Weekly News Blast - Town of Grant, Portage Co

Weekly Blast!: Last week the Town of Grant hosted the Portage County unit meeting of the Wisconsin Towns Association (WTA). This week I attended the WTA Annual Convention in Stevens Point. Town and village officers from all over the State of Wisconsin were present; hundreds of them. Each year this event helps to educate officers about state statutes, current legislation, road maintenance and construction, budgeting, ambulance and fire protection, and so much more. No one officer can attend all the sessions available (we need the entire board to do that!) but these are the ones I attended: 1) Cypersecurity Attacks; 2) Fire Protection Service Fees; 3) Legal “Cracker Barrel” (where officers can ask the WTA attorneys ANYTHING); 4) Large-Scale Wind & Solar; and 5) Industrial Development. Each session was extremely interesting and educational. Of particular interest was the session on Fire Protection Service Fees. Currently we pay for fire protection services from our general fund to the Town of Grand Rapids and the Village of Plainfield. The first uses equalized value to determine what we pay whereas the second uses a formula that is proportional to each contracted municipality. The former does not and so unfortunately, we pay a disproportional amount to T. Grand Rapids. In this WTA session they recommended two options if we don’t want to continue pulling from our general fund: 1) referendum to increase our levy; or 2) using a formula based on square footage of homes/businesses/land size, etc. to have landowners pay proportionally based on the anticipated expense of a fire to their parcel. It’s a very interesting option and several towns are working with their assessors to create a fair formula for landowners. For example, an agricultural field would pay far less than a large commercial building, or a small home would pay less than a large one with several accessory buildings, etc. Moving forward the Town of Grant will be looking at options as the price of fire protection increases every year. We need to find ways to make it fair with the greatest protection for all our residents, their homes, businesses, and land. Enjoy the anticipated stunning weather, Sharon

Posted on August 15, 2025 by webmaster

Weekly News Blast

The Kellner Corn Fest parade begins tomorrow (8/16) at 11:00 am. Please join in the fun! The Town will be represented by Treasurer Greg Hakala and Clerk Stefanie Schlapa riding in our patrol truck and employee Steve Dobeck operating our grader. I think Uncle Sam might be visible in one of the vehicles…

At our monthly board meeting on Wednesday Clerk Schlapa reported that town taxpayers have paid $67,142.36 in attorney fees due to the lawsuits filed by former Supervisor Heather Grys-Luecht. The Town Board had hoped to spend nearly $100,000 in highway maintenance this season (crack-sealing, asphalt patching, culvert cleaning, road base material, etc). Unfortunately, these suits have taken away nearly 2/3rds of our budget so as Supervisor Provost said at the meeting, “we are trying to do more with less”. I just wish we could do more with more. But for the 2025 construction season that will not be possible. We apologize for any inconvenience but when someone sues the Town, we all pay.

Have fun this weekend, Sharon