FREEBURG — Hilkemeyer’s General store owners Nick and Rick Hilkemeyer voiced their opposition to the proposed property taxes at the village of Freeburg’s meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 6.

“I personally won’t support any more tax increases,” Rick Hilkemeyer said. “I wouldn’t vote for one for any reason at all because taxes are too high for the benefits that you get out of them. You want to put a property tax on stuff, and it’s only going to benefit the people inside the village limits.”

Mayor Darryl Haller confirmed that the village will have a measure placed on the April ballot asking voters to approve or disapprove a property tax on Freeburg residents.

“How does that equalize out, when there are people outside the village limits hooked up to village water and sewer, and they don’t have the property tax increase?” Rick Hilkemeyer asked. “I would think that would be putting an additional burden on the wells, pumps, and manpower.”

“The water and sewer accounts are funded by the water and sewer customers,” said Village Attorney Nathan Nickolaus. “The property tax would go towards things like streets and parks.”

Rick Hilkemeyer replied that there are no village streets around his business. “The way I look at it, you guys are dropping the ball because you have so many houses hooked up to the village water,” he said.

Haller responded that customers outside the village limits hooked up to the village’s water or sewer system pay an additional surcharge for services.

Rick Hilkemeyer asked if they were charging enough to offset the cost of providing the services.

“We can go back and look to make sure,” Haller said. “The problem we are having is with the general revenue. It used to cost $20,000 to pave a street with asphalt, and now you have to have $120,000 for the companies to even come into the village. The sales tax is the rate it always has been. The property tax got dropped because it was a burden to collect; that’s what we want to have the residents vote on.”

“My personal opinion is, if you want to collect property tax, collect it from everyone hooked up to the village water, straight across the board,” Nick Hilkemeyer said. “If they are outside the village limits, bring them in. The more property you have, the more money you have to collect.”

“The village would if they could,” Nickolaus said. “The village can’t just annex people into the village limits.”

“They did it to me, and I didn’t want to be in the village limits,” Nick Hilkemeyer said.

“It’s a difficult process,” Nickolaus said.

“It can be done,” Nick Hilkemeyer replied. “Make it fair for everyone. Maybe you have to come up with a utility tax fee.”

Haller said that the village could always look at water and sewer rates and adjust for customers outside the village limits, if it seemed necessary.

“The problem is water and sewer rates only go to pay for water and sewer expenses,” Haller said. “It doesn’t help us to pave the streets and help pay for all the other village services.”

“If it was fair across the board, the village could build up the money in the bank and expand the water system,” Rick Hilkemeyer said.

“That only gives you more money in the water account,” Nickolaus explained. “That money never leaves the water account to pay for other things. You can build up the money in the water account and have a really rich water system, but it wouldn’t get the streets fixed.”

“The way I’m looking at it is, if the property tax goes up and water rates go up, the money is coming out of my pocket, no matter what,” Nick Hilkemeyer said. “I need to feel like I’m getting something for my dollar in the village limits, and right now I don’t feel that way.”

“But increasing the water rates won’t solve that problem,” Nickolaus said.

“I didn’t say raise the water rates; I said make it fair across the board,” Rick Hilkemeyer said. “If you have water and sewer lines going out of town, but you want to raise property taxes on the people in the village limits, how does that equalize out?”

“The village doesn’t have the power to impose property taxes on people outside the village limits,” Nickolaus said.

“I understand that, so bring them into the village limits,” Rick Hilkemeyer said.

“That process would take years, and it’s not going to solve the short-term problems of the village,” Nickolaus replied.

Nick Hilkemeyer said that it was time the village got started on annexing properties using Freeburg’s water and sewer system.

“The faster the village starts, the faster it will get done,” Nick Hilkemeyer said.

“If you want to talk about fair, most residents aren’t paying anything toward the village coffers,” Nickolaus said. “They are not shopping here in Freeburg. There is little sales tax, no property tax, and the village still has to maintain the streets and parks, which are available to everyone, whether you use them or not. The village is going broke even though the water and sewer lines are doing fine.”

“Well, the water is doing fine,” Haller said.

The Hilkemeyers asked how much property tax the village is asking for.

“$.50 per $1,000 of assessed value,” Nickolaus responded.

Rick Hilkemeyer said that he thought that was a big increase based on how much it will cost him for his business compared to a resident in town who might live in a low-end house.

“My taxes are a pretty big chunk now,” Rick Hilkemeyer said.

“It’s a tiny fraction of what you are already paying,” Nickolaus said.

“It’s not going to be a huge money-maker for the village,” Haller added.

“It’s still money I have to pay,” Nick Hilkemeyer said.

“I don’t want to pay any more in taxes either,” Haller said.

Rick Hilkemeyer asked if he was going to be able to vote on the matter since he does not live in the village limits.

“I own two businesses,” Rick Hilkemeyer said. “I pay taxes to the village of Freeburg. I donate to people who come in and ask for donations. This is not fair. I think anyone who owns a business in town should be able to vote.”

“I don’t make up those rules,” Haller said. “We are trying to get the word out to people to see what they want to do. And once they vote, we will have to decide what we have to do on our end. We’ll do our best, but if it doesn’t pass, we may need to cut some services. We can’t keep going in the negative every year.”

