Mac Kiel on La Crosse budget shortfall, bike lanes, closing a library or pool and homelessness

All we covered with Mac Kiel in studio was the city administrator plan, homelessness, 2nd Street cycle track funding, the 2026 budget shortfall and the potential of closing another library or pool.

The last two are somewhat related, as the city deals with what La Crosse Mayor Shaundel Washington-Spivey said last month on WIZM is a $3 million budget shortfall. 

Kiel, though, explains that — for example — closing the North Side Community Pool, which needs $1 million in repair, doesn’t necessarily save that amount of money in the 2026 operating budget.

She talks about how the CIP (Capital Improvement Project) relates to the operating budget — basically borrowing on a credit card versus immediate spending.

Kiel, who is also on the library board, also discusses the library options for cutting costs, which include closing the north branch. 

We began the show, though, discussing homelessness, ahead of the doc Beyond the Bridge being shown in La Crosse, followed by a Q&A with a panel of experts in that area. The event begins at 6 p.m. at the Weber Center.

When it comes to the cycle track, the council just voted 12-1 to accept grant money from the Wisconsin DOT to pay for improvements. The estimate for that plan is $623,000 according to the staff report. The DOT grant would pay for 80% or up to $326,790 — which means it would only pay for about 50% of the improvements. 

Kiel talks about how the funding for those improvements work, including the use of TID (Tax Incremental District) funding for that district. 

We ended discussing the operations director position getting voted down, while discussions are ongoing for a city administrator plan. 

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