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Mayor delivers State of the City, touts fiscal restraint and infrastructure plans
Summary
At the Kenosha Common Council meeting the mayor laid out 2025 accomplishments and 2026 priorities, highlighting a budget that reduced the city's portion of the property tax bill without cutting core services, expanded emergency response capabilities including blood on ambulances, and planned nearly $48 million in stormwater investment through 2030.
The mayor delivered the State of the City address to the Kenosha Common Council, framing 2026 priorities around public safety, housing affordability, economic growth and infrastructure modernization. He said the 2026 budget reduced the city's share of property taxes without eliminating core services and pledged continued investments in roads, parks and stormwater management.
The mayor highlighted public safety achievements including Kenosha Fire's ISO Class 1 rating and a new program to carry blood on frontline ambulances. "Since launching this program in April of last year our paramedics have administered 16 units of blood to 12 patients," he said, casting the program as a life-saving innovation other departments now seek to replicate. He also credited the police department's expanded community engagement and a drop in overall crime of 11% compared with 2024.
On housing, the mayor described the Home Kenosha initiative and said the city is working to convert aging multifamily buildings to single-family homes and support new homeownership. He noted recognition from realtor.com that Kenosha is one of the country's hotter housing markets and named local higher-education partners including Carthage College and University of Wisconsin'Parkside as economic drivers.
Infrastructure plans outlined include reconstruction and resurfacing projects (the mayor cited $3,500,000 in citywide resurfacing work and a nearly $10,000,000 investment in stormwater projects in 2026) and continued phases of major corridor work. He also described exploratory regional rail planning (Mark Rail) and downtown redevelopment efforts, including the opening of the Carrick building and further phases planned for 2026.
The mayor closed by emphasizing partnerships with state and federal lawmakers and local institutions, urging continued cooperation among council, staff and residents to execute the city's priorities.
The council took no formal action on the address itself; the meeting proceeded to citizen comments and regular agenda items.
