WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WI (WSAU) — Wisconsin Rapids Mayor Shane Blaser says he expects his city may cash in an extra $140,000 from the state under the Governor’s proposal to expand shared revenue by about 4%.
While that may not sound like much compared to a multi-million dollar city budget, Blaser says it can make an impact with some careful planning. “You don’t want to use it on creating a new position, or something that will have a long-term cost to it. If it’s not here in a handful of years, how are you going to fund what you were using that money for?” he said. “For me, I think we put it into our regular operating [budget].”
He says that would allow the city to either lower taxes or borrow less, both of which would be “good options” considering there’s still no promise that the increase will be around in the next 3-5 years. Democratic Governor Tony Evers and the Republican-controlled Legislature still need to work out how the money will be distributed, though Evers has suggested reserving 1% of the state’s sales tax for distribution to counties, cities, villages, and towns in the future. “That 1% could be good use as long as it doesn’t raise taxes on the other side, [or] it doesn’t cost us additional money to fill in other areas where that 1% is coming from.
“It really comes down to trying to figure out a fair and equitable way among all communities,” he added.
Baser says that if his estimates are good and the city does get about $140,000 extra, it could be used for a small road project like a mill and overlay. That doesn’t involve replacing all infrastructure both above and below ground.
“If you’re just milling off a few inches and putting down a new surface, $140,000 can go a long way to improve ride quality on roads that aren’t ready to be replaced. If we can improve the ride quality, there’s a benefit to that,” said Blaser.
