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West Bend approves 2026 capital budget and five-year plan; tax rate unchanged
Summary
The Common Council approved a $10.6 million 2026 capital budget (about $8.7M non-TID, $1.9M TID) and a five-year plan; borrowing plans include a $4.0M non-TID bond (10 years) and a separate fire station borrowing (20 years). Several maintenance items were postponed to balance the plan.
The Common Council on Oct. 20 approved the City of West Bend’s 2026 capital budget and five-year capital plan, a package city staff said totals roughly $10.6 million and leaves the property tax rate unchanged from prior estimates.
Finance staff said the budget breaks into approximately $8.7 million of non–tax-incremental-financing (non-TIF) projects and about $1.9 million of TIF-funded projects. Staff presented a category breakdown that included about $5.2 million for facilities, $2.9 million for roads and engineering, roughly $540,000 for vehicles and $45,000 for equipment.
Staff described two separate borrowings: a standalone financing for the new fire station amortized over 20 years and a $4.0 million borrowing for the remainder of non-TID capital projects amortized over 10 years. City staff emphasized that the city’s practice is cyclical borrowing — new borrowings are timed as prior debt service retires — and that the city remains well below its legal debt capacity (staff said the city is about $180 million under its borrowing limit).
Highlights and line items noted by staff included a $406,000 final payment for Fire Engine No. 12; $300,000 for City Hall boiler replacement; $135,000 in inflationary increases for three Department of Public Works trucks; $100,000 for replacement play structure at Mank Playfield; $45,000 for camera-monitoring upgrades in dispatch; $40,000 for maintenance of the library’s rooftop HVAC; and $21,000 for HVAC at Riverside Park Pavilion. Staff said one DPW truck (unit 1244) will be purchased in two installments — a $150,000 chassis payment in 2026 and a $150,000 upfit payment in 2027 — due to lead times.
To accommodate the budget, staff said some projects were postponed, including parts of the sidewalk program, pavement markings and one public works truck; staff cautioned those postponements are not permanent.
Councilmembers voted to approve the capital budget and five-year plan; staff said the tax rate estimate already included the capital borrowing and would not change with the approved plan.
