Wausau City Council Votes to Not Hire a Consulting Firm for Public Safety Referendum

Monday, November 17th, 2025 -- 8:00 AM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) The City of Wausau will not hire a consulting firm to help craft educational materials for a potential public safety referendum after the city council narrowly defeated the proposal on Tuesday.

According to Mike Leischner with WSAU, Alder Tom Neal called the proposal unnecessary and questioned whether an outside firm hired by the city could maintain neutrality.

“I don’t see the need for this agency; they are not neutral. By definition, they are engaged by the city to fulfill a purpose. That [purpose] is to verbalize why we need this referendum to pass.”

Council President Lisa Rasmussen said if the city had a communications specialist, they would be tasked with crafting the materials. “We need a uniform, consistent, accurate message. I feel like that is what we get here. It’s less about marketing than it is about communication.  If we had an in-house communication person, that person would be doing this work. It would be their assigned task. We don’t have that person.”

The vote was 6-5 in favor, with the measure requiring a 2/3rds majority to pass. Alders Terry Kilian, Aaron Griner, Vicki Tierney, Becky McElhaney, and Neal voted no. Alders did not take a vote to finalize the question; that action isn’t required until late January.

The referendum would call for an additional $1.4 million to fund a dozen firefighter/paramedic positions in the Wausau Fire Department. Those positions have been grant-funded for the past few years, with those dollars set to expire at the end of 2026.

Alders also approved the 2026 city budget during Tuesday’s meeting. Residents will see a three-cent hike in the mill rate, to $8.74 per $1,000 of assessed value. Kilian provided the lone no vote on a 10-1 decision, with a handful of amendments failing as well.

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