Town Offers Incentive to Prevent Annexation

As Brookfield town officials committed to keeping the town intact Tuesday, across the border, Brookfield city officials committed to swallowing the town whole.

The town's commitment includes offering financial incentives to businesses, through special assessment waivers, in exchange for 20-year pledges to not pursue annexation to neighboring cities. The Marcus Corp. and Menards signed such agreements nearly a year ago.

Pledges not to seek annexation are needed to protect the town from being gobbled up by the cities of Brookfield, Waukesha and Pewaukee, town officials said Tuesday at a public hearing on special assessments for a proposed new water tower.

Town resident Jay Walt last month began the process to seek state approval for the town to , which, if approved, would block future annexations of town land.

As for the city's commitment, the Common Council Tuesday unanimously agreed the city "is willing to annex" the entire town area proposed for village status, including a portion of the town of Waukesha. The town of Brookfield would need to acquire about 288 acres of land in the town of Waukesha to become big enough to incorporate as a village.

The Common Council passed the resolution without comment after first meeting in closed session for nearly an hour with Stan Riffle, an attorney with Arenz, Molter, Macy & Riffle who has expertise in incorporation cases.

In an interview, Brookfield Mayor Steve Ponto said the city approved similar resolutions in the town's previous unsuccessful incorporation bids. Adopting the resolution, he said, was a necessary step in opposing the town request.

Ponto called the town's proposed waiver of special assessments in lieu of non-annexation agreements a "bribe."

"I think it's really inappropriate to do this kind of thing," Ponto said. "I think it's an abuse of the situation that the town government is in. If they have to essentially bribe their residents into not seeking annexation, I think that's a comment right there." 

But town leaders told residents and property owners Tuesday night that they are merely taking every step possible to protect the town's existence and shore up its borders and future tax base.

"The purpose is to protect our borders," Town Attorney Jim Hammes said during the public hearing.

"As you know, the town is in the process of incorporation proceedings. We've not been able to reach a border agreement" with neighboring municipalities, Hammes said.

He said the town has sought similar non-annexation agreements from business owners over the past several years and has obtained "more than a dozen."

A car dealership on Capitol Drive in the town was one of the first to sign such an agreement years ago, and Menards and the Marcus Corp. signed similar pledges a year ago, Town Administrator Rick Czopp said in an interview earlier Tuesday.

During the public hearing, the town's engineering consultant explained that the town commissioned a water study in 2007 that found the town starting in 2014 would lack adequate water storage for fire protection for its non-residential properties. 

The town for years negotiated with Sam's Club to obtain an easement to build a new elevated water tower there, but the talks broke down and the town recently obtained an easement to build the tower off Janacek Road on the same site as a small cellular tower.

Steven Kluesner of Strand Associates said the 2007 study recommended the town build a 300,000-gallon elevated tank, which would cover the 200,000 additional capacity the town needed plus room for future needs.

The cost is about $1.24 million, about 66 percent — or $820,565 — of which the consultant proposed be funded by special assessments to non-residential properties that would benefit from the increased capacity. The remaining 34 percent would be funded through town water rates charged to residential and non-residential properties.

Strand proposed basing the assessments on the square footage of parcels, or about 3.7 cents per square foot of acreage.

The assessments mailed to about 200 town property owners ranged from a few hundred dollars to as much as $62,000. Institutional properties, such as schools and churches, were among those assessed.

Only residential properties were not proposed for assessments because Strand said additional water tower was not needed for residential fire protection, which already is adequate.

The water tower had been discussed for possible inclusion in a tax incremental financing district being drafted to help fund road and other public improvements to support a proposed anchored by a Von Maur store on the sites of the closed Menards and Marcus West Point Cinemas.

But the sanitary district instead proposed the special assessments with the potential waivers.Under the waiver – which at least five property owners expressed interest in signing, owners would agree to not "initiate, or participate in, any annexation proceeding or activity which would result in the annexation and / or jurisdictional transfer of the subject property from the Town of Brookfield into the City of Brookfield, or any other incorporated municipalities."

A letter sent to property owners said the agreement would last 20 years.

Several town property owners said their parcels were located in the middle of the town and they would have little likelihood of annexing into another municipality. They said there was little down side to signing the agreement.

But others asked what would happen if most owners did sign it and waive payments. 

Town Chairman Keith Henderson, Czopp and Hammes said it was not a foregone conclusion that water rates would rise. It would be up to the state Public Service Commission, which sets water rates, to decide if the town could fund the tower and connect water main construction without a rate increase.

Lauri Clifton, director of business services for the Waukesha School District, asked why the town didn't just spread it over rates, then, if they would not need to rise.

Henderson said, "We would like the non-annexation agreements."

Clifton questioned why the district's closed Pleasant Hill School was asked to pay a special assessment of $15,992. Town officials said institutional properties were included due to the fire protection needs for their larger structures.

Elmbrook Church was listed for a $62,654 assessment because of its large parcel size.

Business owner Paul Smith urged the town to consider basing the assessments on square footage of buildings, not parcels. Kluesner said parcel size was used because existing structures could be razed and larger structures built under zoning.

Hammes said the sanitary district could approve a special assessment ordinance within the next few weeks and give property owners at least 30 days to consider signing a non-annexation agreement. Changes such as Smith's suggestion could be considered, he said.

Czopp said the special assessments likely would be mailed next fall and included on December property tax bills. 

One property owner on Watertown Road questioned whether the waiver was "unethical."

But others said they shared the town's interest in saving its future and freezing its borders.

Queried resident Gene Schei, "Is there a little war going on, say, between the Town of Brookfield and the City of Brookfield?"

"Not from this side," Henderson said, "no."