Wauwatosa is the envy of other communities for keeping taxes down while preserving city services. Because of Wisconsin’s outdated municipal finance system, cities begin each year with budget deficits that can only be filled by redeveloping under-utilized properties or cutting staff and services, both of which the City has done. By carefully managing our budgets, our 2022 residential tax levy was the lowest since 2012.
Wauwatosa’s property tax base has grown by hundreds of millions of dollars. This will continue. In September 2023, the City announced that the vacant Boston Store property at Mayfair Mall, which it purchased in late 2022 after no one else bid on it at auction, will be redeveloped and occupied by another “anchor tenant” to replace the former Boston Store. A large housing development will surround the new store. This will ensure that Mayfair will remain Wisconsin’s preeminent shopping destination and a major Wauwatosa taxpayer.
Over the next five years, 37% of the City’s capital projects (roads, sewers, and water mains) will be cash-funded to save interest costs. Our goal is to pay cash for 40% of the capital budget by 2030.
