CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Wausau Mayor Doug Diny released his city budget proposal yesterday. It proposes a property tax increase. A big one. The city’s mill rate would rise from 8.74 to 9.24-per thousand of assessed value.
If your home is worth $200,000, the city portion of your tax bill would rise by about $100 this year.
My first response to this is absolutely, positively no. But my cry against the biggest tax increase in a decade won’t even be heard. It’s baked into the cake; taxes are going up… a lot.
Until the spring elections, Mayor Diny was the one lonely voice for controlling spending and getting taxes under control. His budget proposes these increases. There are still other big-spenders on the city council who will look to increase spending beyond the executive budget. One or two new council members campaigned on controlling spending. But they are in the minority and will be the least experienced voices in this year’s budget debate. Alone, they won’t be able to cut anything.
The counter-argument is this: Wausau residents voted, foolishly, to increase their own taxes to fund 12 firefighter-paramedic positions. That accounts for the largest line-item increase in the budget; it amounts for about $36 of the property tax increase. We were sold a false argument on that – being told that granny wouldn’t be driven to the hospital because there wasn’t enough ambulance staff to take her. The mayor’s budget proposal sees that referendum, passed by a slim 89 votes, as a starting point. That can’t possibly be the baseline for how much property taxes will go up. Cuts will have to be made elsewhere.
The budget proposal also includes 3% raises for non-union staff. Sorry city employees; there should be no raises this year. If you wish to leave your job for something in the private sector, do so. Health insurance costs are also through the roof. City workers should be expected to cover more of their healthcare costs, just like what happens at other companies. Costs for the MetroRide bus service, which no one rides, are up 30%. We are told we will save money in the future, when new busses, which no one will ride, arrive in the coming year. There is no serious discussion about ending this service which is a drain on the taxpayers. The budget also includes a $150,000 line item for a city administrator. Sorry… I’m not interested. This administrator, who never has to face the voters at the ballot box, could recommend another tax increase next year.
I am sad to say that this budget proposal changes where I stand on Mayor Doug Diny. I enthusiastically voted for him over Katie Rosenberg… she was a big, big spender. But this budget proposal, from the candidate who ran as a fiscal conservative, is nothing of the sort. It’s not what I voted for at all. Controlling spending means making and defending tough positions.
In the past eight years, the city’s tax levy is up 50%. Where does this end? And more importantly, any new resident or new company moving to Central Wisconsin would simply not come to Wausau. Why would they choose here compared to any other surrounding city where taxes are lower?
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