Town of Waukesha Will Fight Incorporation by Town of Brookfield

The Town of Waukesha Board will appeal a judge's advancement of the Town of Brookfield's request to incorporate as a village using Town of Waukesha lands to meet the minimum territory requirements, according to a JSOnline.com story.

After meeting in closed session this week, the Waukesha Town Board authorized its attorney to file an appeal of Waukesha County Circuit Judge Donald Hassin Jr.'s ruling to the state District II Court of Appeals, based in Waukesha.

Brookfield city attorney Karen Flaherty told aldermen Tuesday that Waukesha town officials were considering an appeal and if so, Brookfield will join them in that effort, according to a .

The Town of Waukesha's website has a prominent link to a letter and other documents urging residents to attend an informational meeting at 6 p.m. Jan. 26 at Town Hall, W250 S3567 Center Rd.

"Efforts are underway ... to take your property as part of a new proposed village," says a letter to residents signed by Town Chairman Angie Van Scyoc and town supervisors. The letter called the move an "unprecedented aggression by one Township against another."

The letter warned residents that the Town of Brookfield's tax rate was higher than the Town of Waukesha's, would hurt remaining Waukesha town residents with a smaller tax base, and take lands on which there were public improvements made, such as the Greenfield Avenue reconstruction project.

The letter urges residents to take an active role in fighting the incorporation and volunteer their efforts.

The Town of Brookfield is seeking to incorporate as a village in order to protect its borders from annexation by neighboring cities and preserve its future autonomous government and tax base.

But to do so, it needs additional land because it has already been annexed to the point where it no longer has the minimum required 4 square miles of territory to become a village or city.

A and supported by town government, which plans to pay the $25,000 incorporation filing request to the state, proposes including about 288 acres of continguous land in the Town of Waukesha, south of Greenfield Avenue, west of Springdale Road and east of Highway 164. The lands represent about $35 million in tax base, and includes the former Wal-Mart and Don Jacobs car dealership, Town of Brookfield attorney James Hammes has said.

At a hearing last week, Town of Waukesha officials asked Judge Hassin to reject the incorporation petition as flawed because the inclusion of Town of Waukesha lands was illegal without that municipality's consent.

Hassin denied the motion and sent the incorporation petition to the state Department of Administration for review and ruling.

If the appeals court overturns Hassin's decision, the Town of Brookfield incorporation request could be moot and not proceed to the state agency, Flaherty said.