Wausau’s finance committee removes funding for city administrator salary

WAUSAU, WI (WSAU)  There’s been a setback in Wausau Mayor Doug Diny’s push for a city administrator form of local government. The city’s finance committee has removed $150,000 for an administrotpr’s salary from the city budget.

Instead, the money will go toward a citywide audit.

Diny had proposed the administror’s salary in anticipation of a debate over switching Wausau to an administrator or city manager form of government in the coming year. Stripping the salary funding indicates that some council members don’t support such a change. Some council members said funding a salary for a position that hasn’t formally been created is premature.

The last time the issue was raised in the city, voters rejected it at referendum.

Wausau’s budget for 2027 is scheduled for a public hearing on November 10. The budget already includes the largest increase in city spending in a decade, and the largest property tax increase in the last eight years.