Wausau will get more than $1M in additional shared revenue

Here's what area municipalities will get, and who gets left out

Last month I wrote a story about how a city like Wausau would fare under both Evers’ and the GOP’s proposals for additional shared revenue.

Today a deal was signed, in Wausau, that would see the city get nearly $1.2 million in additional shared revenue, a 29.4% increase. The state is allocating $206.9 million to municipalities and an additional $68 million to counties.

Mayor Katie Rosenberg says that the money will help in paying for the 12 additional firefighters the city added to its staff. Prior to that, the Wausau Fire Department hadn’t added any staff since the 1970s, despite call volumes dramatically increasing. They’ve doubled between 2003 and 2022, and are on pace to exceed 7,000 total calls this year.

Wausau metro revenue increase breakdown

Here is the total breakdown, via Gov. Evers’ press release:

• Villages would get $34.8 million, a 54.8%

• Cities would see a bump of $106.5 million, a 20.3% increase

• Counties would see an additional $68 million, a 55.4% increase

Some other area municipalities:

• Weston: $382,000, a 36.6% increase

• Rothschild: $152,000 increase, a 765 increase

• Kronenwetter: $220,000, a 90% increase

• Schofield: $68,000, a 40% increase

• Mosinee: $105,000, a 21% increase

• Marathon County: $1.4 million, or a 35% increase

You can look up how much the all municipalities and counties in the state will get here.

A long process

As we shared in our post about the Wisconsin Shared Revenue battle last month, the GOP legislature and Gov. Evers have been going back and forth on this issue for some time. The battle lines seemed to be drawn around rural and urban areas, with small cities such as Wausau or Stevens Point stuck in the middle.

The bill was signed in Wausau, this morning as I write this. Too bad the press release didn’t come through my inbox until after it was signed. Seems like an event both sides of the aisle would want press at.

The bill also boosts funding for the state’s voucher schools, and in a compromise to get the bill signed, Evers reached a deal with area lawmakers to pump an additional $1 billion into the state’s educational system. The Wausonian will keep an eye out for how that impacts both the Wausau and D.C. Everest school districts.

But not ever entity dealing with children will fare well in the next budget.