City water fluoridation advisory referendum to appear on April ballots

TOMAHAWK – Next spring, City of Tomahawk voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on the fluoridation of the city’s drinking water supply.

The City of Tomahawk Common Council, during its meeting at City Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 3, approved a resolution authorizing an advisory referendum to appear on April 1, 2025 ballots.

The referendum will ask city voters whether or not they believe fluoride treatments of the city’s water supply should be ended.

Last month, the council voted to direct City Clerk/Treasurer Amanda Bartz to draft the resolution.

The council’s directive followed a recommendation from the city’s Board of Public Works that the matter of water fluoridation be put to city residents. In September, the board, citing the corrosion of a storage room that houses the city’s fluoride additive and other chemical supplies, voted to end the treatments after Mayor Steven E. Taskay proposed doing so. The board ultimately decided to suggest an advisory referendum.

The city has since ceased the fluoride treatments.

According to the resolution approved by the council last week, the city’s water fluoridation system has “reached a state where it requires complete replacement if the city is to continue fluoridating the water.”

The resolution also cites the “benefits” and “detriments” of the treatments, saying fluoridation has been “the subject of much question, leading some localities to determine to discontinue the practice.”

“The Common Council would like to hear where the public stands on the issue” of fluoridation, the resolution states.

The council will ultimately have the final say on how the city proceeds.

Proponents of water fluoridation, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), point to the longtime public oral health benefits of the treatments, including cavity prevention.

According to a study shared on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Library of Medicine website, opposition to water fluoridation focuses in part on potential risks of toxicity, which can lead to gastrointestinal disturbances, and in severe cases, renal and cardiac dysfunction, coma and ultimately death.

Fluoride toxicity is rare among adults in the developed world, and more than 80% of fluoride toxicity cases are seen in children younger than six years old and are caused by the ingestion of toothpastes or mouthwashes that contain fluoride, the study states.

State and local governments have the authority to decide whether or not to implement water fluoridation.

LCHD Director Shelley Cohrs addresses council

During the public comment period regarding the resolution, Lincoln County Health Department (LCHD) Director and Health Officer Shelley Cohrs provided information about water fluoridation in Lincoln County.

Cohrs said that over the course of her 18 years as LCHD Director, dental health has become an issue in the county.

LCHD conducts a Community Health Assessment every five years, Cohrs explained. Through the 2023 assessment, LCHD learned that 42% of Lincoln County residents do not have dental insurance.

According to the survey, cost is the chief barrier to county residents receiving dental care, with 71% of respondents saying they cannot afford it.

The survey also found that 40% of respondents had had a tooth pulled due to tooth pain, 30% had had a tooth pulled due to decay and 31% said they did not have anyone in their family who had seen a dentist within the two years leading up to the assessment.

The 2023 survey showed that access to dental care is also a problem for Lincoln County residents, Cohrs said.

“There is no one that will see someone with Medicaid in this county for dental care,” Cohrs stated, noting that “poor” state reimbursement for Medicaid services is among the contributing factors to the absence of such providers.

Cohrs explained that Lincoln County had a Medicaid provider for dental care during LCHD’s 2018 assessment, but the current absence of such a provider has made access to dental care in the county “more difficult than ever before.”

The ability to take time off work and transportation also pose problems for receiving oral health care in Lincoln County, the assessment found.

Cohrs said the biggest strength related to oral health care identified in LCHD’s assessments has been fluoridated drinking water.

“Now we don’t have that strength anymore in the City of Tomahawk,” Cohrs stated in reference to the city’s recent discontinuation of the treatments. “So, it’s a very important issue that you’re looking at. I am just asking, please look at it very thoroughly.”

Cohrs encouraged the council to examine the topic of water fluoridation from “both ends of the spectrum,” noting that while some are concerned about high fluoride levels, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) has said fluoride levels of 0.7 milligrams per liter is safe.

Cohrs told the council that she would be available to answer any questions they may have regarding water fluoridation.

Council slightly amends referendum language before approval

Prior to voting on the resolution, the council voted to slightly amend the referendum language.

The initially-proposed question read, “Should the City of Tomahawk continue to fluoridate the municipal water supply?”

Before ultimately approving the resolution, the council voted to remove the words “continue to” from the question because the city is not currently conducting the treatments.