CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) True confession: When I first moved to Central Wisconsin 20 years ago, I was going to buy a house in Merrill. Even then, Wausau’s property taxes were higher than surrounding communities.
Merill didn’t work out for me and my family. As a smaller city, there was less housing stock on the market. The two houses we considered weren’t right for us. One was too small. The other was too big and needed a new roof. And, 17 miles away from the Broadcast Centre, I wounded what the drive to work would be like during an occasional blizzard.
So I live in Wausau, three blocks away from my office, as a convenience. And I pay higher property taxes because of it.
I bring this up because last Friday Wausau began mailing out the new property tax bills – the first since properties in the city were reassessed last spring. I already knew that the modest $100,000 house that I bought four years ago was now valued at $140,000. And now that the tax bill can be viewed on-line, I know that my taxes are going up by $500.
That’s a lot.
I own the type of house that saw the biggest increases in value during reassessment. There are people who live in bigger homes in more expensive neighborhoods – like East Hill and the far West Side. Their property values went up too, but not as much as mine. They may live in a house that’s worth three or four times what mine is, and their taxes may also have gone up between $300 ad $500.
What’s the lesson? Well, I put aside extra money into my escrow account this year knowing that taxes were going up. So I won’t have to reach into my wallet to pay the increase. Many homeowners who did not will have an unpleasant surprise at the end of the year.
Wausau Mayor Doug Diny proposed us zero-based budgeting. We didn’t get that in this budget cycle. It’s very necessary in the next. The city also decided against unpopular budget cuts, like closing one of the public swimming pools, eliminating leaf pick-up, or limiting servies at Sylvan Hill. These must be reconsidered; residents can’t afford the status quo.
And Wausau has a more fundamental problem. People who move into the area will look at buying houses in Schofield, Rothschild, Weston, and yes, Merrill. Why? Because property taxes are so much lower there. Many will ask, what do I get for paying so much more to live in Wausau?
Chris Conley
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