Wausau residents likely to see property tax hike

Damakant Jayshi

Wausau officials have nearly finalized the city’s budget for 2024, with taxpayers seeing a rate hike – but no cuts to public services, according to city officials.

No residents spoke during Tuesday’s public meeting on the budget. City leaders are proposing a mill rate of $10.86 cents per $1,000 assessed value, a rise of 26 cents from last year. That means the owner of a $200,000 home would see an increase of about $52 for the city-related portion of this year’s tax bill.

Finance Committee Chair Lisa Rasmussen told Wausau Pilot & Review last week that the roughly 2% increase “is less than half of what we began with.”

Rasmussen said that Wausau increased the budget for both hot mix patch material and asphalt overlay projects to try to gain ground on road repairs. City residents often complain about potholes and other road conditions within the city.

Mayor Katie Rosenberg also hinted at and justified a potential tax increase in her letter to the City Council. Rasmussen said the increase is not surprising.

“Given the current economic climate, all costs of providing public services are increasing, so it is reasonable to assume that some increase is to be expected,” Rasmussen said. None of the increase is due to debt retirement, she said, adding that “the city is already on an aggressive debt retirement schedule.”  

The Wausau City Council will vote on its budget on Nov. 21. The Marathon County Board of Supervisors is finalizing its 2024 numbers on Thursday evening.

The county’s Human Resources, Finance, and Property Committee has proposed the 2024 Budget at $201,945,372 and a property tax levy of $57,954,347. The proposed tax rate is $3.99 per $1,000 of equalized value of property.

While this is a lower tax rate compared to 2023, the overall tax levy will increase by $3,111,687, which is about 5.7%. This is because, county officials said, the property value in Marathon County has increased by roughly 11% compared to 2023.

The city is proposing general tax levy at $22,519,618, with total estimated revenue at 43,914,338.