Wausau City Hall. MWC file photo
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) – The Wausau City Council discussed and passed the city’s 2024 budget on an 8-3 vote on Tuesday night.
Much of the counsel’s discussion revolved around the city’s water rate and finding areas where possible cuts could be made before being finalized.
Alderman Tom Killian expressed concerns about the possibility of property tax raises and further water rate hikes and questioned the financial presenter about the issues, along with Alderman Doug Diny, who shared similar concerns about the city’s budget and asked for ways to make the process more transparent in the future.
Both Alderman Killian and Alderperson Doug Diny presented amendments to make cuts to the budget, which did not receive much support from the other members. Killian’s amendment to cut the fund to $0 failed by an 8-3 vote, while Diny’s amendment to cut $100,00 from the $1.5 million fund also failed 8-3.
Other members, including Alderperson Rasmussen, pushed back against the idea of cutting city funding, saying that the funds do a lot to help with services that many city residents expect to be paid for, would not save anyone savings on their bills, and the possibility could cause rates to rise.
Diny spoke further about his budget concerns, saying, “Last year, I termed it a ticking time bomb; I didn’t use that term tonight, but we are still facing a ticking time bomb two years down the road that we need to address.”
“Right now, many things on the budget are being funded by grant money, which is only temporary, so while that grant money has been great and seated us in some positions, once that money runs out, they will be full-time on the levy, and that’s about $1.2 million,” Diny continued.
Finance Director MaryAnne Groat says she believes that the city budget remains healthy going into the new year, saying, “Obviously we have other components when a taxpayer gets their tax bill outside of the city of Wausau, such as the county, it’s the school district, it’s the technical college, but we’re expecting a pretty stable tax rate in the Wausau school district and a small decline in the Everest school district for the overall tax rate, so at least from year to year there is a lot of stability for the taxpayers.”
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