The Wausau City Council has voted 9-2 in favor of a nearly $22 million dollar budget for 2010.

City leaders say the budget is less than a million more than last year and will come with a tax increase for city residents.

City taxes on a $100,000 home will go up about $18 next year.

Alderman Jim Rosenberg is the Chairman of the City's Finance Committee.

He says the committee works directly with department heads to figure out how they can make the City run more efficiently.

He says the City's costs are going up, so that's why they need to raise taxes.

At Tuesday night's Common Council meeting Mayor Jim Tipple acknowledged the Wausau Police Union.

They are now the second union to agree to a wage freeze in hopes of avoiding job cuts.

The first was the Wausau Fire Fighters Union, who also agreed to a wage freeze.

The mayor is hoping to hear from the remaining unions in the next few weeks.

" We're hoping for cooperation from more unions we have five and we're hopeful. I think everyone understands our budget and the economic conditions we're in and we're working together."

City leaders laid off 10 people from the Public Works Department last week.

Its unclear if more layoffs will come in the future...but Mayor Tipple says these wage freezes are a great way to hopefully prevent job cuts.

He says the tax hike is necessary for the city to maintain their current services, such as garbage-pick up and water.

The Mayor says city leaders worked on the budget for two months and tried to limit the cuts and increases.

The council also voted Tuesday night to increase sewer tax for city residents next year by 8%.

The original proposal was for a 25% increase but it was lowered at the meeting.

"It's obvious that's not the money we need to sustain the utility forever but maybe small pieces are better for the rate payers. We'll be working on the details of that in the future," says Mayor Tipple.

The council also voted to delay a decision to reverse traffic on 3rd Street.

The city had proposed changing the northbound one-way to a two- way between Grant and Jefferson Streets.

Several downtown business owners came to the meeting to expressed their disapproval of the plan.

Now, the Capital Improvement and Street Maintenance Committee and the Parking and Traffic Committees are set to review the plan in the next few weeks.

For more information on how your 2010 taxes will be affected, click on the document and photo attached.