“I understand that, but if you keep taking dollars away from the business, eventually the old turnip isn’t going to bleed,” Rick Hilkemeyer said. “Expenses are getting out of hand.”

“I 100% understand that, but we have to look at everything and weigh it out,” Haller said.

Haller thanked Rick and Nick Hilkemeyer for coming in and voicing their opinions.

“We are all here to learn,” Haller said. “Maybe there is a different way. Maybe we need to look at the sales tax. We have to do something.”

Rick Hilkemeyer asked if trustees had considered attracting more businesses to Freeburg.

“No one wants to sell any land,” Haller said. “We did get Dollar General here. We’d like to get more retail businesses.”

“Things keep getting worse,” Rick Hilkemeyer said. “I just wanted to voice my opinion, but you guys seem to have it all figured out.”

Rick Hilkemeyer also voiced concern for the Freeburg area businesses that will lose revenue once the new highway comes through and bypasses the village.

Nickolaus noted that his firm will help the board develop educational material on the proposed property tax closer to the election date.

“We can educate people and have an informative meeting, but the village can’t advocate for it,” Nickolaus said.

The issue will be on the April ballot, along with trustees Brad Wieberg and Jamie Kaesik, who have filed to retain their seats.

Correction: It should be noted that Nickolaus was misquoted regarding Freeburg’s tax situation. He told trustees that Freeburg is the only city he represents that does not have a property tax.

In other business, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) warned the village that its analysis of the new wastewater facility plans may take longer than expected. If the analysis is not completed by March 1, the village will have to reapply for the State Revolving Fund Grant.

“I don’t understand their timeframe,” Haller said. “They told us it would take three months, and they’ve now had it for nine months. No one is coming back to us saying we are sorry about the delay. We’ll have to pay $10,000 in interest payments if this is delayed another year.

“When they come to us, they say here is what we need to do, and we do everything we are supposed to do, and then they are dragging their feet, and it is costing us more money,” Haller continued.

Bartlett & West Executive Steve Jackson explained that one reason for the delay was that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) changed many of the federal regulations, and that the DNR had to reset its policies to align.

“That doesn’t account for all of it, but it does account for some of it,” Jackson explained, adding that DNR is short-staffed and has a lot of employee turnover, which is also causing delays.

Trustees scheduled a meeting with DNR to get updated information on the project.

• Ryan Libbert represented Holy Family Catholic Schools and expressed their concerns about the upcoming school expansion.

“We’ve got architects and civil engineers working on this project, and we have the layout finalized,” Libbert explained.

Libbert said the concern was hooking up to the village water and sewer lines.

Haller and Utilities Supervisor Doug Hamacher noted they will have to coordinate with the school’s engineers to help finalize the plans.

Libbert asked if the school should keep the water meter they have now or if they would need to put in a new unit.

“It doesn’t matter to us if there is a second meter,” Haller said.

Libbert discussed with the trustees and Hamacher the current location of the manholes and sewer lines.

“I’m going to have to do some more research,” Hamacher said, noting that he believes the manholes are currently on church property.

Libbert confirmed that some of the current manholes were original to the church and installed and maintained by the parish. Some of these original lines will be bypassed with the new construction. Libbert asked if the village would take over the maintenance of the sewer lines that were outside the parish property after they had been installed.

“It is my understanding that we will install it, and then it will be the village’s responsibility,” Libbert said.

Haller agreed that was his understanding as well.

“We’ll have to coordinate,” Hamacher said. “Our engineers can work with you guys, and we‘ll get it figured out.”

Holy Family will also coordinate with Freeburg trustees to avoid any drainage issues from the new building to the park.

“We have a problem with the drainage with the park already, and we will work with you on that,” Haller said. “Maybe we can trap some of the water and divert it past the park. We can work with you to offset some of that cost.”

The parish will also receive a permanent easement from Freeburg since the propane tanks from the fry shack are located on the village’s property.

Libbert will get a property description to Nickolaus, who will draw up the papers for the permanent easement.

Haller noted that he agreed with the other trustees that the village would work with the parish on the expansion since it is good for the community.

• Property Owner Jacques Wieberg was listed on the agenda again for the meeting, but was not present to voice his concerns about the new water and sewer rates.

“I called him today and reminded him the meeting was tonight,” Haller said. “He didn’t respond to me, and he’s not here.”

Haller asked Water Clerk Cindy Struemph if Wieberg was paying his bills in full.

Struemph replied that he had paid in full last month but wrote “in protest” on the bill. He has not paid the most recent bill.

“I don’t know how much more we can do for him,’ Haller said. “We’ve asked him to come to a meeting.”

Nickolaus recommended not adding him to the agenda for the February meeting.

• Trustees approved the following outstanding bills for January: general ($14,583.27), sewer ($551.80), water and sewer system fund ($4,823.30), and water ($14,430.92).

• Freeburg had the following ending account balances: purchasing ($331.81), sewer checking ($11,983.63) general revenue checking ($8,261.88), sewer money market ($407,898.97), general revenue money market ($505,631.31), wastewater and sewer project ($68,043.93), water ($14,563.39), water replacement ($245.97), and water money market ($1,048,953.10).

• Freeburg had a 5% water loss for November. The village pumped 1,404,604 gallons of water and billed 1,258,200 gallons.

• The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 9, at 6:30 p.m.