Menomonie City Council approves $45,000 in funding for Mabel Tainter and $25,000 for Downtown Menomonie
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — The Menomonie City Council has approved $45,000 in funding for the Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts and $25,000 for Downtown Menomonie as part of the Tax Increment Finance District 15 budget for 2025.
The Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts is an economic driver for Menomonie because in addition to buying tickets for performances, ticket holders also spend money in Menomonie when they come to the city for performances, said Dustin Olson, fund development officer for the Mabel Tainter, during the public comments portion of the Menomonie City Council’s December 2 meeting.
The Mabel Tainter had asked for $60,000 for 2025, and Downtown Menomonie had asked for $40,000, according to budget documents for the City of Menomonie. The city provided $60,000 to the Mabel Tainter in the 2024 budget and provided $25,000 to Downtown Menomonie in the 2024 budget.
The 2025 budget approved at the November 20 meeting by the Menomonie City Council approved a total expense budget of $19,080,538.
The approved property tax levy for the 2025 budget is $7,899,490 with a mill rate of $6.69 per $1,000 of property value, which compares to a mill rate of $6.43 for the 2024 budget.
By way of comparison, the mill rate for the Village of Colfax was $20.98 per $1,000 of property value for the 2024 budget on a revenue and expense budget of $1.3 million for 2024.
For the 2025 budget, budget notes indicated the allocation for the Mabel Tainter and Downtown Menomonie was switched to TID 15 as an incentive recommendation.
TID 15 is listed as a “downtown blighted” tax increment finance district.
Downtown Menomonie is a non-profit organization “that works together with the property and business owners to build a strong and vibrant downtown commercial district,” according to the organization’s website.
Downtown Menomonie has a plan for raising additional funds so that in the future, funding is not needed from the City of Menomonie, said Becca Schoenborn, executive director of Downtown Menomonie, during the public comments portion of the meeting.
Even though Downtown Menomonie had asked for $40,000, the organization would be happy to accept the 2024 funding level of $25,000, she said.
TID budgets
Menomonie has seven active tax increment finance districts, said Eric Atkinson, city manager, during the city council’s discussion of the TID budgets.
The recommendation for funding for the Mabel Tainter from TID 15 is $45,000, and the recommendation for funding for Downtown Menomonie is $18,750, he said.
In a tax increment district, the taxing authorities — city or village, school district, county and technical college district — continue to receive the property taxes on the base value of the district.
During the life of the tax increment district, either 20 or 26 years, the property taxes generated on the improvements in the district go into a special fund for the TID rather than being paid to the taxing authorities, and the money is then available for the city or village to use for development or for infrastructure, such as sewer and water lines or street improvements, in the TID.
When the TID is closed out, the taxing authorities receive any remaining funds.
School districts receive no benefit from tax increment districts, because at the end of the TID, if the school district receives a payment, the state of Wisconsin reduces the state aid to the school district by the amount received from the TID.
More or less money
It is up to the city council members how much they want to fund out of TID 15 for the Mabel Tainter and Downtown Menomonie, said Randy Knaack, mayor of the City of Menomonie.
If the city council decides to fund more than the recommendation, then there will be less money available for other projects, Atkinson said.
Is it possible to move funds between TIDs? asked Laura McCullough, representative for Ward 5.
Funds can be moved between TIDs as long as the city council has approved one TID to be a donor for another TID, Atkinson said.
The plan is to make TID 15 a donor for TID 19 so that more funds can be put into TID 19 because more projects are planned, he said.
During the discussion after a motion was made and seconded to fund the Mabel Tainter at $60,000 from TID 15 and Downtown Menomonie at $25,000, Leland Schwebs, representative for Ward 6, said the city council must be consistent in the cuts made for funding outside agencies.
Stepping Stones might be more important than funding the Mabel Tainter right now, he said.
Schwebs said he supports both the Mabel Tainter and Stepping Stones, but “if we’re going to start playing games, we’d better be careful.”
Fairness
The city council threw out the idea of fairness at the last meeting when other subsidies were cut, said Cody Gentz, representative for Ward 7.
The TID budget can support subsidies at that level, and the subsidies provide a return on investment, he said, adding that he understood it was not fair to the other non-profits that had their funding reduced.
Jeff Luther, representative for Ward I, said he was “okay” with the funding for Downtown Menomonie but noted that when the Mabel Tainter asked for a liquor license to open the Spirit Room some years ago, the city council had been told that the liquor license would mean that the Mabel Tainter would need a smaller subsidy from the city.
The city council should fund the Mabel Tainter at $45,000, he said, noting that he serves on the Mabel Tainter Board of Directors.
The City of Menomonie funded Stepping Stones of Dunn County at $30,000 in the 2024 budget, and the request for 2025 also was for $30,000.
The budget recommendation for 2025 for Stepping Stones was $22,500.
Other funding requests were also reduced, including the Menomonie Area Senior Center, which requested $29,000 and will receive $21,750 in 2025 ($29,000 in the 2024 budget); the Ludington Guard Band which requested $12,000 and will receive $9,000 in 2025 ($20,000 in the 2024 budget); the Bridge to Hope, which requested $10,000 and will receive $7,500 in 2025 ($10,000 in the 2024 budget); and Evergreen Cemetery Association, which requested $5,000 and will receive $3,750 in 2025 ($5,000 in the 2024 budget).
