Lisbon to vote to end Haass library agreement
Posted: June 9, 2014, Living Sussex Sun
Lisbon The town board is expected to formally take action next week to terminate at the end of this year the long-standing agreement with the Village of Sussex over sharing most of the operating costs of the Pauline Haass Libary.
Town Chairman Matt Gehrke said a decision to place the issue on the June 23 meeting agenda was made during a closed session of the Town Board on May 27 when the board discussed legal strategy with town lawyer Katheryn Gutenkunst.
The board could have voted to terminate the contract following the closed session, but Supervisor Steve Panten persuaded his colleagues to wait until the June 23 meeting so town residents would have an opportunity to voice their opinion on whether the agreement should be terminated, according to several sources.
“I think all of the board pretty much agreed with Steve. We want to make this as open and transparent as possible. We had pretty much left it up to Kathy to decide when we should notify the village. She thinks now is as good a time as any,” Gehrke said.
“It is a cost saving measure. We are trying to reduce lawyer fees for both communities,” Gutenkunst told Lake Country Publications.
She explained that negotiations between the town and the village over how to divide the library’s assets could begin immediately now that the town has notified the village of the town’s intent to terminate the agreement at the end of this year.
She said those negotiations might avoid a law suit between the communities over dividing the library’s assets and also will eliminate the need for the town and Library Board to continue their legal battle over control of 65 acres farm land and other assets that the widow Pauline Haass donated to the town for library purposes.
Dispute on what happens
There is a dispute between town and village officials over what happens when the contract is terminated. The town contends that the library can longer exist as a jointly owned municipal library and, according to the agreement, its assets must be divided between the communities.
Village officials have said they are prepared to assume control of the library and operate it at its existing level of service, and since the town will no longer help fund library operations, the town is not entitled to the library’s assets.
“This is no shocker. They have said all along they were going to pull out. We understand the town’s position (about dividing library assets). The village has a different one. We will just have to see how things work out,” said Village Administrator Jeremy Smith.
For the past four years the town and village have been at an impasse over a new funding agreement, with Gehrke insisting the village should pay a bigger share of the operating costs since village residents use the library more than town residents.
In 2013, the town contributed approximate $420,000 and the village contributed about $460,000 to the library budget of about $1.2 million.
Town residents will be required to pay an additional real estate tax to Waukesha County in 2015 and beyond estimated to be about 26 cents per $100,000 assessed valuation as a result of the termination of the agreement.
Subject to a tax
The tax revenues are used by the county to reimburse those communities that have libraries that provide services to communities that do not have libraries. Sussex, if it continues to operate the library, will receive most of the revenues from the Lisbon tax payments.
The town and village residents were exempt from the tax because of the joint municipal agreement that funded the library.
However, town taxpayers were paying more per capita to help fund the library agreement than they would pay in the county tax, according to town officials.
Town officials also are exploring the possibility of joining the Pewaukee Library and sharing in the cost of that system.
During 2011 and 2012, there was some disagreement among town board members over how, or whether, to extend the library funding agreement with the village.
In April of 2013, two candidates for the town board Hannah Heinritz and Panten were elected following campaigns that challenged the idea of a new library agreement. As a result of the election, Supervisor Joe Osterman became a key vote for a new agreement on the board.
But, the Library Board infuriated Osterman when they filed the law suit against the town.
Since then, the board has solidly backed Gehrke’s position that the town would terminate the agreement unless the Library Board drops the law suit and the village pays a bigger share of the library operating costs.
Pauline Haass Library will not have to close after funding agreement ends
Posted: June 20, 2014, Living Lake Country Reporter
Village of Sussex The Pauline Haass Library will not have to shut down, even temporarily, when the agreement between the village of Sussex and the town of Lisbon that funds the library is terminated at the end of this year, according to a state official.
Meanwhile, a lawsuit between the town and the library board that could cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars appears likely to continue even though the board will be out of business at the end of the year, according to a lawyer for the town.
The town board was expected at its Monday, June 24, meeting to vote to dissolve the agreement with the village that provides nearly $900,000 of the library’s approximately $1.2 million annual budget. The meeting occurred after Lake Country Publications deadlines.
Town officials have anticipated that the two municipalities would begin negotiations over dividing the assets of the library because the 26-year-old, joint-municipal agreement requires the assets be divided “should termination of this agreement result in the closing of the library.”
However, John De Bacher, director of library development for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, has told Lake Country Publications that the library does not have to be closed unless a court intervened.
De Bacher said the library can continue to operate if the village of Sussex is willing to provide an operating budget, staff and maintain the library according to state standards.
