CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – I have two television sets in my house: a huge 72-inch big screen. It’s in the room that used to be my home office, but is now my bedroom. The other television is in my living room. It’s a much smaller TV, but I do most of my watching on it.
A few years ago, a friend gave me a nice credenza – room enough for two shelves of books on the bottom and room to put the living room TV on top. It’s a nice piece of furniture. But suddenly my TV looks small atop it. The credenza could easily hold a television that’s a foot wider.
And, for years, I just kept the small TV there. There was nothing wrong with it. I’d watched Packers and Brewers games on it for years. I could afford a bigger TV, I just never felt the need for some time.
That’s where I’m at with Wausau’s city budget. There are many items that might be nice to have, but they simply aren’t affordable. The Wausau Fire Department’s aerial truck is aging. It will have to limp along for a few years. Firefighters dream of a new, bigger fire station one. That isn’t in the budget either. Wausau’s vehicle fleet is behind on maintenance. The new budget makes accounting changes for how departments are billed for vehicle repairs, but it doesn’t clear the backlog. Wausau’s MetroRide did a study on a new bus storage facility; the study money is wasted… the facility won’t be built.
Think of the Wausau city budget, as proposed, as the old small TV on my credenza. For years I “made due”. That has to be the message to city department heads. The proposed budget is already a tax-breaker… the biggest tax hike in eight years. We are in making-due-with-what-we-have mode. The city’s spending plan is already unaffordable. The taxpayers in Wausau can’t afford anything else.
Chris Conley
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