City staff presented the mayor’s recommended 2026 budget to the West Allis Common Council, outlining revenue changes, a prioritized capital program and proposed spending adjustments. The mayor and staff framed the budget within ongoing structural pressures created by state funding formulas and levy limits.

Key takeaways

- Revenue adjustments: Staff said the city identified several new or restructured revenue sources. A one-time annual savings from a partnership with the Southwest Health Department was cited as $265,000; staff also said the city expected Medicaid ambulance reimbursements totaling roughly $450,000 covering prior years and ongoing costs. A $420,000 adjustment related to the convention and visitors bureau was also cited as available to general operating revenues. Staff described other state shared revenues and transportation-aid changes but noted some offsets.

- Levy and expenditure limits: The budget presentation reviewed West Allis’s revenue (levy) limit and the state’s expenditure-restraint metric. Staff said the 2026 budget was prepared within the city’s limits (the presentation cited a 3% budget target against a 3.1% limit).

- Tax-rate and household impact: Staff projected the local tax rate would change from 8.34 to 8.56 (local rate units not further specified in the transcript). The presenter estimated the overall city portion of the typical tax bill would rise from about $20.38 to $22.37 and used a $200,000-household example to show a city-tax increase of about $44 total and roughly $17.12 attributable to the city portion—figures aimed at illustrating the local impact on homeowners.

- Utilities and fees: Staff proposed utility-rate adjustments to cover costs: sanitary utility rates were projected to rise 11.6% (presenter said this equated to an average of ~2.6% per year over an 8-year span), stormwater rates projected to rise 14.6% (averaging about 2.3% annually over nine years) and solid-waste charges projected to rise about 5% due to higher tipping fees and vehicle costs. The average single-family home was estimated to see a utility increase of under $8 per quarter.

- Capital plan and positions: The capital-improvement budget totaled approximately $31,700,000 with highlights including about $11 million for public works (including utility infrastructure), $1.2 million for parks and market/recreation improvements, $1.5 million for police (including a dispatch radio system upgrade) and approximately $17.5 million for streets — including a National Avenue reconstruction project where the city’s share (including utilities) was described as just under $1 million. The operating budget adds roughly three full-time-equivalent positions (1.25 housing grant-funded positions plus other allocations in HR, facilities, engineering and legal/finance reallocation). Staff also noted a 2% general-employee wage increase and ongoing negotiations with the Fire Department that were reflected in the budget.

Public process and next steps

Staff announced a public information session on October 30 at a location transcribed as Talia’s (6 p.m.), followed by the public hearing and a council consideration date on November 11. Council members were urged to engage with state officials about the long-term sustainability of state funding for municipalities.

Ending

Council members thanked staff for the work on the budget and discussed scheduling deeper departmental reviews in January to focus on detailed outcomes and reductions. Staff emphasized some revenues were provisional and that planned follow-up would finalize several items before budget adoption.