Incoming Wausau Fire Chief Jeremy Kopp. Image courtesy: Wausau Fire Department/Facebook
CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Earlier this week I told you about a self-made budgeting problem by Wausau city leaders. Former mayor Katie Rosenberg and the big-spending city council hired 13 new firefighters and 2 new police officers. They paid for it with on-time grant money. The grant runs out in 2026.
In January the city will debate a referendum, now estimated at $1.5-million. You will be asked to voluntarily raise your property taxes to cover the costs of the city’s irresponsible budgeting.
Now we learn that the city wants to put its thumb on the scale. Wausau will consider hiring Miller Communications, a public relations firm, to help with the “messaging” behind the referendum. Their goal is to persuade you to vote ‘yes’. Miller already “helped” with the messaging on forever chemicals in the city’s drinking water. We now have among the highest water rates in the state.
I urge you to vote ‘no’. The taxpayers of Wausau should send a clear message that reckless budgeting won’t be condoned. We already pay among the highest property taxes in the area, and the trajectory is up, not down. We’re already told that next year’s proposed budget relies on one-time fixes, and another round of tax hikes is likely a year from now.
And, of course, the city cannot possibly bring itself to scale back public safety staffing to 2024 levels. Finance Director Maryanne Groat has already suggested that if the referendum isn’t approved, the costs of extra staffing would be shifted onto the tax levy. City services would be cut elsewhere.
We need some real and difficult thinking about public safety. If the city had six fire stations instead of three, response times would be faster. If the city hired 50 additional police officers, we’d be safer. Why don’t we do those things? Because they’re too expensive. Police and fire, just like every other city department, have to live within what the residents of Wausau can afford. And, right now, Wausau taxpayers are tapped out.
Chris Conley
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