Notice of Special Village Election on June 9, 2015

Click here for details.
 

Changes You Will Notice if You Live in the New Village Area

1. New Elected Trustees
2. New elected trustees will represent you.  In the upcoming June special election, Village residents will elect six new trustees and one village president.  If you live in the Town of Somers,  you will continue to be represented by the current Town Board of Supervisors.
3. New Tax Parcel Numbers
4. Village residents will pay their 2015 real estate taxes to the Town of Somers.  Effective January, 2016, all property owners in the Village will be assigned new tax parcel numbers because the Village is a new municipality.  2016 tax bills will be payable to the Village of Somers.
5. New Voting Wards
6. New wards will be established for both the new Village and remnant Town; however, the polling places (the Village and Town Hall and UW-Parkside) will not change.
7. Licensing, Permits, etc.
8. All licensing for alcohol, amusement, trailer parks, dogs, etc. will continue to remain in force until the license expires.  Renewals will then be issued by either the Village or Town.

Residents in the New Village Will Continue to…

1. Call 911 for fire and rescue
2. Call 911 for law enforcement (Somers Fire and Rescue and Kenosha County law enforcement will serve both the Village and Town)
3. Remain in the Kenosha Unified School District
4. Go to the current Village and Town Hall for all public, board, committee, and commission meetings
5. Use the same telephone number, (262)859-2822 ,to contact the Village and Town Hall.
6. Contact the current Village and Town Hall for all questions, concerns, and information relating to public works, garbage and recycling, taxes, permits, fees, development, zoning and ordinances
7. Obtain all official information relating to Village and Town business on the Somers.org website.

Administration, Buildings, Employees

The current administrative staff, including the Village and Town Administrator, Clerk-Treasurer, Building Inspector, Public Works Supervisor, Deputy Clerk/Treasurer/Accountant, Fire Chief and fire and rescue employees, and paid on call professionals, will continue to operate and manage the Town and Village business at the current Village and Town Hall. 
 

Budgets

The Somers Town Board and the new Somers Village Board will develop a budget for each respective municipality
 

Equalized Value Impact

The proposed Village will acquire the majority of the existing Town of Somers’ equalized value, roughly 73% of the total, while the proposed Town remnant would receive roughly 27% of the total. The gradual transfer of ‘B area’ lands to the City of Kenosha will reduce the remnant’s equalized value
 

Impact on Services: Shared Service Agreements

In order to facilitate cooperation between the new Village and new remnant, the Town Board and new Village Board will develop an intergovernmental agreement that provides specifics regarding future service sharing (fire & rescue, public works including sewer and water utilities, garbage and recycling, employees, etc.), regulatory control, and municipal boundaries, among other issues that will arise between the Town and Village.  This will spare the remnant Town from needing to duplicate these services. 

Village of Somers Certificate of Incorporation
dated April 24, 2015

Click here to view document.

Description of the New Village and Town of Somers

The new Village encompasses roughly 12 square miles, and the Town remnant area roughly 17 square miles. However, some of this remnant area, referred to as the ‘B Area’, will transfer to the City of Kenosha by 2035 pursuant to the Kenosha-Somers Cooperative Boundary Plan.  Regarding population, the new Village will consists of approximately 6,970 persons, with the remnant Town containing about 2,627 persons.
 

Somers Voters Say Yes to Incorporate a Portion of the Town into a Village

The April 7, 2015 Somers election results approved incorporating a portion of the Town of Somers into a village by a vote of 676 votes “for a village” vs. 526 votes “against a village”.  Somers will now be known as the Village and Town of Somers.  The certified election results were submitted to the Kenosha County Circuit Court, who will then forward the same to the Wisconsin Office of the Secretary of State.  The Secretary’s office is expected to issue a Certificate of Incorporation within two weeks.  
 

Incorporation Process

Incorporation Public Cafe Draws a Second Big Crowd on March 26, 2015

Incorporation Public Cafe Draws Crowd Near 200 on March 17, 2015

Proposed New Somers Boundary Map dated Feb. 23, 2015

The map indicates the following:

Kenosha County, Circuit Court, Court Order for Referendum filed Jan 21 2015

Wis Dept of Adm Determination of the Incorporation Review Board Jan 9 2015
It is the function of the Incorporation Review Board to prepare findings and to make a determination as to whether the territory petitioned for incorporation meets the applicable standards prescribed in Section 66.0207, Wis. Stats.  The findings of the Review Board are detailed in the link above.
 

Attorney Clark Letter Commenting on Boundary Agreements

02-14-2014 Incorporation Committee Minutes