Wausau-Area Public Transit Depends on Referendum Vote

A referendum on Tuesday’s ballot in one Wausau-area village will determine the future of public transit in the region.

It will be the third time in two years that voters in Weston have cast ballots on the subject. In June of 2012, voters there approved a referendum requiring the village to provide public bus service. Just five month later, Weston voters refused to pay for it with a tax increase.

The referendum on Tuesday would raise taxes by about $10 on a $150,000 home in order to keep the buses running. Joel Lewis, of the faith-based social justice group NAOMI, hopes the measure is approved.

“We have folks that do not have adequate transportation,” said Lewis. “They can’t get a license due to a disability. And so they rely on bus service not only to get to and from Wausau for jobs and shopping, but then we also have folks in the Wausau area with similar issues that are also going to Weston for job opportunities.”

Weston Administrator Daniel Guild said that village board members and staff are sensitive to the needs of the people who rely on the buses.

“We do understand and we can empathize with the fact that public transportation does impact many people, often those that are the least among us,” said Guild.

Guild, however, said that Weston, like other communities, is being squeezed by policy decisions made in recent years in Madison. The state has imposed property tax levy limits at the same time that it has cut shared revenue.

“The state is cutting substantial portions of our operating revenue in the form of state aid and other state-shared revenue. So it’s becoming more and more difficult to make our budgets work,” said Guild.

The bus route to Weston also serves the south metro communities of Schofield and Rothschild.