The village board has indicated its willingness to operate the library without town of Lisbon participation. However, village trustees will have to appoint a new library board, according to De Bacher.
De Bacher said the state was willing to allow the library to continue operations after the agreement was terminated because there are no precedent setting court decisions that address what happens when a joint-municipal library agreement was dissolved.
The two municipalities have not been able to agree on a new funding formula for the library after nearly four years of negotiations.
Lisbon Town Chairman Matt Gehrke insisted throughout the negotiations that Sussex pay a larger share of the operating costs because Sussex residents use the library more than town residents. The village contributes about $460,000 to library operations, the town about $420,000.
After two new supervisors were elected in April 2013, the five member town board was divided over whether to even consider a new agreement with village.
However, the town board became united against a new agreement after the library board filed a lawsuit seeking custody and control over 65 acres of farm land that Pauline Haass had donated to the town to be used for library purposes.
Earlier this month, Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge James R. Keiffer rejected a motion by a library board attorney asking for a ruling in favor of the library without further hearings.
According to court documents, Keiffer ruled on June 9 that there are “genuine issues of material fact in dispute” and scheduled a pretrial conference for Oct. 20.
Earlier this year, Keiffer ordered out-of-court mediation between the library and the town board.
However, attorneys for both sides say they cannot begin those negotiations until they have completed their work preparing for a trial that could be held later this year. However, it now appears unlikely that either a trail or mediation can be completed before the existing library board is dissolved at the end of the year.
So far, the library board has spent about $24,500 in legal fees as part of the lawsuit, according to Library Director Kathy Klager. Klager said there has been no discussions among library board members regarding whether they should continue with the lawsuit.
Town Attorney Katheryn Gutenkunst told Lake Country Publications that lawyers for the village and town should begin negotiations dissolving the agreement and dividing library assets as soon as possible in order to avoid further legal bills for either Sussex or Lisbon taxpayers.
Lisbon terminates Sussex library agreement
By Kelly Smith
June 23, 2014 10:18 p.m. | Living Lake Country Reporter
Village of Sussex – As expected, the Lisbon Town Board unanimously agreed tonight to terminate at the end of the year the joint municipal agreement with the Village of Sussex that funds most of the operations of the Pauline Haass Library.
The town contributes about $420,000 annually to the library’s approximately $1.2 million budget and the village contributes another approximately $460,000.
The town and village have been attempting to agree on a new funding formula during nearly four years of negotiations that were side tracked when the Library Board decided to sue the town over control of 65 acres of farm land donated to the town for library purposes by Pauline Haass.
The library is not expected to close when the funding agreement expires. Sussex village officials have vowed to take over the library and maintain it at existing service levels.
Town residents will be able to continue to use the library, and other Waukesha County library facilities, but will have to pay a county library tax that is estimated to be about 26 cents $100,000 assessed valuation.
Lisbon Town Board ends library agreement with Sussex
Posted: June 25, 2014, Living Lake Country Reporter
Town of Lisbon After more than an hour of intense discussions with town residents, the town board on Monday, June 23, unanimously voted to terminate the 27-year-old joint municipal library agreement with the village of Sussex that funds most of the operations of the Pauline Haass Library.
The town contributes about $426,000 annually to library operations, while the village adds another $468,000 to the library’s approximately $1.2 million budget. Funds from Waukesha County and other revenue sources provide the remainder of the library’s revenues.
The library will not be forced to close when the funding agreement, created in 1987, ends Dec. 31. Sussex intends to take over library operations, and some village officials have pledged to maintain the existing level of services.
Town residents will be allowed to continue to use the Pauline Haass library, along with other library facilities in Waukesha County, but they will have to pay a county library tax, estimated to be about 26 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation.
Nearly two dozen residents attended the meeting, with nine of them speaking in favor of continuing the agreement and five speaking against it. Town board members spent nearly an hour in a sometimes-emotional discussion with town residents about the pros and cons of continuing the agreement.
Before last week’s meeting, a consensus had developed among the town board members to terminate the agreement because of its costs, a lawsuit filed against the town by the library board, and the results of the April municipal elections.
Two new board members Steven Panten and Hannah Heinritz were elected to the board after campaigning against the library agreement.
Some of the residents who attended the meeting were part of a last-ditch effort by the Friends of the Library to save the funding agreement.
Slap in the face
Former library board President Emil Glodoski, a town resident, suggested the library will be forced to reduce services if the agreement is not renewed.
“The library will take a hit,” he said.
