Wisconsin Rapids Aquatics Center costs comes into full view with new city budget
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly named the gas company of which the city uses for gas in the aquatics center. That company is WE Energies.
WISCONSIN RAPIDS – City residents will continue to see their taxes go to support the new aquatic center in 2022 but not for its operations.
The $40 million budget the city council approved 5-3 Tuesday will increase the tax levy by 6.3% to $14.1 million. That increase stems from cost of living pay raises, renovations to Fire Station 1, the reconstruction of Jackson Street and refinancing debt from a failed attempt to sell the naming rights to the aquatics center.
The vote came after council members disagreed about last-minute proposals to eliminate $2 million in road projects and as much as 60% of McMillan Memorial Library's budget, all of which failed.
The city's tax rate also increased to $12.93 per $1,000 of assessed property value, compared to $12.36 last year. The owner of a $200,000 home could expect to see a bill of about $2,586, an increase of $114 from last year.
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The budget also lays out how much running the city's aquatics center will cost annually, as the COVID-19 pandemic made determining the actual operating costs difficult.
This year, the center's operating budget was $359,000, compared to about $250,000 the year before. The budget increased by about $50,000 largely due to a faulty gas meter, which the city is negotiating with WE Energies in order to resolve gas billing issues the meter created, Mayor Shane Blaser said.
The center generated about $275,000 in revenue this year, enough to pay for its operations but not its own debt and long-term maintenance, Blaser said.
"It's going to be a work in progress for the next few years," he said. "Communities don't run pools that are financially profitable. But you at least want to break even."
The city provides the center with about $130,000 annually in taxpayer money. In 2020 and 2021, those funds went to operate the center. Next year, those dollars will go into a reserve to pay for long-term upkeep and equipment replacement, Blaser said. The city also will use tax dollars to pay off the $9 million it borrowed to build the $12 million center.
However, the city tried to sell the naming rights for $2 million but found no partners. In 2022, the city will refinance part of the debt for the aquatics center to account for that, contributing to the increase in the tax levy, Blaser said.
Last-minute change to cut 60% of the library's budget was unsuccessful
Some council members sought a $2 million cut in the past week. The city routinely borrows money for road construction, and the 2022 budget contained $2 million for such projects, $500,000 of which comes from special assessments to homes along those road projects.
To curtail borrowing, council members Patrick Delaney and Matt Zacher proposed cutting almost $800,000 from the library's $2 million budget during last week's public hearing. The idea would have been to provide only the bare minimum required by law in taxpayer support, about $400,000, as opposed to about $1.2 million. The rest of the library's budget comes from other sources, such as Wood County.
To bring the cuts to $2 million, council members also discussed a 2% cut across all city departments. Other proposals from the council included smaller cuts to the library's budget.
Council member Ryan Austin opposed the cuts and favored more equitable across-the-board cuts if the council wanted to reduce the size of the budget. Cutting the library's budget by almost $800,000 would have shut the library down and would have "severely damaged" the library's place in the community, he said.
Wisconsin Rapids Public Schools Superintendent Craig Broeren, who sits on the library's board, said the last-minute cuts prompted an emergency board meeting before Tuesday's council meeting. He asked the council to not make cuts this year and give the board time to find cost savings.
"We haven't had the opportunity as a governing body to enter into those conversations regarding $50,000 much less $800,000. We would appreciate that opportunity so we don't run the risk of completely devaluing and devastating what we have available in Wisconsin Rapids in terms of programming as well as facilities and infrastructure."
On Tuesday, Delaney defended cutting the library's share of taxpayer dollars by $800,000 because he said the city pays more than neighboring communities per capita on the library and the city should bring its spending in line with them.
"A vote to reduce their budget is not a vote against the library by any means," he said. "I think every council member is for the library, but what I think what we're against is having the Wisconsin Rapids residents pay such a high amount as compared to other municipalities."
Delaney said it wasn't his intention to single out the library. His proposal would have sent the budget back to each of the city's departments to find cost savings so the council could balance the budget.
He also said the abrupt nature of the proposed cuts was a by-product of the council only having seen the budget at the end of October and been only able to act on it during last week's public hearing.
Zacher sought to cut $500,000 from the city's budget as a way to end special assessments against properties and limit deficit spending. While he ultimately withdrew his amendment, other amendments could come forward in the coming weeks to reduce department budgets, including for the library.
Contact reporter Alan Hovorka at 715-345-2252 or ahovorka@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ajhovorka.
This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Wisconsin Rapids Aquatics Center cost laid out in new city budget
