Common Council

The Common Council for the City of New Lisbon met in special session on Thursday, October 17, 2024 at 6:04 PM in the Fire Department meeting room with the following members present: Mayor Mark Toelle; Alderperson Marv Newlun, Sheldon LaBudda, and Morgan Reichhoff. Ken Southworth was absent. Also present: Director of Public Works Nick Wyss, City Clerk/Treasurer Lisa Vinz/Jen Pedersen, Fire Chief Joe Willard, Police Chief Kyle Walker, Library Director Deanna Rosier, First Responder Director Andy Hare. Discussion of proposed 2025 General Fund Budgets were presented by each department. The Library shared that the retirement payout will be less than projected due to sick/vacation days being used. The Pool & Park requested an increase of $1,000 for pool maintenance costs. All departments requested a 3% wage increase, except the Police Department is requesting a 5% wage increase due to savings in their fringe benefits. The First Responders requested $700 more than last year for personal protective equipment. The Public Works Department stated a dump truck will need to be replaced next year. The City stated that to meet the expenditure restraint, the overall budget needs to cut nearly $55,000 from the expenses to be lower than the required 3.6%. Two retirement payouts, building maintenance, health insurance, and increased ambulance fee costs are driving our expenses to be higher. Discussion of a possible increase in ambulance taxes may be necessary to accommodate increasing contracted services. A motion to adjourn by Reichhoff, and second by Newlun, was made at 6:59 PM.