Wausau Alderman Calls For Independent Investigation Of City Employee Pay Raises

A member of the Wausau City Council is calling for an independent investigation of the city’s mayor in a dispute over pay raises for city employees.

Alderman Keene Winters said he will ask the council to hire an independent investigator because Mayor Jim Tipple did not implement the merit pay system that was supposed to go into effect at the start of last year.

“I mean, it seems hard for me to trust the information that I’m getting from staff that are supervised by Mayor Tipple,” said Winters. “He was not given authorization by the council to alter the merit pay plan.”

In a news release, the mayor called 2014 a transition year in which some workers got more than a cost-of-living increase to bring their salaries up to market level. He said that was because “it is critical to … maintain a competitive edge for retaining current staff and for recruiting future staff.”