Wausau mayor proposes major overhaul to parks department, slashing middle management positions

Wausau Mayor Doug Diny this week released a proposal that would overhaul the city’s parks, recreation and forestry department, shedding middle management positions and shifting the department to Public Works.

The proposal could save taxpayers as much as $500,000 annually, Diny said. Wausau and Marathon County have operated a joint parks department since 1974, sharing the cost. That move was likely made as an effort to save money by sharing equipment and achieving economies of scale. But Diny, as part of a “zero-based budgeting” analysis, said there is no evidence that a shared department comes with any cost savings and instead created a larger, multi-level bureaucracy.

“Bureaucracies grow naturally,” Diny said. “To get raises, government workers must supervise more people and administer bigger budgets. With those incentives in place, bureaucratic organizations tend to stack up people in middle management. Periodically, there needs to be a review of positions. It is simply good practice.”

The zero-based budgeting process is a strategic budgeting approach that mandates a fresh evaluation of all expenses during each budgeting cycle. Rather than just taking the previous year’s spending levels as a base, a department’s budget is set at zero and a rationale for each component of its budget is put forward to justify restoring those dollars.

Wausau now spends $3.5 million on parks and funds 21 of 44 (48%) positions in the joint city county parks department. The equalized value of the City of Wausau is about $4 billion, and Marathon County is $14.5 billion. That means that the citizens of Wausau pay 27% of the county’s bills.

Diny’s report, embedded below, shows that seven of the 44 FTE positions are supervisory, arranged in a three-layer hierarchy. The plan would allow Wausau to stop paying for 1.5 FTE administrative services positions and 1.7 FTE senior manager positions, reducing the current budget by between $400,000 and $500,000 without reducing any front-line positions – the people who are taking care of the city’s parks.

“It is important to understand that this proposal does not cut a single front-line worker position,” said Diny. “The city will have the same number of FTE taking care of our parks as before.”

The city-county parks department has its own administrative services division. Because Wausau has a centralized accounting and administrative service department, Diny said, Wausau could likely avoid paying for half of the 3 FTE county positions for those roles.

In addition, the maintenance and development division has two subdivisions, one for park operations and the other for urban forestry. Both hire arborists, horticulturalists and park maintainer positions. Diny proposes combining those two subdivisions under a single supervisor with a joint priority list.

“For example, in the aftermath of a wind storm that has taken down a lot of trees, we likely want ‘all hands on deck’ from both subdivisions working off a single priority list for tree removal,” Diny’s report states. ” There are likely to be even more benefits to be gained if these two segments of the parks department worked more closely with the Department of Public Works.”

Diny said he has discussed the proposal with Public Works Director Eric Lindman, who “sees some potential synergies with having a parks staff” within his division.

Marathon County Administrator Lance Leonhard, in an email to Wausau Pilot, said he discussed the matter with Diny last week.

“Last Friday, Mayor Diny shared with me his desire to implement a zero-based budgeting approach with respect to the Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Department’s 2025 budget, and as part of that process he may develop a proposal to withdraw from the long-standing joint management agreement,” Leonhard said. “I shared that our team is committed to supporting the Wausau City Council throughout their decision-making process and will honor any requests for information to aid the Mayor and the City Council in their evaluation.”

Leonhard said the county welcomes conversations about service level adjustments to help Wausau achieve its budget objectives.

“I am proud of the dedication and hard work of the team within the Wausau & Marathon County Parks, Recreation & Forestry department and their commitment to managing our park and forest lands, while providing ample recreational opportunities in a collaborative and cost-effective manner that benefits City of Wausau and Marathon County taxpayers,” he said.

The proposal comes on the heels of a discussion less than two months ago on whether to transfer park system management to Marathon County. In June, Wausau’s Parks and Recreation Committee approved an agreement to shift control of the city’s parks to the county, but postponed a decision on whether to shift the group to an advisory-only role. Several alders said they feared that converting the Parks and Recreation Committee into an advisory-only role or abolishing the group altogether would dilute the authority the city has over its parks.

Then, Alder Lisa Rasmussen said that the city had previously discussed taking the parks department back in-house but determined that the split would be “historically expensive” since operations are so deeply integrated.

But Diny said his analysis does not show that the partnership benefits taxpayers. He said a few simple equipment-sharing agreements could potentially harvest all the benefit there is to be had from a relationship with Marathon County.

“People talk about cutting ‘government excess’ all the time,” said Diny. “But, no one seems to have the political courage to identify actual cuts. To lead us forward, I have decided to start identifying possible cuts and roll-out a template for finding more—and take whatever slings and arrows come with it.”

Leonhard said there will be a year-long transition period if Marathon County receives a formal notice that Wausau will withdraw from the 1974 agreement.

“While the City Council evaluates our long-standing partnership, Marathon County residents and park users can rest assured that the services and amenities they have come to know and appreciate will continue,” Leonhard told Wausau Pilot.