“This is a slap in the face to Sussex. It will set back for a generation maybe more than a generation relationships between Lisbon and Sussex,” he added.
Some of the town residents argued that the potential savings to them possibly as much as a $100 by paying the county library tax compared to the cost of the library agreement was not worth the risk of losing services provided by the library.
“The amount of money is minimal,” said Karen Murphy, “We need to keep our communities together.”
Some of the residents asserted that the late Pauline Haass would not have approved of the town board severing the agreement with Sussex.
However, another former library board president, Robert Williams, noted that Haass donated the land and about $250,000 in cash for the town board, not the village, to determine the best use of the land and money for library purposes.
Williams, a former town supervisor, emphasized that town residents would be allowed to continue to use the library.
Town resident Gary Gehlback added that by terminating the agreement the town was making available additional funds that could be used for purposes other than a library.
Why end agreement?
After the discussion, each of the five members of the Town Board outlined their reasons for ending the agreement.
Heinritz said the town and village have different philosophies regarding government spending, and the town’s more-conservative fiscal positions were not being respected by a majority of the library board.
Supervisor Ryan Lippert, a member of the library board and the town’s representative in negotiations with village, said, “I have spent four years of my life trying to get an agreement. I wanted an agreement more than anybody, but it just did not work out. It is unfortunate.”
Lippert added that an agreement providing the town would pay 60 percent and the village would 40 percent of the municipal costs of the library had been worked out, but that pact was broken when the library board decided to file a lawsuit against the town seeking control of 65 acres of farmland donated by the late Haass to the town for library purposes.
Town Chairman Matt Gehrke noted that because of the funding agreement, the town was devoting 12 percent of its budget to library services, while other communities in the county were providing 6 to 8 percent of their budgets to library services.
In addition, Gehrke said the town board will attempt to lower the town’s 2015 tax levy in an effort to offset the additional county library tax residents will have to pay.
Panten noted that 30 percent of town residents use other community library services. By ending the agreement, those other community libraries will receive a more equitable share of town tax revenues to help pay for the services they provide town residents.
Panten added the Library Board was paying too much money for salary increases and new programs.
Supervisor Joe Osterman said he warned the library board if it sued the town it would destroy any chance of a long-term library funding agreement between the town and village.
“I don’t think we should be funding someone who is suing us and making us pay for half of their legal fees,” Osterman said, noting the town is helping pay for the library lawyers, since the town contributes to the operating cost of the library
Town board members also noted that until last week there had been limited public interest in the negotiations between the town, village and library that had been going on for nearly four years.
“This issue has been brewing for years, It is sad to me that it has to come to the last day before people start showing up,” noted Heinritz.
Ending Pauline Haass library agreement has legal, financial implications
Posted: June 25, 2014, Living Lake Country Reporter
Town of Lisbon – Town Chairman Matt Gehrke says he anticipates the Town Board will set aside for tax relief a portion of the $426,000 in additional revenues the town will gain in 2015 as a result of terminating the joint municipal library funding agreement with the Village of Sussex.
However, Gehrke concedes he does not know how much money the board will agree to set aside in an effort to provide town tax relief to residents who are likely to pay about $75 in additional Waukesha County taxes as a result of the library agreement ending in 2014.
Town residents will be required to pay a county library tax since the town will no longer be contributing to providing library services for its residents.
The 2014 library tax rate is 27 cents per $1,000 which equals about $75 for the owner of a home assessed for tax purposes at $280,000.
However, Waukesha County Federated Library System (W
The Town Board voted unanimously last week to terminate the joint funding agreement that paid for most of the $1.2 million in annual operating costs for the library. The town’s share of those cost is about $426,000 which can now became available for other purposes.
Gehrke said he wants to see some of the money used for highway repairs. Supervisor Joe Osterman said he would like to a see a portion of the money used for establishing a fund to help eventually pay the salary and expenses related to a Waukesha County sheriff’s deputy
Lisbon asks court to control Sussex library spending
By Kelly Smith
July 15, 2014 6:01 p.m. Lake Country Reporter
Town of Lisbon – Town officials are asking the Waukesha County Circuit Court for a temporary injunction that will restrict spending by the Pauline Haass Joint Municipal Library Board during the remainder of 2014.
Lisbon officials are concerned that the Library Board, which will go out of business on Dec. 31, may spend down its reserve funds so the town will gain less revenue from any agreement reached with the Village of Sussex regarding dividing the library’s assets, according to Town Chairman Matt Gehrke.
