A simple choice it is not

Committee presents incorporation options for Town of Salem

 

By Christopher Rainey

Correspondent

While the choice appears simple – continue the risk of losing land and tax base through annexation as a town or incur the added costs associated with conversion to a village or city – the details leading to such a decision for the Town of Salem are anything but simple.

That was a gist of a presentation made by the Town of Salem Incorporation Study Committee June 29. The committee provided its final report on the options for the Town of Salem in regards to becoming a village or city, or remaining a township.

Committee Chairman Mike Ullstrup provided most details. The main points of the presentation were the boundaries, or lack thereof, around and within Salem; the responsibilities physically and financially of incorporating; and the processes involved for the different options available.

In October 2007, there was a boundary agreement created between Salem and Paddock Lake. It states that after 20 years, the “growth area” will become an entity of Paddock Lake. The board members of Salem and Paddock Lake decided on the boundary agreement.

Paddock Lake isn’t the only boundary affecting Salem to consider. The Town of Salem has an agreement with the Village of Bristol that “maintains the existing boundaries.” There is not a boundary agreement with the Village of Silver Lake or the Village of Twin Lakes.

The border discussion is important when deciding whether to become a village or city, according to the presentation, because if the Town of Salem stays as is, then there is a risk of annexation – losing territory to other municipalities – that may increase over time.

 

Options ahead

The Town of Salem does have the option of becoming a village, with a village president and board of trustees, or a city, with a mayor and common council made up of aldermen.

A city is different than a village in that it would have districts to elect alderman, a mayor with veto power, no farmland and a police force.

Incorporation would entail a few new responsibilities. As a village, Salem would be responsible for street signs and a fire commission. It also must implement zoning and land use ordinances, a full-time police force and police commission because of population and two additional board members.

With new responsibilities come added abilities, such as providing zoning requirements within the village, instead of traversing all the way to Kenosha. This concept is called “home rule” which means more local government and affairs freedom.

The route to becoming incorporated is through annexation. The town could get a signed petition that allows the town to proceed to the required circuit court, and face a risk of a referendum or other municipalities becoming involved; or become a part of a neighboring village either through a petition or boundary agreements that eventually lead to annexation.

All entities would have legal costs, but the incorporation route would have a much higher cost due to necessary circuit court costs, possible litigation, and a $25,000 fee to the state.

Incorporation would also be a much longer process, commonly taking two or more years, and there is a chance a portion of the town would not be included with the village. Some of the larger examples include $400,000 when Bristol became a village, and $500,000 and five years for the Village of Bloomfield.

 

Budgetary impacts

It is not just the initial cost involved with incorporation, but the yearly budget will have extra costs as well, according to the presentation. As a village, Salem’s budget, based on the experiences and models of surrounding municipalities, would be approximately $461,000 more than the current town budget – nearly 90 percent of which will come from the full-time police coverage provided by the Kenosha County Sheriff.

The budget projection is considered, as Ullstrup said, a “worst case” scenario, and there are many influences that could affect these numbers. The mill rates will also increase accordingly. There will be a small unavoidable increase once the Paddock Lake growth agreement occurs in 2027 due to Salem losing approximately $19 million in property value.

According to the same projections, the mill rate would increase by about 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value once Salem becomes a village, raising the current mill rate of 3.64 to 4.13, leading an tax increase of approximately $100 on a home with an assessed value of $200,000.

Ullstrup concluded the presentation with the committee’s recommendations on where to go next with this data. He suggested the low-density areas should be reviewed to find if during incorporation any of Salem would be left behind, absent any litigation issues.

The final step before actually proceeding with incorporation would be deciding which route to take, be it the incorporation process or petitions and annexations.

There will have to be a decision on whether to purchase more independence and territory security with extra physical and financial responsibilities, or stay as a township and risk the loss of land to neighboring municipalities.


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