Committee approves budget amendment, staff warns private-side borrowing will rise

The Wausau Finance Committee approved a budget amendment April 14 to cover costs for the lead service line replacement project that were not funded by the Wisconsin DNR subsidized loan.

Staff presented updated numbers for the amendment: $283,869 transferred from the general fund to capital projects to cover homeowner portions, with the water utility covering the remaining shortfall. During discussion, Alder Watson asked whether shifting part of the cost to the water utility would affect intergovernmental relationships; staff replied that the project and allocation reflect expected utility expense and that the scope of the project did not increase beyond budgeted expectations.

Later in the meeting staff provided a broader update on the program’s funding for 2026: the city now anticipates about $3.3 million of general-obligation borrowing on the private side (up from an earlier $1.7 million estimate) while a revenue bond request on the water side is expected to fall from an earlier $6 million estimate to roughly $3.3 million. Staff attributed the shift to changes in census-track eligibility used by the DNR to allocate principal forgiveness and to bid prices for construction (staff said actual bids have come in higher than earlier cost estimates). Committee members emphasized the program’s throughput — staff said the city has completed more than 2,000 replacements in the last two years — and discussed the annual cycle the DNR uses for eligibility.