In August 2025, a severe storm caused significant flooding throughout Wauwatosa, damaging public facilities and private properties.

Wauwatosa city staff responded quickly with emergency measures and have continued working on recovery efforts. The city estimates approximately $4.2 million in flood-related damages, including impacts to Hart Park, the stadium, softball diamond, playground, and Muellner Building, as well as costs related to emergency cleanup and restoration.

Wauwatosa carries several forms of insurance to help offset recovery costs, including auto insurance for equipment stored in the park, property insurance, and flood insurance for portions of the Muellner Building, garage, and parks administration building. In addition, the City received a generous $1 million donation from the TOSA Foundation to support park restoration. Even with these resources, the City will still face approximately $2 million in unfunded recovery costs.

On October 24, 2025, the City learned that the Trump Administration denied federal public assistance for Door, Grant, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha Counties. This decision does not affect individual assistance programs available to residents and business owners.

Governor Evers has announced plans to appeal the federal decision. Wauwatosa will continue to monitor the appeal process and explore all possible options for funding recovery efforts. If federal assistance remains unavailable, future discussions with the Common Council will determine how best to fund remaining recovery needs. These discussions at a local level would likely take place in 2026, following any appeal process. Residents can continue to follow public meetings and updates on Wauwatosa.net to learn how Wauwatosa might fund recovery efforts. This could include adjustments to local property taxes in a future year to cover costs that would have otherwise been reimbursed by the federal government. To be clear, this would not affect 2025 property tax bills.