By Karen Mahoney/Correspondent
In a surprising twist, during the joint meeting between Silver Lake and Salem Officials, Silver Lake Trustee Cyndy Schwebke briefly commented on an idea of unincorporating the Village of Silver Lake.
Her comments went largely unnoticed, until later in the meeting, Salem Public Safety Officer David Shortess recalled the comment and asked if she was serious.
Schwebke admitted that it was an idea brought up by a member of the public during a budget meeting there, and it was something that piqued her interest.
“I did want to throw it out there,” she said. “I wanted to see if there would be an interest in doing this.”
Several members of the Salem Town Board, including Chairman Diann Tesar, and Supervisors Mike Culat and Dennis Faber were very interested in the idea of Silver Lake unincorporating.
If the Village went ahead with this, the land within the village would revert to the Town of Salem, where it initially belonged before the village incorporated in 1920. Then, Silver Lake would be considered a hamlet of Salem, as is the neighboring communities of Trevor, Camp Lake, and Wilmot.
Hamlets are not separate legal entities. They are located within larger municipalities, but by themselves have no authority to tax, no elections and no municipal budget, in short, none of the trappings that come along with being a town, village or city.
While, there would be a great financial benefit for taxpayers in both municipalities, Town Administrator Patrick Casey stated that dissolution discussions were too soon, and that exploring fire and rescue services needed to come first.
“It would make sense to combine two communities to do it, though,” he said. “It would bring a lower mil rate and lower taxes to the residents.”