Wausau committee backs higher fees for portable stage use outside city limits

The Wausau Finance Committee on May 27 approved a proposed addition to the city’s comprehensive fee schedule to increase fees for use of the municipal portable stage and stage canopy at events outside the city limits.

Eric, a city staff member who presented the proposal, said the council had in past years allowed the stage to be used outside Wausau and that recent requests — including from the balloon festival organizer to move the stage to the Town of Stettin — showed the city incurs additional costs for transport and crew time. “We want to encourage the use of that stage for events within the city. But outside the city, I think there's consideration should be made to increase those fees for the use of that stage outside the city,” Eric said.

Eric told the committee the fee schedule provided in meeting materials “is pretty close for what we anticipate” in terms of labor and transport costs, and that current inside-city fees sometimes do not cover overtime required for setup and takedown. “Like inside the city, I, you know, we probably charge less than what it costs us to set up and take down,” Eric said.

Alder Gisselman moved the change and Alder McElhinney seconded; the motion passed by voice vote. The packet distributed to committee members included a detailed fee chart but the committee did not change the specific fee amounts on the record during the meeting.

The committee framed the change as aligning fees with additional costs when the stage is used beyond city boundaries while keeping lower charges to encourage events within Wausau.