By Lee Reinsch
Contributing Writer
DE PERE – Through unanimous vote Dec. 6, De Pere Common Council voted to request that Brown County share the revenue from its sales and use tax.
In August, the Brown County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance extending the 0.5% sales and use tax until the county’s debt is eliminated. The tax took effect Jan. 1, 2018, and was slated to expire on Dec. 31, 2023. The ordinance says revenue from the tax is to be used specifically for county capital improvements, broadband expansion and county debt elimination.
Only counties, not individual municipalities, have the authority to collect sales and use taxes. But in accordance to Wisconsin Statute 77.76(3), counties are authorized to share all or a portion of sales tax revenues with municipalities and school districts within their boundaries.
“(There) is a growing trend among counties in Wisconsin toward sharing all or a portion of such sales tax revenue, and counties such as Outagamie, Sheboygan and Fond du Lac all currently share all or a portion of their state sales tax revenues with municipalities and school districts located within their respective boundaries,” De Pere’s Resolution No. 22-94 reads.
De Pere is asking Brown County to “equitably distribute a portion of the revenue it receives from its sales and use tax to the City of De Pere.”
Resolution No. 22-94 goes on to say that all City of De Pere officials, employees and agents are “authorized and directed to take such steps as are lawful and necessary in furtherance thereof.”
Facade grants approved
The De Pere Common Council unanimously approved an application by Shanna and Lance Koltz for two grants for facade improvements to two downtown buildings they own. The two buildings are 407 Main Avenue (Studio Rouge) and 409 Main Avenue (Bona Fide Juicery).
The grants provide matching funds for eligible facade improvement costs up to $10,000 per parcel for buildings up to 60 feet in width. The Koltzes estimated their improvements to total more than $51,000 and include both the Main Avenue storefronts as well as the rear facades. Both buildings are believed to have been built in the 1890s and have been home to general retail, flour and feed stores and workshops.
Development coming
The De Pere Common Council approved a preliminary plat of The Kingston Preserve in the 2000 block of Lawrence Drive on the south side of the city.
The Kingston Preserve will be an 82-lot, seven-outlot development (a single family residence district with a planned development district overlay.) Part of the parcel is zoned C-EO (Corporate Executive Office District.)
The area is surrounded by business park land to the north and to the east as well as conservancy to the east, and residential and church land on the south. The city’s comprehensive plan for the area includes neighborhood residential and multifamily housing. The plat has 81 lots for single family residential use, one lot for a privately owned neighborhood clubhouse and seven outlots.
Development is expected to be done in two phases, with the first phase starting next spring and the second phase beginning in spring of 2025.
The property owner is listed as Preserve Development, LLC, 3346 Pine Tree Road, Hobart.