Reminder: Tax Bill in Holiday Mail Mix

It's property tax bill season. Homeowners should have received their bills already in the mail.

The year is wrapping up and that means property tax bills are in the mail. In Shorewood, property owners can view and pay their tax bill online on the village's website. Property owners should have received bills in the mail already.  Tax bill payments can be made: For online payments, there's a charge of 2.39 percent of the amount to be paid, with a minimum of $1.50 for credit card charges. For electronic checks, a fee of $1.50 will be charged up to $5,000 or a $5 fee for any amount over $5,000. If payment is made by mail or left in the drop box, a receipt will be mailed to the taxpayer. Refunds for overpayment will be processed within 20 days. Payments may be made without the tax bill if a tax key number or address of the property is …

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Search Begins for Marketing Pro to Help Boost School District Revenue, Enrollment

The School Board gave the OK on a hiring process and job description for the newly created position of director of development and marketing, which would focus on fundraising and boosting resident enrollment.

With available revenue diminishing from year-to-year to the district, school officials took the first step in hiring a professional to help identify new sources of income Tuesday night. The School Board gave the OK on a hiring process and job description for the newly created position of director of development and marketing. The position will focus on fundraising and boosting enrollment in the district. It now allows the district to start fielding applicants for the salaried position, budgeted at $75,000. The district's goal is to have the position start generating additional revenue in the first year, and fully funding itself by year two. A director of marketing and development would assess short and long term funding, and develop and …

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Residents Approve 1.62 Percent School Tax Levy Decrease

It wasn’t a crowd of 200 like last year, but roughly 25 to 30 residents showed their support for Shorewood schools at the district’s annual meeting.

It wasn’t a crowd of 200 like last year, but roughly 25 to 30 residents showed their support for Shorewood schools at the district’s annual meeting. With one vote against, residents approved a $17.9 million tax levy — a 1.62 decrease from last year — and the School Board adopted a $22 million budget, about $2.2 million less than last years. Former School Board President Paul Zovic, who was elected as chairperson of the annual meeting, said it was really “grassroots government” at work. The annual meeting typically signals the end of the budget process for the district; however, officials will likely have to revisit the budget and reset the tax levy in mid-October, after the district's state aid become more clear.  The amount Shorewood …

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Shorewood Schools Annual Meeting Set for Monday

School officials will hold a budget hearing and a public vote on the 2012 tax levy.

The Shorewood School Board and community members will convene Monday for the district's annual meeting.  School officials will hold a budget hearing and a public vote on the 2012 tax levy, the amount the district will collect from village property owners through property taxes for funding purposes, among other agenda items. The meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. in the Shorewood High School Library, 1701 E. Capitol Dr., will follow a regular School Board meeting at 6:30 p.m.

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School Officials Mull Adding Marketing Professional to Generate Revenue

As part of this year's budget process officials are considering creating the position of development/marketing director, an employee who would focus solely on marketing the district and boosting resident enrollment and donations.

In the short-term, officials are optimistic about the Shorewood School District’s budget situation. But with the available revenue waning from year-to-year, school officials say if they don't find significant new sources of income, they "will run out of money within five years." That’s one reason the first version of the 2012-13 budget includes $75,000 for a full-time development/marketing director. John Florsheim, a member of an ad-hoc finance committee that has been working on long-term fixes to budget gaps and generally shrinking or flat resident enrollment, said at meeting on March 28 the committee recommends the district look at creating the marketing position. This staff member would market the school district and its image while …

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Shorewood Patch Year in Review

The Best of Patch: November

A month-by-month look back at the top stories of 2011.

