By Gail Peckler-Dziki~ Correspondent
The Paddock Lake Village Board voted unanimously to approve a refinancing of nearly $3.8 million of the village’s debt. Trustee Chris Bucko was absent.
The decision to refinance was made to drop a combined interested rate of nearly 4 percent to about 2.2 percent. The move will save taxpayers about $170,000 this year, according to village administrator Tim Popanda.
Included in the refinanced debt is current debt for the east side water system to refurbish distribution lines and debt left from the 2006 road project. An amount of $350,000 for work to be done on 235th Avenue was excluded from the deal.
Popanda said that the 2013 levy would go up about $4,000 and debt payments would rise until 2016 and then drop dramatically. The mill rate for next year, however, will not be affected by the refinance because of adjustments made throughout the budget, according to Popanda.
Paddock Lake has first credit rating
Paddock Lake is one of a very few Wisconsin municipalities that has no rating. That is about to change.
Ehlers and Associates compared Paddock Lake finances to those of similar size municipalities of Milton, East Troy, Chilton, Elkhorn, Horicon and Plymouth. Based on ratings received by those municipalities and certain criteria, Paddock Lake would receive an A plus rating.
Paddock Lake has had three years of spotless audits and has 105 percent of budget amount in undesignated cash reserves. The usually suggested amount is 20 percent. Undesignated cash reserves are available for emergency use and can be used to cover expenses while waiting for tax payments. Some governmental bodies will use short-term borrowing, but the municipality that has cash reserves avoids the interest expense of short-term borrowing.
The village is paying about $9,000 to Ehlers, which is working in conjunction with village staff to compete the paperwork needed to apply to Moody’s Investors Service, which will award the rating. The rating gives Paddock Lake the ability for the best interest rate for any future borrowing.
Weed harvesting extension
The village applied to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for an extension for the final weed harvesting. That date was either Sept. 12 or Oct. 5. The longer date is after piers must be removed and would allow the harvesting of free-floating weeds that have collected under the piers on the east side of the lake.
Paddock Lake, like every other lake in Wisconsin, is very low. This low water level exposes more Eurasian milfoil to boat propellers. The propellers cut the milfoil that then drifts according to prevailing winds.
Milfoil will spread through cuttings. Cuttings that do not attach to the bottom but rot and then fall to the bottom make great fertilizer, according to Popanda.
“We have a DNR permit that allows the village to send up to 800 truckloads of weeds to a Brighton farm,” he explained. “The farmer then composts the weeds and uses that to fertilize his field.”
No money changes hands, but Paddock Lake has a place to take the harvested milfoil. Rotting weeds left in lakes drop to the bottom, add nutrients to the lake bottom, increasing the depth of the soil and shortening the life of the lake.