Wausau budget: Passed. Then vetoed. | Weekly Wausonian

Wausau news for the week of Nov. 13, 2025

The city of Wausau passed its budget Tuesday - only to be vetoed by Mayor Doug Diny late Wednesday.

But the city said no way on hiring a communications consultant for a referendum next year asking voters to raise their taxes to pay for city firefighters.

The city council voted 10-1 to approve the 2026 budget, with a 3-cent increase in the mill rate.

That came after a surprise in the budget around a $1.2 million project to remove city utility lines from under the former Graebel Van Lines building, since city staff said it recently sold. (An amendment to remove it so committees could look review it first failed.) And after an attempt by Council Member Lou Larson to remove a proposal from the Mayor around restructuring the parks department from the packet (that also failed).

But on Wednesday, Mayor Doug Diny announced that he was vetoing the budget, calling it a “tax-hike setup.”

Diny in his press release about vetoing the budget says the upcoming referendum would add $1.4 million to the tax levy next year if it passes. Diny included a plan to cleave the city parks from the county into its own department.

Finance Director Maryanne Groat pushed back on that idea Tuesday - citing the fact that with a six-month lead time the city couldn’t even fill its transit director and facility manager roles. Groat said it didn’t make sense without an outside consultant reviewing it.

Diny acknowledged that a veto override - which would only take eight members to pass - is likely. But, Diny said, he was sending a message.

The city on Tuesday by a vote of 6-5 voted down hiring a communications consultant for the upcoming referendum (the measure required a supermajority). That came as some council members thought it would be a piece of overdeveloped marketing that was unnecessary.

The Wausonian regularly looks at Marathon County civil cases. But this month we found another, earlier lawsuit against the county sheriff related to cooperating with ICE detention requests:

Is the Wausau area’s housing market about to take a turn? We analyze the data and trends in real estate for Wausau and Marathon County.

What else in Wausau?

Ethics board, including expired members, discusses rule changes: The city’s ethics board, with the Diny complaint out of the way, discussed rule changes at its Tuesday meeting. But that meeting included board members whose terms had previously expired. Robyn DeVos and Doug Hosler participated in Tuesday’s discussion, despite their terms having ended in April. Ethics Board Chair Calvin Dexter said there was a problem with “Standard J” in the code, which led to it being unenforceable during the Deb Ryan complaint. Dexter said he would be drafting revisions to the rules and would take input from board members during the process.

Granite Peak snowmaking is underway: Downhill skiers will be thrilled - Granite Peak started making snow for its ski runs last weekend. The snowmaking is meant to take advantage of the colder temps, and since the ski-run side of the mountain faces north, it shouldn’t be subject to much melting despite warmer temperatures coming this weekend.

Firefighters contain Jackson Street fire, rescue pets: Wausau firefighters were on scene quickly to a fire on Jackson Street Tuesday night. Firefighters attacked the fire aggressively, officials say, and contained it to a single room of a house in the 900 block of Jackson Street. Firefighters were able to rescue one dog and four cats from the structure. No one was injured in the fire.

Around the metro

Marathon County budget amendments drop mill rate further: Several amendments to the 2026 budget Tuesday dropped the mill rate even further from its already lower 2026 rate. The amendments dropped the rate to $3.4892 from $3.506. Successful amendments to add $20,000 for the Marathon County Historical Society’s 250th anniversary celebration, increase roughly $195,000 in transportation aid to the highway department, remove the internet stipend from board members and weave into their salaries instead, and reduce the tax levy by $200,000 by reducing the contingency funding by that amount. Failed amendments were providing $5,000 to Synergy for economic development, implementing a jail stay fee, and increase sales tax revenue (based on totals coming in higher than estimates typically call it).

Kronenwetter supervisor to make initial appearance today: Sean Dumais was arrested on Oct. 10 at his business, Central Wisconsin K-9 in Schofield. As of Wednesday, a month after his arrest, charges have still not been filed in the case. Dumais remains on the Marathon County Jail’s roster under a $10,000. The Wausonian reached out to District Attorney Kyle Mayo to ask about the delay. Mayo told The Wausonian that Dumais would make an initial appearance today (Thursday).

Tis the season! Give the gift of staying informed on local issues:

Preview of budget for Weston: Village of Weston taxpayers are looking at a pretty significant mill-rate drop next year. According to a budget summary provided ahead of the village’s public hearing this month, equalized mill rates will drop from $5.89 per $1,000 of home valuation to $5.56, a drop of 33 cents. The drop is expected to be a one-time fluke stemming from a drop in TIF District No. 1 revenue of more than $1 million.

Kronenwetter sees mill rate increase: The village of Kronenwetter approved its 2026 budget - and unlike most municipalities this year, it’s seeing a mill rate increase. The mill rate for 2026 is $4.03 per $1,000 of home valuation, an increase from 2025’s mill rate of $3.85. The village will also see a 22% increase in 2026 for its garbage fees. Future increases will only be 3%, Finance Director John Jacobs explained. The village is also adding two additional patrol officer positions next year but not filling some other positions such as the deputy clerk and deputy fire chief.

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Entertainment

Molly Tuttle earned back-to-back Grammys for best album - now she’s making her way to the Grand Theater. And that’s only one of the events in Your Wausome Weekend Guide:

Sports

Girls volleyball: All eyes were on the Newman Cardinals girls volleyball team Saturday morning. But after a stellar run all the way to the state final, the Cardinals fell short in a game against Rib Lake. Newman got off to a strong start with a 26-24 first game, but dropped three straight to fall short of the state title. The Cardinals finished the season with a 28-17 record.

Junior hockey: The Wausau Cyclones earned a pair of victories over the Rochester Grizzlies last weekend. The Cyclones beat the Grizzlies 5-2 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday. That improves the Cyclones to 9-5 on the season, and third place in the NA3HL Central Division.

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