As the year comes to a close, we all tend to look back at what exactly we've accomplished over the past 365 days. Village residents got two pieces of good news from the Village Board in November. The board approved a plan to fix sewers and, in addition, approved a budget with the lowest hike in property taxes in a decade during the month.   Village Board OKs $34 Million Plan to Fix Sewers Saying they need to send a message to residents that they are serious about addressing Shorewood’s sewer woes, village trustees approved a comprehensive sewer plan with a $34.1 million price tag.  Give Thanks: Shorewood Approves Lowest Property Tax Increase in Decade Shorewood trustees approved a budget that called for a 1.75 percent increase in the …

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Give Thanks: Shorewood Approves Lowest Property Tax Increase in Decade

Using recently enacted legislation, village officials were able to mask an assessment error and present a modest 1.75 percent tax levy increase.

With recently enacted legislation addressing an assessment error under their belt, Shorewood trustees approved a budget Monday that calls for a 1.75 percent increase in the property tax levy — the lowest hike in a decade. After months of workshops and navigating the error, which could have added more than $1 million to the levy, the Village Board adopted a $24.1 million budget, a decrease of 1.9 percent from last year, and a $9.6 million levy. Including the levy from four tax incremental financing districts — special taxing districts established as a tool to help spur development — the village tax levy will grow 1.75 percent, up $178,188 from last year. The increase translates into an increase of $36 on the tax bill of a home assessed at $…

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Officials Table Budget Approval; Await Governor's Signature on Bill Addressing Assessment Error

While officials have likely found their solution to masking the effects of an assessment error from property taxpayers, they still have to wait on other factors before approving their budget.

Village Manager Chris Swartz said on Monday that Shorewood would need to delay approving its budget until other taxing bodies shape their levies — giving the village a definitive picture of how an assessment error affects its levy. Even with pending legislation that would exclude Shorewood from the levy limit law, officials are forced to take another step in navigating their budget with the valuation mistake. Senate Bill 224, authored by Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and Rep. Samantha Kerkman (R-Powers Lake), is on Gov. Scott Walker’s desk awaiting a signature after passing the Senate and Assembly unanimously. “We have a pretty good sense he will sign the bill,” Swartz said. The error made by Shorewood’s assessor, Mark Brown of …

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Bob McBride

12:00 pm on Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Ah, once again the delicious irony that is the Village with the greatest amount of intellectual firepower per square mile in the state (according to a certain resident of that area) having to rely on a guy most of them detest and chide on a regular basis for not having completed college to provide them with an out on an enormous self-inflicted boo-boo.   more ›

Shorewood Schools Stand to Benefit from Assessor's Error

School district could actually see an increase in state aid from the same error that has village officials scrambling to avoid a $2 million increase in its tax levy.

In an ironic twist, an assessment error that has village officials scrambling to avoid an $2 million artificial increase in Shorewood's property tax levy could actually result in an increase in state aid to the school district. Shorewood schools stand to see a hike in state education funds in the coming years because of an error that overstated the value of the village's Tax Incremental District No. 1. While state aid is already set for this year, Business Manager Mark Boehlke said the district will see an increase in aid next year because of the error. And even when that aid drops in subsequent years to compensate for next year's increase, Boehlke noted that there is a 15 percent cap on state aid decreases in any given year. This is …

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Bob McBride

6:33 pm on Friday, November 4, 2011

Not getting in the middle of that one!   more ›

Senate Passes Bill to Address Shorewood Assessment Error

Village officials hope measure — which needs Assembly approval — is the answer to protecting taxpayers from mistake that could see property taxes rise 5.8 percent.

A bill authored by state Sen. Alberta Darling that would lift property tax levy limits for Shorewood and soften the impact of a valuation error on taxpayers unanimously passed the state Senate Thursday. The error made by Shorewood’s assessor forces the village to add an additional $2 million to this year’s levy. To avoid an artificial spike in property taxes, Shorewood officials plan to decrease the levy by $2 million, borrow or use cash on hand to fund the difference, and then raise the levy the following year by the same amount. However, state law prohibits municipalities like Shorewood from increasing its tax levy for any reason other than through development or referendum. Senate Bill 224, authored by Darling (R-River Hills) and Rep. …

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