• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Town of Beloit puts off talk of incorporation

TOWN OF BELOIT — The Beloit Town Board will wait until after the April 2 election before resuming discussion of incorporating part of the town into a village.

As many as three new town board members could be chosen in the election.

The board met in closed session Tuesday night with Waukesha attorney Stan Riffle, who has helped other municipalities work through the incorporation process, Town Administrator Brian Wilson said.

The meeting was the first time the board had talked with a lawyer about the issue, which was last discussed a few years ago.

No action was taken Tuesday, and none will be taken until after the election, Wilson said.

The issue has been on the table for a while, and board member Diane Greenlee said it's "at the point where we really need to move forward" to provide quality service to residents.

If the town incorporated, it could offer a tax incremental finance district to encourage development and would have more access to funding for development and low-interest loans for sewer upgrades, she said.

Incorporation also would give the leaders of the new village a stronger position if the city of Beloit sought to annex any parts of the new village.

One of the questions to answer would be what part of the town to incorporate. The board could try to incorporate the entire town, but Wilson said that probably wouldn't succeed.

"I think there's no doubt that we have a fairly well developed urbanize core," Wilson said. "We're one of the larger urban towns in the state. I think it really just depends on what choices the board makes."

The process of incorporation starts with a petition sponsored by a property owner, he said. Documents are submitted to a circuit court judge and then forwarded to the state Department of Administration for review and a decision. A referendum is required.

Once initiated, the process could take 12 to 18 months, he said.

Tuesday's meeting was in closed session to allow board members to ask the attorney questions related to the town's strategy.

"Places that do it (incorporation) successfully have to negotiate with neighbors and make deals," Wilson said.