Contributions
Two Rivers Water & Light is pleased to support a variety of community service organizations, non-profit organizations, schools, and other groups that will help fulfill a need in our community.
Many people are surprised to learn that Two Rivers Water & Light is not funded by the City's property tax roll. As a matter of fact, we make payments to the City's General Fund which are equivalent to the property taxes paid by other businesses in the community.
In 2010, these payments totaled $287,662 for the electric utility and $189,140 for the water utility. This makes the electric utility the second largest "taxpayer" and the water utility the third largest "taxpayer" in the City of Two Rivers.
If the utility was a private utility (such as WPS) these payments would be made directly to the State of Wisconsin and would not benefit the City's tax roll. In fact, the City would have to increase taxes by 11.9% to cover the loss of these payments in lieu of taxes by the electric and water utilities.
In addition to the tax equivalent payments, our municipal electric and water utilities also pay a portion of the following City expenses:
- City Manager & Staff
- City Finance Director & Staff
- City Attorney
- Customer Service Supervisor & Staff
- Data Processing Supervisor & Staff
- City Council
- City Clerk
- City Hall Maintenance Staff
The electric utility also makes other donations to the City which helps reduce the City's operating costs by over $15,000. These donations include:
- Use of 6,325 square feet of building space used by the City's Public Works Department
- Heating costs for 21,620 square feet of the Public Works Department
- Donations to special City projects
Since our customers are already saving on their electric bills, the money saving benefits which our municipal electric and water utilities provides to the City's taxpayers truly makes our municipal utilities a "win-win" situation.
In addition, the community also benefits by having our personnel participate in community organizations and activities, school and church organizations, food drives and more. We are your friends and neighbors working and living with you to make Two Rivers a better place to live.
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