Newbold getting details in place for next year’s revaluation

With the town of Newbold’s revaluation looming in 2027, how to inform its citizens both then and now was among the topics discussed at the June 11 Newbold town board meeting, held at the Newbold Community Center.

That particular discussion arose during town assessor Jef Muelver’s monthly report to the board. 

Muelver said he’s received an estimate from a third-party mailing service that the cost of sending Newbold’s revaluation notices next year will be approximately $5,500. 

“That’s an estimate at this point, barring, of course, any dramatic changes in either paper or postage,” he reported.

“It’s actually less expensive for them to do it than it is for me to do it in-house … We don’t need to mess with the envelopes or paper or the actual mailing at all.”

With the cost of postage set to increase next month, town supervisor Mike McKenzie, who chaired the meeting in place of town chairman Dan Hess, out sick that day, asked if it would be possible to lock in a rate guarantee. Muelver will check into it.

The mailing would be sent at least 30 days prior to the board of review next year, a time frame of August or September, Muelver said. 

“This 30-day notice period is something new within the last couple of years. Prior to that, it’s always been 15 days before the board of review,” he explained. “I’ve been running between 15 and 20 days on the mailing in the regular years.”

Muller said next year’s mailing will be specific to the taxpayer’s property and show what their increase is going to be. “It has their previous year’s assessed value, current year’s assessed value, the amount of change on the one page,” he said. “The other page is the revaluation notice itself.”

In the meantime, said Muelver, “I’d like to suggest that with the tax bills (this year), we send out a third sheet mailer with a couple sentences reminding everybody it’s going to be a revaluation for 2027 … We could include my phone number, my website. I’ll have revaluation information on my website also. I also have Department of Revenue publications on there … Probably the most direct route for people if they’re looking on the Internet is to use my website,” he continued. “It’s a little bit easier to find than it is on the Department of Revenue’s website for that information.

“That’s what I would suggest on the mailer. And then the mention of the reval just has to be a couple sentences, saying that 2027 will be a year of town-wide revaluation.”

“Maybe I could even put on our website a link to your website if that’s the most efficient,” said town clerk Kim Gauthier.

Also on the agenda, sealed bids were opened for two different specifications for resurfacing the town’s Shoreview Drive. 

Four bids were received for hot-mix asphalt and two for double chip seal, with the board deciding to award the project to lowest bidder Fahrner Asphalt Sealers for double chip sealing for $58,341.96.

In the public comment portion of the meeting, county supervisor Lenore Lopez told the board the county’s conservation committee has ongoing discussions regarding PFAS in Oneida County and is looking at how to coordinate a united strategy between various committees also addressing PFAS.

“With that said, there will be a (DNR) public listening session open to members of the public on June 19 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.,” she said. (Complete details and a link to the online registration form are at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/newsroom/release/124996.) 

Among other highlights of the meeting, the board:

• Approved an update to Town Ordinance Chapter 11, Boating Regulations, to correct some misspelled words and to remove a sunset clause in the wake boat ordinance. “When you read the wording of the sunset clause, it was we would check it two years after,” pointed out town supervisor Petra Pietrzak, noting she had been under the impression that would happen every two years, but it was a “one-time thing. …When you look at what sunset provisions are all about by definition, what we had wasn’t even a sunset clause because ours stated that we would just leave it in effect.” 

• Agreed unanimously to renew Newbold’s policy with Rural Mutual Insurance, which expires July 1. The quote for the coming year is currently $44,262, which Gauthier noted may fluctuate, pending a worker’s comp audit.

The next meeting of the Newbold town board will be June 25 at 6 p.m. at the Newbold Community Center.

Ardith Carlton may be reached at [email protected].