Manitowoc’s 2026 city budget proposal will include a property tax increase for some.
During his presentation for the proposed budget, Mayor Justin Nickels explained that the average increase in house value in Manitowoc was 23% higher than last year.
That means if your home is worth $100,000, your house would be worth $123,000 now, and that would mean you’d have to pay more in property taxes.
But Nickels tells residents, “Every single house is not going to see the average tax increase or decrease or what because everyone is different. Some benefit this year, some not.”
Other items proposed in the mayor’s 2026 budget include a salary increase of 3% for non-compensating employees, while police officers get a 4% increase in pay, and firefighters get a 5% increase.
One of the biggest items Nickels wants to start is a consolidation study to determine whether the city should move from four fire stations to three.
He told the city council that the fire stations are starting to show their age, but the city is also growing away from where all four are located.
The city would hire an outside consulting firm for about $70,000, and they would “Identify optimal station sites, based on city growth, accessibility, and response needs, that’s key. Again, we haven’t done that for a very long time with the way the city is growing in certain areas, I think it’s fine time that we at least assess that and look at it for our own good.”
If approved in the future, the Public Safety Building would be consolidated, and the police department would use the entire building.
“Part of this is also an understanding that the police department has grown over the years,” he described. “They already occupy where the administrative offices were in the fire department in the public safety building.”
Another part of Nickel’s proposal also includes additional investment in street projects, including S. 30th Street from Viebahn to Dewey, Viebahn from S. 10th Street to Lakeside Blvd, and Lancer Circle.
In total, the projects would cost about $4.2 million. $500,000 would also be invested toward Red Arrow Park, while an additional would go towards a Community Built Playground Design.
Nickels also wants to invest in a new audiovisual system for the city’s council chambers and acquire new software to show how council members voted.
You can find the full presentation online at manitowoc.granicus.com.
