2026 budget unanimously approved

STEVENS POINT — The common council unanimously approved the 2026 budget during their Oct. 20 meeting. The 2026 capital budget, totaling $29.2 million, has seen a significant uptick from prior years, driven by large projects such as Business 51 improvements and construction of a new city hall.
Construction of a new city hall was approved during the Aug. common council meeting, where the price tag was announced at $17.4 million. $9 million of the cost will be spent in the 2026 budget, with the remaining cost set to trickle over into the 2027 budget.
“It could be a hard pill to swallow for everybody,” council member Shaun Morrow said on if taxpayers were to take on the entire $17.4 million budget in one year, “If we could break that up, that would be better for the city and I think it would also be better for the taxpayers.”
Mayor Mike Wiza responded, “We don’t borrow until we need it anyway. So even the stuff we approve today won’t be borrowed until the spring.”
In addition to the $9 million spent on a new city hall, the budget contains bigger items such as $4.3 million for street and sidewalk repairs and resurfacing, and $2.2 million for Business 51 reconstruction, among other smaller and routine budget items.