Planning/Parks Dept Supervisor addresses homeowner questions prior to July 25 public hearing re Special Tax

July 9, 2019 – Washington County, WI – Over the past week, property owners in Washington County served by Private Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems (POWTS) received a letter (photo below) in the mail from the Washington County Planning and Parks Department alerting them to a public hearing Thursday, July 25, 2019 at 7:35 a.m. regarding the creation of an Annual Special Charge Tax Assessment.

WashingtonCountyInsider.com contacted Department Supervisor Jamie Ludovic to obtain further information regarding the time of the meeting and other issues brought up by area homeowners with POWTS.

The meeting is currently slated to begin at 7:25 a.m. which some taxpayers felt did not accommodate work schedules. Ludovic’s response to this early morning, mid-week meeting time was, “The public hearing is set.  We sent out roughly 20,000 letters and are not planning on redoing any of those notices required under State law at this point.”

The Special Charge Tax Assessment Charge Report dated June 2019 stated the additional tax was to “further recover or defray Washington County’s costs related to developing, maintaining and enforcing a POWTS inventory tracking system as required by §145.20 of the Wisconsin Statutes.

Ludovic’s comment regarding this was, “In 2000, the Wisconsin Department of Commerce adopted a revised Administrative Code, Comm 81-87. Within this revised code came the requirement that all counties within the State are to create a maintenance tracking program for all POWTS within their respective boundaries.”

Addressing the postcard system currently in place for septic notification, Ludovic said, “At this time, we send postcards as notices for POWTS owners that need to submit maintenance on their systems.  I do want to clarify that the program is and should be more than just sending postcards.”

Ludovic was open to other methods of communication, “I have seen many comments coming in around [an e-mail] suggestion.  This is not something we’ve currently investigated but I am reaching out to our solution provider to see if this is allowable or something that we could look at.”

The Washington County Planning and Parks Department offers this Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) sheet, click HERE, to assist with any questions you may have.

Questions about the Special Charge Tax Assessment and/or the July 25 public hearing may also be directed to your district County Supervisor. Locate your supervisor HERE.

Communication regarding this meeting and/or the Assessment may be sent to Planning and Parks Department Supervisor Jamie Ludovic via email jamie.ludovic@co.washington.wi.us by calling 262-335-4445, or by mail at 333 W. Washington Street, #2300, West Bend, WI 53090.