Wausau Mayor talks about benefits of new shared revenue agreement

Wisconsin Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, right at lecturn, is surrounded by fellow Republican lawmakers in the Assembly chamber, as he discusses details of a funding plan to save Milwaukee from bankruptcy, increase funding for local governments and bolster spending on K-12 schools, Thursday, June 8, 2023, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)
Scott Bauer/AP

Local communities now have a much better idea what to expect as they think about their budgets.

Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg was among those celebrating last week's shared revenue agreement between Democratic Governor Tony Evers and the Republican controlled legislature.

“It’s a huge change to how we fund cities and towns and counties, and it’s a big deal. We’ve been advocating for this forever,” said Rosenberg.

Rosenberg said the money comes at just the right time for the city, which has a three-year grant to fund additional firefighter positions.

“Just under a million dollars more for our general fund which is a big deal. We’ll be able to pay for our firefighters, we’ll be able to do some of those expansions that we have with the police department, having our outreach coordinator.”

Rosenberg also noted how rare incidents like this are in Madison, where both sides have reason to celebrate.

“For ordinary Wisconsinites, who maybe are sick to death of politics, they’re going to be pretty pleased by this or maybe they’ll be unaffected, which is also, in general, fine.”

The deal was announced last Thursday after lengthy negotiations between the sides.

Final numbers are still being worked out.

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