has before. The goal is to make future increases smaller and more manageable.”
Reinstated impact fees
Impact fees are one-time charges collected from builders at the time of building permit issuance. They are designed to offset the cost of public infrastructure and services. After a pause by previous boards (who hoped to spur development by waiving them), the village reinstated impact fees in 2023 to take advantage of this funding tool.
The money goes toward parks, the library, police, the water utility, etc. It’s set aside in its own account, with state guidelines on how and when it needs to be spent. The recent Gerard apartment project put $50,000 of impact fees into the village coffers, Beissel said.
Housing
According to a study Beissel referenced, two area communities were going to see a population decrease if they kept on the same path as far as housing development: Ellsworth and Durand. In the last 10 years, Ellsworth has seen 2-4 new houses per year.
The village has been working hard to attract developers to town, not only to help increase the tax base but to provide much needed workforce housing to those who live here. Projects include:
“We all get really used to the neighborhood we live in,” Beissel said, who lives near the proposed Pinnacle development. “Some of these lots were planned to have the housing there when the streets were put it in.”
Economic Development
For years, Tax Increment District 7 (Crossing Meadows) was distressed because it wasn’t bringing in enough tax revenue to pay its bills (such as putting in the infrastructure, etc.) This was another way reserves were drained, Roy said.
The village has created a new TID 13 (with the blessing of other taxing jurisdictions), which includes the empty lots in the Crossing Meadows Business Park and on the east side of the highway.
Mahn Family Funeral Home was the first business to build in the park in a decade, opening last year. Currently in the works are a new Loberg Law Office building, MeadowLark Eco Apartments, the High Pointe and Workhorse concepts, and Kwik Trip in 2026. Beissel credited Roy with encouraging Kwik Trip to come to Ellsworth, by showing them the new housing proposed in that area and letting them know that lots were starting to sell again.
As for the old junior high site at 254 S. Chestnut St., the village created TID 12 after the village purchased the dilapidated eyesore in 2022. They received a $150,000 Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation grant toward the demolition costs, which topped $1 million. However, the old building was only bringing in $917 in taxes annual. That number will be increased to $100,000 annually. While the money collected will go into the TID for 12-15 years to repay the village for its development costs, after that the homes there will bring in more than $40 million in tax revenue over the next 50 years.
The village has also begun replacing the sewer lines along North Grant and South Piety streets (a $5 million project) and repairing sidewalks for safety.
Big goals
The village has big goals for the year, starting by finishing its strategic plan by early summer. The village board also hopes to implement the outdoor recreation plan and create park plans. They want to market and redevelop the former historic library building at 312 W. Main St,. but their hope is to make sure it’s protected and used well, Beissel said.
The Grant/Piety construction project should be completed by October and this summer, residents will see resurfacing projects occurring on Industrial Road and Plum, Church, Warner and Nelson streets. The village is also working on creating a sidewalk improvement inventory list, which is one of the top-rated needs by the community in the comprehensive plan.
The village received a $1.575 million Agricultural Roads Improvement Program (ARIP) grant, which will be used to fund the reconstruction of streets, sidewalks, curb and gutter, and stormwater systems on Wall and Morse streets. This project also includes plans for water and sewer upgrades, along with the addition of new streetscaping. Additionally, the village is expanding the project to include Broadway Street, using $400,000 in funds from TID 8.
The goal is to make the East End attractive to businesses. Beissel described it as a walkable neighborhood next to one of the area’s main tourist attractions, the Ellsworth Creamery.
Quality of life is “the everyday experience of living in Ellsworth – how connected, safe, supported and inspired our residents feel,” Beissel said.
Challenges/opportunities
Beissel ended by asking village residents to speak up when they’re in support of things, not just when they’re against something on the agenda at board meetings.
