Lisbon will oppose Sussex expansion plan

Posted: Feb. 7, 2012

Town of Lisbon - Town officials are expected to reject next week a proposal from the Village of Sussex creating new municipal boundaries that would transfer about 1,300 town homeowners into the village in exchange for village officials agreeing not to oppose any future efforts by the town to become a village. The plan would be phased in over a period of years according to sources.

If the proposal were adopted, which is unlikely, the town residents' real estate taxes might increase by about $625 a year on a home valued at $250,000 and some town residents' quarterly utility service charges would nearly double from about $85 per quarter to $165 per quarter.

Although most town residents rely on private water wells and septic there are some residents located in subdivisions along Town Line Road that receive utility services from the village.

The town residents currently pay between $14.33 and 14.60 per $1,000 assessed value for all local government and school services. They would pay about $17 per $1,000 assessed value in the village, according to town and village officials.

According to multiple sources in both communities, the proposed new village border would extend south from Plainview Road to the border of Pewaukee and Lisbon and from near Highway 164 east to Town Line Road, which separates Lisbon and the Village of Menomonee Falls.

Included within the proposed boundaries are residential subdivisions between Good Hope and Plainview Road as well some residential and commercial properties along Highway K (Lisbon Road) between Mary Hill and Town Line Roads, including some of the largest quarries in the town.

The sources added that the village, as a financial incentive for the town, suggested it would be willing to forgive an annual debt payment of about $180,921 the town pays the village to help finance improvements at village's sewer treatment facility.

The town purchases services from the village's wastewater treatment facility.

However, some town officials privately argued there are no real financial incentives in the plan because the town would no longer need the sewer service from the village as a result of the town lands being transferred into the village.

The sources provided information on the condition they would remain anonymous because they did not have the authority to speak publically about the secret negotiations that have been going on between village and town officials.

The village's proposal stems from mediation discussions between village and town officials in an effort to resolve a dispute between the communities over their 2001 border agreement. The mediation sessions, and village trustee discussions regarding the proposal, were conducted in secret because they are exempt from the state's open-meetings law.

However, the president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council said it would be "tragic and probably illegal" if the two municipalities adopted a border expansion agreement without allowing taxpayers an opportunity for public comment and participation in the process.

Bill Lueders acknowledged state law allows the local governments to discuss negotiation strategy in private sessions but he added "people should not be located in another municipality without having some say in the process."

Town Administrator Jeff Musche said he anticipates town supervisors will discuss the proposal, which he declined to discuss in detail, at the Feb. 13 Town Board meeting. Musche said he received the proposal from the village Jan. 16, which was too late for board members and staff to review in time for the Jan. 23 meeting.

Town Chairman Matt Gehrke confidently predicted the proposal would be rejected by the Town Board but said he did not want comment further because he wanted negotiations between the communities to continue.

Supervisors reportedly believe the proposal is unrealistic because it requires the town to turn over too much land to the village.

The proposed new village boundary also includes town lands along Highway 164 that have been slated for residential and commercial development in the future

In addition, the supervisors say privately they do not trust village officials because they think the village violated the border agreement between the communities when the village attorney intervened in its incorporation effort last year. Village officials argue the town violated the agreement by failing to help implement portions of the agreement that call for the communities to share municipal services.