City reworks budget, adds full-time inspector amid building boom

By Brandi Makuski

STEVENS POINT — A few late changes to Stevens Point’s proposed 2026 operating budget will pause the city’s deer culling program and boost hours for one of its building inspectors.

City Treasurer Corey Ladick said the updates are routine but reflect shifting priorities and a few new realities since the budget was first drafted in October.

Among the changes: the city’s $30,000 contribution to Riverfront Rendezvous has been dropped from next year’s operating budget, and $5,000 in annual deer management funding has been removed. Those cuts freed up enough money to turn the city’s electrical inspector into a full-time position.

“We’re seeing more inspection demand because of large construction projects taking place,” Ladick said in a Nov. 6 memo to the Finance Committee and Common Council.

Ladick said he’s already planning for how to cover the position’s cost beyond 2026. The Riverfront Rendezvous subsidy was expected to sunset in 2027, but he said the city can manage the change with a long-term strategy in place.

Aside from that, most adjustments are tied to staff changes—retirements, promotions, or corrections to earlier payroll figures. Any leftover funds were added to the city’s contingency line, which now totals $103,337, up from $87,804. Ladick said that amount is closer to what the city used to set aside in previous budgets.

The new document also includes updated financial information from both of Stevens Point’s Business Improvement Districts, which hadn’t been finalized earlier in the process.

The Finance Committee will review the revised 2026 operating budget at 6:10 p.m. Monday, Nov. 10, in the Community Room at 933 Michigan Ave. The meeting is open to the public and can also be joined virtually via Zoom (Meeting ID: 881 2271 5617, Passcode: 726489).