WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2017
Serving Polk County’s St. Croix Valley since 1897
VOL. 120 NO. 17 www.osceolasun.com $1.00
SPORTS: Bont receives Distinguished Service award. PAGE 11
Kindness rocks at Osceola High School Painted rocks of various sizes, shapes, and colors cropped up around town last week thanks to an Osceola High School English class. The class had been reading stories about kindness and wanted to do something locally. The Kindness Rocks Project, founded by Cape Cod beachcomber Megan Murphy to brighten others’ days, was the perfect fit. In line with one of the Kindness Rocks Project slogans, “One message at just the right moment can change someone’s entire life,” students have been painting and placing inspirational rocks with the goal to “inspire others through randomly placed rocks along the way …” In addition, they hope that each found rock will inspire every person who stumbles upon it to join in the pursuit of inspiring others through random acts of kindness. The Kindness Rocks Project has
morphed from a simple hobby of one to a movement of many, and it has now become a world-wide phenomenon. The main purpose is to promote kindness, whether with Kindness Rocks or other unexpected random ways. The premise is simple. If you find a TKRP rock, you may keep it. If you think someone else would benefit more from it, share it. If you think the rock is in a good spot to inspire many people, you can leave it right where it is. Each rock placed by the OHS students has a label on the back bearing the hashtags #osceolarocks, #kindnessrocksproject, and #funenglish. The students are encouraging others to take selfies with the rocks and share them on social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) using the hashtags. For more information on The Kindness Rocks Project, go to www. thekindnessrocksproject.com.
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Each rock placed by the OHS students has a label on the back bearing the hashtags #osceolarocks, #kindnessrocksproject, and #funenglish. The students are encouraging others to take selfies with the rocks and share them on social media using the hashtags.
Polk County spending steady, tax rates down BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
With spending steady for county-level services and home values slowly rising, Polk County residents will see tax rates decline for the fourth year in a row under the 2018 budget, which was adopted by the county board last week. Excluding library funding and bridge aid, the county tax rate will drop from $5.125 per $1,000 in property value to $4.99. Put in relative terms, in 2017 the county’s taxes on a $200,000 house would have been about $1,025. If the value of that hypothetical home didn’t change, the taxes in 2018 would be $999, about $26 less. If the value of that home increased by 3.89 percent, taxes would be roughly $1,037 in 2018. Total Levy The county’s total levy —
$21,854,324 for 2018 — has not changed much since 2011, according to data presented by County Administrator Dana Frey. Adjusted for inflation, the levy will be 8 percent less in 2018 than it was in 2010. Compared to other Wisconsin counties, Polk has increased property taxes very little from 2011 to 2017. With an overall increase of 0.55 percent, Polk ranks 65th among the state’s 72 counties. 2018 Budget In 2018, expenditures are expected to increase $300,000, from $53.1 million in 2017 to $53.4 million. That’s 7 percent less than the county spent in 2008, without adjusting for inflation, according to Administrator Frey. The county typically spends more than half its budget on personnel, from sheriff’s deputies to the crew that plows and maintains the roads. This year personnel accounts for 55 per-
Several announce bid for state Senate
cent of spending, down from 58 percent last year. The 2018 budget also includes replacements to infrastructure and equipment, including $200,000 to replace the jail control system, $160,000 to replace IT switches and increase bandwidth, $254,000 to replace a boiler at Golden Age Manor retirement home, and $910,000 for equipment and furniture in the new highway department building. The budget is slightly off balance due to the $910,000 drawn from the highway fund balance to pay for the equipment and furniture, according to Administrator Frey. Total expenditures are $54,316,050 and revenues are expected to be $53,370,085. Board Member Compensation The board capped future compensation for board members, effective in the 2018 term. The
BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
River Falls legislator Shannon Zimmerman, St. Croix County medical examiner Patty Schachtner and campaign-finance reformist John Calabrese announced plans last week to run for northwest Wisconsin’s open state Senate seat. Following Governor Scott Walker’s Nov. 10 appointment of District 10 Senator Sheila Harsdorf as state agriculture secretary, a special election was set for January 16. District 28 Assembly Rep. Adam Jarchow, a Republican, immediately announced his intent to run for the seat. District
SEE COUNTY, PAGE 17
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30 Rep. Zimmerman, also a Republican, threw his hat into the ring Nov. 13, bringing cause for a GOP primary December 19. Schachtner is running as a Democrat and Calabrese as an Independent. Shannon Zimmerman A River Falls business owner and state Assemb bly repressentative for D District 30, R Republican S Shannon Z Zimmerman e emphasized e economic Zimmerman g growth in his camSEE CANDIDATES, PAGE 8
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