News, Analysis, and Insights
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Marathon County Board Rejects Amendment to Reduce 8.2% Tax Levy Increase
The Board rejected Supervisor Sondelski’s Amendment 5, which would have reduced the 2027 property tax levy increase by 34.8%, by a vote of 17 Yes to 18 No. A vote of yes was to adopt Amendment 5, which would have cut the property tax increase. A vote of no was to reject Amendment 5 and…
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Marathon County Highway Fund – A look at 14 years of Unrestricted Net Position
In November 2024, I raised questions about the growth of Marathon County’s Highway Fund reserves. At the time, I pointed out that despite a budget that anticipated drawing millions of dollars from Highway reserves, the Fund’s unrestricted net position actually increased by nearly $1.93 million in 2023. I thought it was worth updating that information…
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Marathon County Reported More Than $30 Million in Investment Earnings Over Three Years. What Does That Mean for Taxpayers?
Marathon County’s proposed 2027 budget would shift $3.5 million in North Central Health Care (NCHC) payments onto the property-tax-supported debt levy. County officials have described the County’s financial situation as one in which delaying that shift would cause financial pain. But there is another part of the County’s financial picture that deserves closer examination: its…
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Another Tax as Bad as the Wheel Tax ?
Marathon County’s new Highway facility is needed. The question is how the County should pay for it—and how much of the cost should be shifted onto property taxpayers in 2027. On November 10, the Marathon County Board of Supervisors will vote on the County’s 2027 budget. One of the most consequential decisions in that budget…
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Is Supervisor Griner the Best Choice for Infrastructure Chair?
Should there be 5 Wausau Supervisors on the Executive Committee? Chair Gibbs has the right, under the Board Rules, to appoint a Supervisor to be Chair of a Standing Committee in the case of a vacancy. The Board has the right – and the responsibility – to reject that appointment if they don’t believe that…
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The County should setup a $500,000 Legal Fund for future Victims of Hub City Wind
Proposal The County Board should set up a Hub City Legal Fund of $500,000 instead of either seeking to enter into a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) or choosing to be an intervenor in the potential upcoming PSC regulatory actions for the proposed Hub City Wind project in southwestern Marathon County. If the Hub City Wind…
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Dear Kronenwetter Residents,
Our new interim Finance Director, John Jacobs, found a $1,223,358 mistake in the 2024 and 2025 Village budget presentations and in the resulting 2024 and 2025 Village tax levy. It is important to note that a) there is no indication of fraud or missing funds and b) the mistake in the budget presentation was not…
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Marathon County (and Wausau) want to move the County Highway Garage to Kronenwetter.
Summary Marathon County Administration and key members of the Board Leadership are pushing to relocate the Marathon County Highway Facility (Garage) to Kronenwetter. This new facility would be located on Business 51 between Cedar Creek in Rothschild and Kowalski Road in Kronenwetter. Under the current plan, this would transfer traffic congestion and traffic safety issues…
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Marathon County has about $1,200,000 in Highway Reserves paid for by Kronenwetter Residents.
I want to start by saying that a) I believe that Marathon County needs to build a new County Highway Facility or substantially rebuild the existing facility either on the current site or on a new site. b) I believe that the Leadership (Commissioner Jim Griesbach and Deputy Commissioner Kevin Lang) and Employees of the…
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Marathon County Board: Please use the funds from the wheel tax to improve our roads, not to build a Highway Garage
Marathon County implemented a wheel tax in 2017. The wheel tax was promised to be in place only for 1 year and most residents believed it was intended to be used to improve Marathon County roads. In reality, an amount approximately equal to the annual wheel tax (about $3,000,000 per year) went into County Highway…