West Allis council holds public hearing on 2026 budget; finance director cites levy limits, new ambulance Medicaid revenue and $31.7M capital plan

The West Allis Common Council on Nov. 4 held a public hearing on Mayor Dan Devine—s recommended 2026 budget, during which the city—s finance director outlined ongoing revenue constraints and the items proposed to balance next year—s plan.

Jason, the city—s finance director, told the council that "the city faces a structural budget deficit every single year" and summarized how the 2025 gap was bridged with increased shared revenues and savings from a merged health department. He said Wisconsin—s state-mandated levy limits and an expenditure restraint limit, which the city—s presentation tied to net new construction, have constrained local taxing capacity.

To help close the 2026 budget gap, staff identified several revenue offsets, including about $450,000 in new Medicaid reimbursement for ambulance transports and roughly $420,000 freed by activating the convention and visitors bureau. The administration also cited additional shared revenue and utility-related taxes as part of the plan.

Staff proposed a roughly 3% increase in the overall budget. The presentation said public safety (police and fire) and public works remain the largest expenditure categories. The recommended budget adds full-time-equivalent positions spread through multiple departments: 1.25 in housing (noting 1.0 of that is grant-funded), 1.0 in human resources, 1.0 in public works for building maintenance, a reduction of 1.0 in engineering and smaller fractional additions in the attorney—s office (0.5) and finance (0.25), plus reallocation of existing positions between city administration and the city clerk.

The plan includes employee pay adjustments: a 2% increase for general employees and an allocation for the fire department; police contract negotiations remain in progress. Staff emphasized that assessed values were unchanged for 2025 and provided preliminary tax-rate estimates: the city portion was projected at $8.56, up from $8.34, and a preliminary overall tax rate of about $22.28. Using a $200,000 median assessed home as an example, staff estimated the city—s portion of the tax increase at $44 and a preliminary total tax bill near $1,712, noting the figures remain subject to change pending other jurisdictions— levies.

On utilities, staff reported the water rate change was shown as 0% because water-rate adjustments must be approved by the Public Service Commission; the sanitary utility showed a projected increase of 11.6 percent. Staff translated the utility changes to an average homeowner impact of about $7.71 in 2026.

The proposed capital plan totals approximately $31,700,000 and includes road reconstruction, farmers market improvements and upgrades to the police dispatch center.

Staff said the budget was introduced to the council Oct. 21, a public information session was held the prior week, and the public hearing was being held Nov. 4; the council was scheduled to consider final adoption on Nov. 11.

The hearing drew few in-person speakers; the council closed the public hearing during the meeting and moved to the public participation portion of the agenda, which yielded no public comments.