Gehrke said the town and village must split the library’s assets as a result of the Town Board voting on June 23 to terminate the joint municipal agreement with the village that funded and governed the library, located in Sussex, for the past 26 years.
Sussex village trustees will discuss in a closed session in August whether to engage in negotiations with the town even though village officials do not believe the town is entitled to a share of the library’s assets, according to Village Administrator Jeremy Smith
The town is asking the court to prohibit the library from spending beyond appropriation levels outlined in the 2014 budget and to prohibit the library from spending any of its reserve funds. In addition, the town is asking the court to require the library board seeking court approval for spending for goods and services in excess of $10,000.
Library Director Kathy Klager said she does not know of any plans to spend reserve funds other than to pay some utility bills that may exceed budgeted amounts. Spending of any reserve funds would have to be approved by the Library Board, she added.
Pauline Haass library assets at issue in Lisbon/Sussex split
Posted: July 26, 2014 12:41 p.m., Living Sussex Sun
Town of Lisbon Town officials say they would prefer to begin negotiations with the village of Sussex now, rather than after Jan 1, regarding how the two communities will divide the assets of the Pauline Haass Library, following the town’s decision to terminate the joint municipal agreement that funds most of the library operations.
Meanwhile, the town is also seeking a temporary injunction in Waukesha County Circuit Court that would prohibit the library board from spending certain funds during the remainder of 2014.
Members of the joint municipal library board are appointed by the town and village, which together fund about $885,000 of the approximately $1 million library budget. The library board operates independently of the town and village boards.
According to state officials, the existing library board will go out of business Dec. 31, since the town board on June 23 unanimously agreed to terminate the 26-year-old joint municipal agreement..
Village officials plan to continue library operations in 2015 and do not think the town is entitled to any of the library’s assets
The town is asking the court to block any spending by the library board that exceeds appropriation levels in the 2014 budget or involves spending reserve funds. In addition, the town is asking the court to require the library board to seek court approval of any spending for goods and services that exceeds $10,000.
Town Chairman Matt Gehrke said the town is seeking the legal action because it fears that the Library Board may spend down some of its existing reserve funds to reduce revenues the town might receive as a result of the town and village agreeing to split library assets.
Gehrke said that to reduce potential legal costs for both communities, the negotiations over the library’s assets should begin immediately rather than waiting until the agreement formally ends at the end of the year.
“We are going to have to discuss it sooner or later, and I would rather it be sooner than later,”Gehrke said.
Sussex Village Administrator Jeremy Smith said village trustees will meet in a closed session in August to discuss legal strategy and whether to proceed with negotiations with the town over the library’s assets. Smith said village officials do not think the town is entitled to any of the assets because the town chose to terminate the agreement.
But town officials maintain the town is entitled to a share of the library’s assets because, according to the intermunicipal agreement, the assets shall be divided “should termination of this agreement result in closing of the library.”
Wisconsin Library Development Director John DeBacher said there is no precedent decision in state courts regarding whether a joint municipal library must be closed or dissolved as a result of the termination of municipal library agreement.
DeBacher said he does not believe the Pauline Haass Library would have to be closed if the village of Sussex assumed control of the library and provided adequate funding to meet state and county library standards.
However, DeBacher said a new library board would have to be appointed.
Smith reiterated village plans to include library operations in its 2015 budget.
In 2014, the village contributed about $513,000 to library operations, including about $68,000 in debt service and about $461,000 for its share of the municipal contributions to the library.
In 2015, he anticipated the village board would contribute about $538,000, which approximately represents the previous year’s operating and debt service contributions.
He noted that since the building bonds for the library are paid off at the end of 2014, the village could use the money it annually contributed to debt service for operations in future years.
Lisbon and Sussex volunteers and staff working together on Heritage Festival, ice cream social, despite…
Posted: Aug. 1, 2014, Lake Country Reporter
Town of Lisbon Despite the tensions and legal battles between the Lisbon town government and the Pauline Haass Library Board, the library board’s staff and volunteers in the town’s park department continue to work together to promote community events.
Volunteers from the town’s park department will be attending this week’s library sponsored ice cream social in downtown Sussex between 6 and 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 6, in order to pass out literature that promote the town’s 7th annual Heritage Festival on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 9 and 10, at the Lisbon Community Park near Oakwood and Lake Five Roads.
The social, sponsored by the Fairways of Woodside Golf Course in the town of Lisbon, has become an annual village tradition held at the village government complex on Main Street. It is held in onjunction with National Night Out, which has several sponsors including the local Lions Club, fire department, and the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department.
