By Shereen Siewert | Wausau Pilot & Review
City officials continued to play hot potato with the idea of additional water and sewer rate hikes during a contentious joint meeting in Wausau that devolved into name-calling, demonstrably false statements and finger-pointing.
Wausau residents are already feeling the pinch from the city’s latest rate increase in July, pushing water bills from about $292 to $448 on average each year. But in September, there were already hints that another increase would be necessary when Public Works Director Eric Lindman proposed additional staff and a pay reclassification for utility workers. On Sept. 11, Lindman sent a detailed email that spelled out specifics including updated budget numbers he put together to “establish a long term pay structure for a healthy utility.”
Then, on Sept. 11, the Human Resources Committee discussed Lindman’s proposal, openly sharing the roughly $450,000 price tag. Finance Director MaryAnne Groat confirmed on camera that such expenses are typically borne through user rates and was not factored into the most recent rate increases.
But Lindman, during a joint meeting of the HR Committee and Water Commission on Monday, stated he “never proposed a separate rate case” and said another rate case was “never part of the discussion.” He then suggested that the $450K of funding attached to reclassification and staff additions could already be found within the current budget, a statement Dist. 3 Alder Tom Kilian took exception to.
“What I’m hearing is that we didn’t include it in the last rate increase but somehow we have $450,000 wiggle room?” Kilian said. “When we’re given data that we have $450,000 of leeway in our current rate dynamic, right there raises concerns…when people are paying this much, that’s a problem.”
Lindman did not wholly address the figure but said the reclassification is necessary to ensure utility staff is paid at a competitive rate. But HR Director James Henderson had strong pushback for the notion that Wausau’s utility wages are not competitive, pointing to data he gathered from other communities and through the city’s own studies.
Henderson’s statements prompted a visibly annoyed Dist. 9 Alder Dawn Herbst to call Henderson “so negative,” while declaring – without any documentation – that it is her “understanding” that people have left the utility for higher wages elsewhere. But Henderson said that just isn’t so.
Henderson said seven people left the water and sewer utility in the past year, and none were for pay increases elsewhere. He criticized the Baker Tilly market analysis Lindman relied on to support his requests in part because comparisons were made to just four municipalities – Appleton, Oshkosh, Oak Creek and Manitowoc – which Henderson said “look hand picked,” are hours away from Wausau and are much larger communities.
“Those cities are double the size of Wausau, so they’re not comparable,” he said, adding that he contacted the communities involved and Wausau is “right there” with them in compensation. “I want to deal with this narrative that our people are somehow so underpaid. That just isn’t the case.”
He pointed to one of the lowest level employees in the utility, a position that has a starting pay of about $52,000 per year and includes three weeks of vacation, three personal days, perfect attendance and sick leave benefits and requires no college education as one example.
“Even if the comparisons are not correct, we’re not that far off from what they’re making in much larger cities than Wausau,” Henderson said.
Even in the face of Henderson’s research, Water Commissioners Joe Gehin and Herbst continued to insist throughout the meeting without any documentation that Wausau’s utility workers are underpaid and should see a pay bump. Neither said how the pay increases should be funded.
Gehin said he doesn’t “care where the money comes from,” whether it is through user rates or taxes, and said he is trying to gather information to back up his position.
Commissioner John Robinson said Wausau “needs to be at market” while taking exception to there being a difference between rates and taxes, because “ultimately that money comes out of the same people’s pockets.”
But Kilian said fees or uniform charges that are not based on income are completely different from taxes. He said city leaders can’t look at pay rates and scales unless they’re looking at where the money will come to fund them. And Henderson again repeated his position on the city’s pay scale as the meeting and disagreements continued.
Friction among department heads
Monday’s meeting was marked with visible friction between department heads Henderson and Lindman that appear linked to the Dept. of Public Works Director’s refusal to participate in a city-wide wage study performed by Gallagher that had been commissioned by the HR Committee for all departments not represented by a union.
Henderson said as part of the study, each department head was asked to give job descriptions and share what had changed for them. Lindman apparently did not comply. And the Utility Commission in 2022 spent tens of thousands of dollars on the Baker Tilly staffing assessment instead.
“We got an email from the public works department that basically says we’re good, we’re doing our own thing,'” Henderson said. “I’ve got that email right here.”
Lindman responded by saying the request from Henderson during the Gallager study wasn’t practical. “So, I was given two weeks to look through 42 job descriptions. And that wasn’t gonna happen.”
Ultimately, Kilian said, the fact of the matter is that on Sept. 11 the HR Chair gave an estimate of a $450K fiscal impact for “reclassification” that was not included in the last round of rate increases. The Finance Director said on video that the funding would be related to rates. If what was told to the council and public then is not accurate, he said, there should be an explanation forthcoming.
“We need to start with the facts and we don’t have them,” Kilian said. “To get those answers on camera and then to get some of the answers we got today, I feel like we’ve kind of departed from City Hall and entered the Twilight Zone.”
Kilian said workers should absolutely paid what they deserve. But he criticized the city’s practice of funneling money from the water utility through a Payment in Lieu of Taxes system, then using that money on non-water related needs when users’ bills are already through the roof.
“How about we use the water money for water needs?” Kilian said. “I can just tell you from District 3’s perspective there is no more flexibility on rate increases…no more rate increases, and we need to get the fiscal facts because they appear to diverge from what we were told.”
Kilian asked that more concrete figures and facts be pulled together before any future discussion on the matter.
Robinson proposed that the Human Resources Committee evaluate the issue and develop recommendations moving forward. That motion carried.
