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Wausau police propose cuts and urge council to consider using animal-control reserve to restore hours
Summary
Police presented a cost-to-continue 2026 budget that reduces non-sworn animal-control hours and other line items; council members asked whether animal-control reserve funds could restore hours after earlier promises to the community.
Chief Barnes, Police Chief, told the finance committee the department faced a constrained budget and state/local limits that prevent cutting sworn staffing without penalty. The department worked with its leadership team and the union to identify reductions that would reduce expenditure without degrading basic public safety, producing a cost-to-continue budget that preserves core services while trimming several non-sworn areas.
Among the reductions the department offered were reduced hours for CSO (civil service/animal-control) positions, capping the non-dog-stray (cat) contract at 150 cats per year (down from a previously…
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