The Grand Chute Town Board has been looking to address the topic of future perceived staff space needs for several years.
At the June 3, 2025 Town Board meeting the Board reviewed architectural plans for expanding the current Grand Chute municipal complex. They also reviewed the project price tag and the impact it would have on residential property taxes. The estimated price tag of $60 million was projected by Ehlers, Inc, a financial consulting firm, to cost residential homeowners of the town an additional $1,289 per year for 25 years on a $100,000 home.
Each reader can view both reports HERE. The agenda item starts on page 50 and runs to page 76. It is on page 76 that Ehlers spells out the tax impact referred to above.
The fundamental question is: What will this increase in the property tax mean to the residents? If a typical residential property had a property tax value of $300,000, their total property tax (Town, County, School District) would be around $3,700. Added to that would then be their portion of the debt (3 X $1,289) or $3,867 for a total property tax of $7,567. A 105% increase! But this is not the entire story!
The Town of Grand Chute has a 1992 Border Agreement with the city of Appleton. Basically, every part of Grand Chute east of Richmond Street will become the City of Appleton whenever Appleton decides to annex those portions of Grand Chute. This will have two impacts:
- First, what are the actual space needs now, and what will they be in the future as Appleton annexes those parts of Grand Chute covered by the Border Agreement?
- Second, if the Town goes ahead and constructs the $60 million municipal complex expansion as it is currently planned, and Appleton annexes those parts of Grand Chute east of Richmond Street, then the entire debt will fall on the remaining residents who live west of Richmond Street.
Should the Town adopt the Zimmerman proposal, then the result as calculated in the Ehlers Study will affect all residents. There is a better way to address what the Town needs currently.
To begin, the Town needs to sit down with the City of Appleton and develop a plan–even if it is somewhat tentative–about which Grand Chute properties Appleton will annex and when those annexations will occur. Having this information will provide a basis for decision-making to begin.
If the Town will be significantly smaller in the future, it calls into question the need for the size of the municipal complex expansion as planned today in order to provide services in the future to the remaining residents west of Richmond. A better solution would be to plan for the use of leased interim space to meet current space needs and then reduce the amount of interim space over time as the City of Appleton annexes portions of Grand Chute and the Town becomes smaller. It may well be that just the current municipal complex will be what is adequate for the future needs.
