The city of Wausau is located in Marathon County, Wisconsin. The city's population was 37,060 in 1990 and it is expected to reach 39,800 by 2000.
For the first year of the Consolidated Plan, a $940,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) will mainly focus on housing needs. About $100,000 of the grant will be generated from program income. Nine items selected for the program emphasize housing rehabilitation and development, public works, and public facilities.
Wausau designated its Community Development Department as the lead agency in preparing the Consolidated Plan. The Community Development Department consulted with various area groups to obtain their views and perspectives of local community issues and goals to reduce the number of households in poverty. These meetings included housing professionals, social service workers, health department staff, and a range of service providers and agencies, including homeless shelter providers and affordable housing providers.
The Citizens Advisory Committee for Community Development, whose members represent local minorities, persons with disabilities, the elderly, children, and low-income residents, was formed to encourage citizen participation. All public meetings were advertised in the city's newspaper and in local publications that are free to area residents. Each meeting agenda was posted in locations and places accessible for public housing and Section 8 residents.
The Community Development Department held public hearings in July and August 1994. A 30-day public comment period was held from October 17 through November 15, 1994, during which time the public was invited to review and comment on the draft Consolidated Plan. No public comments were received, and the plan was approved.
Wausau has undergone major transformations since the 1970s. With an influx of Southeast Asian immigrants, the composition of the community has changed significantly. Southeast Asian families tend to be large with very low incomes. The city, county, and Wausau School District are struggling to provide the social services, affordable housing, and schooling this population needs.
According to the 1990 census, Wausau has 14,735 households, of which 5,321 are renters and 9,413 are owners. Household income levels in Wausau are:
Forty-one percent of all renter households have extremely low or very low incomes. Only 16 percent of the total owner households are in these two income groups.
With the movement of large Southeast Asian families into the city, more housing has been overcrowded, especially where two families live in the same unit. In 1990 Wausau had 335 Southeast Asian households; 78 percent of them had extremely low or very low incomes.
In addition, between 1980 and 1990, the number of female-headed households in poverty increased 47 percent in Wausau. A significant increase in the elderly population also has occurred during this 10-year period. National and local projections estimate an even greater increase of the elderly population as the baby boom generation begins to age.
Affordable housing is needed for first-time homebuyers and tenants seeking decent, safe, and sanitary rental units. Rents are substantially higher in Wausau than rents for similar units in cities of the same size. In many cases, rents are significantly higher than U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development fair market rents, unusual in most Wisconsin cities outside the Madison and Milwaukee metropolitan areas. The high rents are due to the uncommonly low rental vacancy rate in Wausau -- less than 4 percent. Furthermore, no houses were available for sale that very low-income households could afford.
The 1990 Wausau area multiple listing for residential properties identified only 27 houses on the market under $60,000. Currently only 16 houses are for sale between $60,000 and $67,500.
In 1993 the Community Development Department and the city, through joint efforts with a developer, built a privately owned 48-unit apartment building near the downtown area. Rent controls were placed on 43 units so they would be available to low-income tenants only. The building is completely full.
In the past, with the decline of larger families and higher utility costs, several larger single- family units were converted to duplexes. In 1994 the city's Inspection Department reported that three new duplexes were built, for a total of six units. However, additional large units that low-income households can afford are needed to accommodate the influx of large Southeast Asian families.
Affordable housing is needed for first-time homebuyers and renters, renters with extremely low and very low incomes, and elderly persons with extremely low and very low incomes who need living assistance. At present there are no assisted living units within the city for elderly persons with those incomes.
Affordable housing is needed to accommodate the special needs population that has been increasing steadily. One housing project assists adult males with physical and mental disabilities and a second project targets children with multiple handicaps, but these projects alone do not meet the needs.
The city's homeowner rehabilitation program, begun in the late 1970s for low-income households, needs to continue. It enables families to remain homeowners and live in decent, safe, and sanitary housing. Currently 48 households are awaiting assistance; the average waiting period is 2-1/2 years.
In the low-income category, almost three-fourths of renter households and all of the minority renter households have housing problems. In this income group, 55 percent of owner households have housing problems, and housing rehabilitation assistance is badly needed.
Moderate-income families can find more affordable rental units than they can find homes to buy. The 11 minority households that fall into this income category have housing needs, but often have difficulty obtaining assistance. These households have incomes above the guidelines for rental assistance, are not eligible for public housing, and cannot receive energy assistance from social services or the utility companies.
In September 1994 Community Development Department staff conducted a "point-in-time homeless study." A total of 58 homeless people were found; half were served by emergency shelters and half were unsheltered. Substance abusers made up 2 percent of the homeless population, while domestic violence victims made up 21 percent of the population.
The city has two emergency shelters and one transitional living shelter. The Women's Community operates a four-bedroom Domestic Abuse Shelter, which the city owns and makes available to individuals and families in crisis. In conjunction with the Domestic Abuse Shelter, the Women's Community operates a three-unit transitional shelter for its clients. The Domestic Abuse Shelter is overcrowded and, for the first time last year, had to turn clients away. The Salvation Army's 36-bed emergency homeless shelter was able to provide the needed shelter for the Women's Community overflow.
