Wauwatosa council passes $78 million budget, despite accusations of spreading misinformation

WAUWATOSA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- On Tuesday, Nov. 19, the Wauwatosa Common Council passed a $78 million budget for 2025.

It came after lengthy discussion, and accusations of spreading misinformation.

Ultimately, the 16-person council passed a budget that will fund city services next year.

But the debate again exposed long-simmering tensions between some members of the council.

Alderman Andrew Meindl was at the center of it after alleging on social media that the budgeting process has lacked transparency.

Meindl posted his concerns on Facebook and the Nextdoor app, but Wauwatosa Mayor Dennis McBride --who defeated Meindl in the 2024 spring election-- and other alders repeatedly said Meindl's claims were misleading and concerning.

Meindl alleged the municipal court was in jeopardy of shutting down as a result of the budget vote, and he claimed Wauwatosa's affordable housing fund was also in danger. But McBride and several others said it was simply not true.

In an interview with us before the meeting, Maindl also claimed some of the budget decisions and contracts were awarded unfairly.

He told us, "These decisions are favoring special interests and developers. And not those of Wauwatosans. And therefore, by proxy, they're going to be priced out of this great city."

But McBride and several alders hit back on what they called misinformation.

During the meeting, District 5 Alderman Sean Lowe said, "We can all agree to disagree on items in here on a weekly basis, but to flat out lie to people and distort the truth is just unacceptable."

And McBride said, "It is apparent, from some reckless and misleading social media posts today, that the council has a public duty to refresh on the council's meeting procedures."

A committee of the whole meeting was scheduled to take place after the budget discussion. The topic was to be a presentation on open meetings, records, and ethics.

But the budget discussion went so long that the presentation was postponed until the next meeting.