Town of Waukesha to appeal incorporation ruling
Town Board restates opposition to Town of Brookfield's plan
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Town of Waukesha - The Town Board will appeal a circuit judge's ruling this month that advances an effort by the Town of Brookfield to incorporate much of its territory along with a portion of the Town of Waukesha.
In resolutions adopted after a closed meeting last week, the board restated its opposition to the incorporation and authorized town attorney Hector de la Mora and a second lawyer, Dean P. Laing, to pursue the appeal.
Waukesha County Circuit Judge Donald J. Hassin Jr. ruled Jan. 12 that the Town of Brookfield's petition to incorporate about 4.2 square miles as a village met state procedural requirements and could therefore be sent to the state for review.
In doing so, the judge rejected motions filed by the Town and City of Waukesha to dismiss the incorporation petition. The City of Brookfield, which has stated its willingness to annex the Town of Brookfield land to be incorporated, and the Village of Sussex also joined the objectors.
With the court's blessing, the Town of Brookfield and town resident Jay Walt, who began the incorporation petition drive, can now file its petition and supporting documentation, along with a $25,000 fee, with the state. Typically the Incorporation Review Board holds a public hearing before ruling in favor or against the incorporation.
The Waukesha Town Board authorized its attorneys to seek a court-ordered halt to that process and to appeal Hassin's ruling in the meantime.
An attorney for the Town of Waukesha, Douglas Hoffer, had argued before Hassin that the Town of Brookfield couldn't legally pull in a part of another town without that town's consent, such as through a border agreement.
Neither the Town Board nor Town of Waukesha residents as a separate group could vote to stop the incorporation, Hoffer said. An eventual referendum, if one is held, would only ask residents of the proposed new village as a whole whether they agreed with the incorporation, and Town of Brookfield residents would outweigh the minority of voters in the Town of Waukesha segment.
While the court fight continues, the Waukesha Town Board is also attempting to wage a public relations battle, with an informational meeting for town residents scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Town Hall.
In a letter to residents inviting attendance and seeking volunteers to help fight the incorporation, the Town Board called the petition "an outright act of unprecedented aggression by one township against another."
The letter, posted on the town's website, said residents would pay higher taxes because the Town of Brookfield's rate is higher. The loss of 288 acres of Town of Waukesha land would result in a loss of tax base, shifting the tax burden onto other town residents, it says. And while the Town of Brookfield refused to pay a local share of the Highway 59 reconstruction, the Town of Waukesha invested more than $500,000 in the project. The recently improved road is included in the proposed new village.