Wausau has many service programs aimed at preventing homelessness, and social service agencies meet regularly to coordinate activities and share information. The organizations involved in this effort include: the Women's Community and the North Central Health Care Center, which assist their respective clientele with housing needs; the Marathon County Private Industry Council, which offers schooling and job training programs to its low- and extremely low-income clients; and Lutheran Social Services, which coordinates a transitional living program for individuals recently released from prison and also coordinates the Share-A-Home program, where an elderly person is paired with a younger person to provide a shared housing opportunity.
The Community Development Department operates the Community Development Authority, which manages all public housing. The inventory of available public housing consists of two housing developments for the elderly and one large-family scattered site development. For the elderly, Kannenberg Plaza has 106 units and a waiting list of 53 people, and Riverview Towers has 149 units with 37 people on the waiting list. The large- family development has 40 units and 44 families on a waiting list. Of the 40 units, 33 have three bedrooms and the remainder have four bedrooms.
The general condition of the public housing stock is very good. The two elderly housing projects have been updated over the past few years, and the scattered site housing was built in 1992.
There are 353 Section 8 assisted housing units with 496 people on the waiting list. Presently, 78 percent of these program recipients are minorities. This continues to be a program with more needs than resources. The waiting period for assistance is approximately 2-1/2 years.
The city's regulations meet national or State level requirements. A task force brought together by the Community Development Department recommended the following actions concerning land and zoning ordinances to reduce some of the existing barriers to affordable housing:
Wausau certifies that it will complete an analysis of impediments to fair housing choice. The city has published a bilingual book on fair housing practices regarding renting and buying that has been distributed throughout the community. In addition, the city has taken an active role in promoting fair housing education for its citizens.
An estimated 13,911 of the city's existing housing units were built before 1979, when lead-based paint was banned for residential use. An estimated 5,176 occupied units have some lead-based paint. Extremely low-income households occupy about 32 percent of these units, very low-income households occupy 21 percent, and low-income households occupy 18 percent.
Wausau and the Marathon County Health Department have formulated a Lead Paint Abatement Ordinance to identify units for abatement. The city plans to work with the State of Wisconsin's Division of Housing and State Department of Health and Social Services to reduce hazards of lead paint in older homes and to test children who may have been exposed to lead hazards.
Wausau has several agencies that address the supportive housing needs of persons with special needs, including the chronically mentally ill, the elderly and frail elderly, and the developmentally disabled. The Community Development Department coordinates programs to address the supportive housing needs of these populations by attending monthly meetings and regular interactions with the serving agencies.
Among these agencies are: North Central Health Care with three fully licensed group homes for individuals with special needs; Village Square, a renovated hotel with 33 units available to low-income persons and onsite assistance with housing, medical attention, and counseling; Lutheran Social Services with supportive housing for the elderly, frail elderly, children, developmentally disabled adults, and nonviolent released prisoners; and Crossroads Mental Health Services with supportive housing for substance abusers.
Community development needs include: child care and youth centers, parks and recreational facilities, health facilities, parking facilities, infrastructure improvements, transportation services, substance abuse services, employment training, crime awareness, fair housing counseling, tenant/landlord counseling, accessibility needs, residential historic preservation, economic development needs, and code enforcement.
Affordable day care is in short supply. In 1990 Marathon County had licensed day care centers that could accommodate only 19 percent of the children to 12 who needed day care.
Needed infrastructure improvements include flood drains, water lines, streets and sidewalks, and sewers. More street lights also are needed.
Because public transportation is the main source of travel for very low-income persons, the city has placed high priority on updating the transportation routes and replacing buses.
In the next 5 years, Wausau will direct its funding assistance to support affordable housing development, rehabilitation activities, supportive housing needs, provision of emergency shelters, construction of a primary health clinic for low-income persons, and lead paint reduction.
High priority is given to alleviating cost burdens and structural defects in extremely low- and very low-income family renter and owner households. High priority also is given to addressing the problem of overcrowding among very low-income, large-family renters.
For the homeless, high priority is given to providing permanent and supportive housing to families and individuals with special needs.
Nonhousing community development priorities established in the planning process were:
Whenever possible, Wausau undertakes projects to create jobs for low-income persons. The Marathon County Employment and Training Department trains and educates low-income persons for skilled jobs that could pull people out of poverty.
To carry out its plan, Wausau will use CDBG funds and will pursue other sources of funding. Department staff will work jointly with the Women's Community in acquiring a larger shelter home for victims of domestic abuse.
The Community Development Department, as the lead agency, will work with many public and private agencies and organizations to carry out the affordable and supportive housing strategy. Department staff will coordinate efforts with the Marathon County Health Department to eliminate health and safety problems in housing units occupied by low- to extremely low-income tenants. In addition, department staff will continue to attend the interagency meetings sponsored by the Wausau School District to coordinate services to children with special needs, including those with mental and physical disabilities.
For Fiscal Year 1995-1996, the main CDBG activities will be citywide design and construction of public facilities and improvements, housing rehabilitation, and housing development for persons with special needs and low-income residents. Key programs planned for the first year of the Consolidated Plan include:
MAP 1 depicts points of interest in the jurisdiction.
MAP 2 depicts points of interest and low-moderate income areas.
MAP 3 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and minority concentration levels.
MAP 4 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and unemployment levels.
MAP 5 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects.
MAP 6 is a map, sectioned by neighborhood, which depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects.
MAP 7 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects within one of the four neighborhoods indicated in MAP 6.
MAP 8 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded project(s) from a street level vantage point; in addition, a table provides information about the project(s).
