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CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – How would I describe the Wausau City Budget? A disappointment that could have been much, much worse.
The two issues that drove the budget this year were largely out of control of city leaders and new mayor Doug Diny. They were property revaluation, and runaway spending from the past mayor Katie Rosenberg.
Revaluation is both good and bad. I should be delighted that the modest home I bought four years ago for $100,000 is now worth $140,000. If only my other investments did as well. But, now I will be taxed on the higher value of the real estate that I own. The city’s mil-rate will be lower, but that decrease will be wiped out by new, higher property values in the city.
The other structural problems within Wausau’s budget is the result of horrible decision-making from past mayor Katie Rosenberg. Using grant money – that is, one time cash – for ongoing expenses is moronic. For instance, we used federal grants to hire new police officers, firefighters and paramedics. Well, next year that money runs out. Those new expenses will either be cut or be shifted onto the tax levy. We all know that cuts to public safety personnel are politically impossible.
One time grants should be used for one-time expenses only. Politicians who take a grant and use it to pay for an ongoing cost and making a bet that the city’s tax base will grow before the grant money runs out. And they’re making that bet with your tax dollars.
That brings me to a final point about this year’s budget. City spending is up a very modest 2.5%. Even with small increases, there are only two ways to pay for it: raise taxes or grow the tax base. The city has been largely unsuccessful in recent years at attracting new development to town. You see the new Foundry on Third project that’s being built downtown. We need more of that. A lot more. Or else more difficult city budgets lie ahead.
Chris Conley
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