Shorewood Citizen Advocates

Building positive change through communication, education and advocacy
LogoM-white-center

city budget

$540k City Tax You Likely Don’t Know About

Utility bills
If you receive a gas bill from CenterPoint Energy, or electric bill from Xcel Energy you may not know the City of Shorewood has covertly been taking money from you each month for years to increase their revenue.

Shorewood’s Consulting Extravagances

wasting money
Are consulting services worth the time and money when 80%-90% of the recommendations are never implemented and administration, council members and even mayors rotate out every few years?   Cities waste so much money on elaborate consulting ideas that are never implemented.   This needs to stop.

$45.9M Capital Expenses Projected in Shorewood

CapEx
Street reconstruction, water projects, new trucks, skid-steers, mowers and park equipment are a few items that the city wants residents of Shorewood to believe are in desperate need of replacement.   The city is planning to spend $45.9M in Capital Expenditures (CapEx) over the next 10 years.

Essential Reading:118% Tax Increase

Tax increase
Shorewood resident Barry Brown has analyzed the Long Range Financial Plan (2026 – 2035) for Shorewood. It shows the Tax Levy skyrocketing from $7.5M in 2025 to $16.4M in 2035 – a 118% increase. Also, the city plans to increase its bond debt by another $21.6M between 2026 and 2031.

Shorewood “Reserve Funds” Scheme to Grab Your Tax Dollars

shorewood reserve funds
Read and watch Barry Brown’s presentation to the Shorewood council regarding his analysis, and the impact to Shorewood taxpayers, of the city’s growing Reserve Funds.

Shorewood City Council Never Says “NO” to spending YOUR MONEY

growing money graph
In 4 short years since 2022 Shorewood’s Administrative budget has increase $314,670 or 35.19% to a whopping $1,208,620 in 2025.   The city’s debt has more than tripled in the last 7 years.   Continuing on this spending spree will drive long-term residents and retirees out of the city.

Shorewood’s Spending Spree – $38.2 Million and Growing!

Shorewood's spending spree
In a little more than 3-1/2 years, the Shorewood City Council and city staff have spent $38.2MM which additionally burdened residents with $23MM in bonding debt.   Another $20.5MM in bonding debt is planned in the upcoming years.   That’s more than $14,000 per household in debt repayments alone.

Shorewood’s $7M budget

Shorewood’s $7M budget
Every penny spent, whether on paper clips or a snow plow, comes from your fees and taxes. The budget is the city’s financial plan for the anticipated expenses over the next fiscal year.   As a taxpayer, your participation in the budget process can influence the outcome.

5 Things You May Not Know About Shorewood Budgets

Shorewood budget open house
At some point, you may have found yourself in a conversation that you had no idea what the other person was talking about because of acronyms and spurious code words. This could likely be said about technology companies, the stock market, manufacturing, the list goes on.   City finances and budgets are no exception.

Get Smarter: Shorewood Enterprise Funds Analysis

graph

Contact Us

or

Become a Content Contributor

Information provided on this site will remain the sole property of SCA, and will not be shared on any other platform or with other people.  It will be used strictly for SCA communication with the submitting individual.

Enter your information to receive new SCA content in your email inbox

You will receive a confirmation email after submission