Wausau police outline cuts to animal control and CSO hours; councilors discuss using reserve to restore service

Wausau Police Chief (Chief Barnes) presented a series of proposed reductions for the department’s 2026 budget to the Finance Committee on Sept. 30 that include cuts to civilian animal control staffing and other administrative expenses intended to meet the committee’s target without reducing core sworn staffing.

Barnes said the department had limited options because ‘maintenance of effort’ limits make sworn headcount difficult to reduce, so staff focused on non‑sworn cuts and deferrals. Among the changes: a reduction in budgeted Community Service Officer (CSO) hours (a planned 75% reduction from the hours proposed as part of the 2025 change), a cap on contracted non‑dog stray intake (the contract was capped at 150 cats per year instead of the roughly 200 budgeted previously), and a cut to the animal control line from $75–80,000 down to $20,000 unless the council authorizes additional reserve spending.

Chief Barnes noted the department’s reasoning for the reduction to CSO hours was financial; he said officers will handle surplus animal calls if CSO availability drops. “If this council wants to authorize using those…surplus dollars, I’m not going to argue against that,” Barnes said, referring to the animal control reserve fund.

Alderman Alden McElhinney and others pressed staff on the city’s prior commitments to dedicated humane officer coverage and asked whether the animal control fund’s accumulated balance (reported by staff as about $119,078 at the end of 2024) could be used to preserve hours. Finance staff confirmed the reserve accrues when actual contract costs are lower than budgeted amounts and said using those funds would not affect expenditure restraint calculations because the animal control fund is outside the general fund levy.

Committee members discussed possible options: partially restoring hours (e.g., doubling the current $20,000 to $40,000 to support more hours) or fully restoring to 60 hours per week which would require roughly $80,000 from the reserve. No formal vote was taken; council direction was left open for the finance committee to consider recommending use of reserves when it forwards the overall budget recommendation to the full council.

The presentation also listed several smaller department reductions and one‑time deferrals (e.g., deferring radio replacements by one year, eliminating a tracking subscription, using existing ammunition stocks to avoid a near‑term purchase).