Process fee hike set for vote in Marathon County next week

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) – It may soon cost more for you to foreclose on a property, or serve civil papers in Marathon County.

The Public Safety and Finance Committees have approved a series of fee hikes for the county's process service department. The basic fee for serving papers will go up 10 dollars to 75 dollars, evictions will go up to 100 dollars, and Officer standbys will be charged at 60 dollars an hour.

This would be the first increase in fees in 5 years, something the county really needed to take a look at according to sheriff's captain Diane Lotter. She says the fee hike will help the county recoup some of the costs involved with having to send deputies out to serve papers or handle evictions, rather than be out on patrol.

Public safety committee chair Ed Gale says this fee is important because there's only a select few people who use the service, and the process takes time out of the deputies day for other duties. He adds there's no telling how much more money this will raise, because the process service is entirely based on how many cases go through the courts in a year.

A final vote on the increase will come before the county board next Tuesday.