Activities will be curtailed at East Side Beach with lifeguards eliminated from Oconto Falls budget

Oconto Falls residents erupted in outrage on social media after the Oconto Falls Common Council approved a city budget that didn't fund lifeguards at East Side Beach, meaning docks and rafts won't be available for swimmers next summer.

City Administrator Peter Wills said the problem was the lack of interest in people, generally high school students, to be lifeguards. He said the city was already short-staffed last year, prompting the rafts to be closed at least three weekends along with some other days.

"We were short lifeguards that we would have wanted last year, and of those only two were anticipating returning this year," Wills said, "and we had advertised basically for almost 12 months last year for lifeguards and we only got one new applicant."

Without lifeguards, the city would be put in "a liability situation," Wills said, where they could be held legally responsible for potential injuries.

Oconto Falls spent more than $30,000 on lifeguards in 2022, Wills said, and it was reduced to about $25,000 last year due to fewer personnel. The city last increased the pay to $15.50 per hour.

"It seems also when we had the lifeguards last year they were not willing to work a holiday or weekend quite a bit either," Wills said. "… I don’t know if the kids just don’t need a summer job, or what the situation is. It’s been difficult to attract (applicants)."

Increasing the pay even more would result in paying the lifeguards more than the city pays some of its other seasonal staff, Wills said.

Swimmers will still be able to use Oconto Falls Pond and the beach, just at their own risk.

Wills said the city hasn't had lifeguards at the West Side Beach since 1988.

Wills said appreciated the public's emotions on social media after not having any residents attend the budget hearing, the finance meeting or earlier council meetings.

"Certainly we want to see people’s input, but again, the city … can’t debate that on a third-party app," Wills said.

Property taxes set

Property owners in Oconto Falls will see a slight increase in their property tax rate.

The tax rate rose to $9.39 from $9.34 from a year ago, an increase of 0.62%.

Under a tax rate of $9.39, the owner of a $100,000 home would owe the city about $939.

Tax bills also include separate taxes for the county, area school districts and Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. Some property owners will also see their tax bills reduced by lottery and first dollar credits.

Other budget highlights

The city approved a total levy of $1,539,325, which is up 0.8% from the $1,527,466 levied for 2023.

Money has been set aside to redo Oakwood Court, which Wills said he believes hasn't been updated since the 1960s. The city budgeted $143,900 for the project, which will be combined with other aid.

Wills said grants have also been applied to do work on West Highland Drive and Columbia Street, but work on those roads could be pushed to 2025 if the funding doesn't arrive in 2024.

Rising cost of insurance

The city did benefit in additional state shared revenue as a result of the Act 12 legislation signed by Gov. Tony Evers.

But while Oconto Falls will get an extra $96,400, "unfortunately that was completely absorbed just by the increase in insurance costs," Wills said.

The city saw about a $125,000 increase in the cost for health insurance, workers compensation and property insurances costs in its 2024 budget.

The city is still working on finalizing the police union contract.

"We may have to come back and revisit (the budgeted figures), but I don't anticipate it will be a substantial change from what we included in the budget already," Wills said.

The city has a meeting set for Dec. 6 to try to resolve negotiations.

Contact Kevin Dittman at 920-431-8416 or kdittman@gannett.com.

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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Oconto Falls OKs slight property tax increase, removal of lifeguards