By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Should the city of Whitewater continue a longstanding policy of specially assessing property owners for infrastructure improvements or shift the costs onto the municipal budget?
This is a looming question officials are grappling with in the aftermath of criticism raised by a group of residents early this spring.
City staffers were directed to compile an analysis of Whitewater’s history of issuing special assessments to property owners for municipal projects that benefit a small contingent of the population.
The city has long had some form of special assessment policy on its books, going back nearly three decades. The last review and amendment to the document was undertaken in 1996.
Assistant City Manager Chris McDonell provided a report to the council May 5. A series of recommendations were offered, including a provision to keep at least a portion of the special assessment policy in tact.
“Staff recommends that we do not special assessing for the water, sewer and lift station improvements,” McDonell said as he pointed to a series of statistics that revealed the city as a whole would have shifted a greater burden onto the general operating budget.
Questions about the city’s existing policy were aired in early March when residents along George Street balked at having to foot the bill for such improvements as curb and gutter installation.
The city had anticipated installing sidewalks along the quiet neighborhood street, but those plans have since been scrapped amid the outcry.
While the council did not take any direct action during last week’s review, there are a number of considerations that loom, including the possible creation of a hardship program for lower income persons.
Further discussion is anticipated at upcoming council meetings.
