HOLMEN - Although Holmen voters had a taste for fluoride in their water when they went to the polls Nov. 4, village trustees learned Thursday it will be like pulling teeth to get the fluoride flowing.

A village referendum, which passed 2,118 to 1,856, instructed officials to increase the fluoride in village water to the recommended therapeutic level.

The necessary equipment to make the change is not in the 2009 budget, and Village Administrator/ Clerk Catherine Schmit said she expects it will be well into 2010 before the first drop of the stuff hits the pipeline.

“We have equipment to order and then have it installed in the wellhouses,” Schmit said.

Village public works director Bob Haines estimates it will cost $140,800 to set up the equipment, and that it would cost about $8,500 to fluoridate the water.

Holmen’s 2009 budget, which passed Thursday, is nearly a carbon copy of the 2008 village expenditures.

The 2009 budget is set at about $3.8 million, with $1.65 million on the local levy. For comparison, last year the budget was $3.7 million with $1.5 million on the property tax levy.