In addition, the Dunn County Historical Society, which requested $10,000, will receive $3,750 in 2025 ($5,000 in the 2024 budget); Boys and Girls Club of the Greater Chippewa Valley will receive zero dollars on a $5,000 request for 2025 (zero dollars in the 2024 budget; $5,000 in the 2023 budget); and the Hmong Friendship Center will receive zero dollars on a $6,000 request for 2025 (has not previously been funded).
Motions
A motion to approve the 2025 TID budgets and to fund the Mabel Tainter at $60,000 and Downtown Menomonie at $25,000 from the TID 15 budget failed on a vote of six “no” to three “yes.”
Voting in favor were Matthew Crowe (Ward 2); Laura McCullough (Ward 5); and Cody Gentz (Ward 6).
Voting against the motion were Jeff Luther (Ward 1); Eric Sutherland (Ward 3); Leland Schwebs (Ward 6); Mary Solberg (Ward 8); Chad Slough (Ward 9); and Randy Sommerfeld (Ward 11).
City council members Gretchen Yonko (Ward 4) and Ryland Erdman (Ward 10) were absent from the meeting.
A motion to approve the 2025 TID budgets with Downtown Menomonie receiving $25,000 and the Mabel Tainter receiving $45,000 from the TID budget was approved on a vote of eight “yes” to one “no.”
Schwebs voted against the motion.
Other business
In other business, the Menomonie City Council:
• Approved the 2025 water utility budget with total operating expenses of $2,702,860 and total revenues of $2,412,300.
• Approved the 2025 wastewater utility budget with total operating expenses of $3,304,114 and total revenue of $3,528,641. The 2025 wastewater budget includes $200,000 for a new truck to haul sludge from the wastewater treatment plant to the storage facility by Cardinal Glass.
• Approved the 2025 stormwater utility budget with total revenue of $846,500 and total expenses of $846,500.
• Approved the solid waste and recycling budget for 2025 with total revenue of $651,000 and total expenses of $657,585. Collection of electronics will be held in the spring, and the collection of hazardous waste will be held in the fall.
• Approved the construction fund budget of $13.41 million. The budget will fund capital improvements in 2025 and 2026. The money that is saved borrowing two years out “is considerable,” Knaack said. The city council will approve the two-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) at the second meeting in January or in February, Atkinson said, noting that approving the budget does not mean that the city council is approving borrowing the money.
• Approved a land lease contract for the sum of $1 with Christmas Miracle Inc. to construct and maintain up to two outdoor ice rinks within the City of Menomonie. CMI is solely responsible for the installation, maintenance and de-installation of the ice rinks at its own expense. The City of Menomonie will allow CMI to use the fire hydrant on the property to flood the ice rinks, and CMI is responsible for paying the City of Menomonie for the water and for any electricity costs to light the property.
• Approved a bid from Menards in Eau Claire in the amount of $21,851.60, with the cost not to exceed $24,000, for materials to build two sheds for Christmas Miracle. The city council rejected all proposals to construct a 16-foot by 30-foot shed on October 21 due to the cost. Since then, city staff have worked with Mayor Knaack to obtain quotes for materials to construct two sheds at Christmas Miracle that would be insulated but would have no electricity, plumbing or heating and would be constructed on wooden skids to allow them to be moved, if necessary. Labor for building the sheds would be donated. The money to pay for the materials is from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that must be allocated by December 31, 2024. Allram Lumber Co. in Prairie Farm submitted a bid of $23,680.68 and Builders First Source in Menomonie bid $23,722.88.
• Approved a bid of $4,621 from Premier Portable Buildings out of Menomonie for a prefabricated shed to be installed at Wolske Bay Park to store holiday decorations and equipment. ARPA funds also will pay for the Wolske Bay Park shed, which will be 10 feet wide by 15 feet long. Other bids included $6,340.55 from Eau Claire Shed Supply in Menomonie and $6,103.81 from Builders First Source in Menomonie. An additional $140,000 remains in ARPA funds from other projects that came in under budget, and the city council will be asked to take action on proposals to spend the rest of the ARPA money at the December 16 city council meeting, Atkinson said.
• Approved new rates for Wakanda Water Park. Daily admission will be $6 per person for residents and non-residents, which represents a $1 increase; $5 per person for group rate admission (15 or more) for both residents and non-residents. A family season pass will be $150 for residents and $220 for non-residents, representing a $20 increase for family season passes; a youth season pass for $65 for residents and $90 for non-residents, representing an increase of $10; adult season passes for $75 for residents and $115 for non-residents, representing an increase of $10; and senior season passes for $60 for residents and $85 for non-residents, representing an increase of $10; exclusive rental at $400 per hour for residents and non-residents, representing an increase of $50. The rate increases will fund pay raises for lifeguards, which have been increased so that the Wakanda Water Park can stay competitive with other water parks in the area. The hours at the water park also will be expanded.
• Approved fee increases for the solid waste site of $15 for loveseats; $20 for couches; and $40 for sectionals (previously all three items were $20 regardless of size); a minimum fee of $10 for carpets and 25 cents per square yard; adding charges for children’s power wheels ($5), yard toys ($5), pianos ($50) and hot tubs ($50); $5 for toilets. The solid waste site also will accept more construction and demolition materials at a cost of $100 for a full pickup load (regardless of the size of the pickup) and $50 for a half pickup bed. No loads larger than a pickup will be accepted. Shingles are not accepted at the solid waste site.
• Approved writing off uncollectible non-sufficient fund accounts payable in the amount of $115.68 and uncollectible 2022 personal property tax of $1342.16. The city treasurer noted that continued efforts to collect the money was not worth the time, effort or expense.