The social and National Night Out provide a platform for park volunteers to launch last minute promotional efforts for the Heritage Festival. The event features educational and entertainment exhibits, along with re-enactors in historic period costumes who portray particular eras, ranging from the Roman Empire to modern societies.
There will be more than 60 re-enactors at the heritage festival. At least one will attend the social to promote the festival, according to Marlene Kumitsch, town park board chairman.
Kumitsch said that in addition to promoting the festival the social also provides an opportunity for citizens of the town of Lisbon and village of Sussex to work together.
“I think it is good public relations. It is a good relationship builder between people in the town, the library staff and the people in the village. We are working together to help promote each others events and it is all about the children who can have educational opportunities at both the library and the Heritage Festival,” Kumitsch said.
“We are happy to help them, I expect Marlene may even scoop some ice cream for us,” said Becky Murray, assistant library director.
“We have a lot of people from Lisbon who use our library services and there a lot of people from Sussex and some of the surrounding communities that attend the Heritage Festival. So, we are happy to work together,” she added.
The “happy to work together” philosophy is not shared by the two respective governing bodies.
The town of Lisbon has voted to terminate at the end of the year a joint agreement with the village of Sussex that defines how the Pauline Haass Library is operated and funded by the two municipalities. Sussex village officials have vowed to continue the library operations without the town’s participation.
The board has filed a lawsuit seeking “custody and control” of 65 acres of farm land donated to the town for library purposes by Pauline Haass. Library officials argue that state law requires any land or assets donated for the library purposes must be controlled by a library board.
Town officials said Haass donated the land to town for the town board to determine how it was to used for library purposes, not the library or village board.
The town recently filed legal action seeking an injunction from the Waukesha County Circuit Court to prevent the library board from spending any money beyond what its received in contributions from the two municipalities. Town officials argue the board must have permission from the two municipalities before it can spend beyond what the municipalities contributed to the library.
Judge questions Haass Library spending
Posted: Aug 28, 2014 12:41 p.m., Living Sussex Sun
A Waukesha County Circuit Court judge has questioned why the Pauline Haass Library Board, which will be eliminated at the end of the year, continues to spend taxpayers dollars on litigation against the town of Lisbon.
During a more-than-hourlong court hearing Thursday, Aug. 28, Judge James Kieffer told lawyers for the library board, the town and the village of Sussex that taxpayer dollars would be better spent if they were trying to resolve various legal issues out of court rather than preparing to litigate the issues.
He instructed the lawyers to “immediately” contact retired Judge Patrick Snyder, who will be appointed as a mediator in court-ordered negotiations among the three parties in an effort to resolve the legal issues.
Kieffer also postponed a pretrial conference and a hearing on motions until later this year to give the lawyers more time to try to negotiate a settlement and possibly reach an agreement on how the library’s assets will be divided between the town and village.
He granted Lisbon’s request for a restraining order against the library board that limits its ability to spend money and use cash reserves between now and the end of the year, when the library board will be dissolved.
End of an era
The Lisbon Town Board voted earlier this year to terminate the joint municipal agreement that has funded and operated the Pauline Haass Library for the past 27 years. The Sussex Village Board has said it will take over library operations after Jan. 1 but will have to appoint a new library board.
“There is no question the library board will go out of existence in four months and four days. The only question is how the board’s assets will be divided,” Kieffer said.
At one point in the hearing, Kieffer questioned library board lawyer David Hase about why the board was continuing its lawsuit claiming it should have “custody and control” of 65 acres of farmland donated to the town for library purposes by the late Paulinee Haass.
Hase responded that the board had an obligation to seek possession of the land since state law requires that any donations to a library must be put in the custody and control of the library board. In addition, he said the library board was attempting to protect all of its assets in the event there was a dissolutionment of the joint municipal agreement.
It appeared that Kieffer rejected the library and village board’s legal arguments that the state law trumped the joint municipal agreement between the town and village.
Instead, Kieffer said, the agreement is a contract that runs concurrently with state laws regulating libraries.
He ruled that the library board existed as a result of the joint municipal agreement between the town and village, and therefore the village must be part of the out-of-court negotiations.
Two weeks ago the village rejected the town’s offer to begin negotiations about how to divide library assets as provided in the joint agreement.
Municipal response
“Of course, we will obey the judge,” Village President Greg Goetz said after being told about Kieffer’s decision.
However, Geotz and Village Administrator Jeremy Smith said they wanted to confer with village and library lawyers about the decision.
“It is only one judge’s opinion,” said Smith, who did not rule out the possibility that the village might appeal the order.
Library Board Chairman Tim Dietrich was not available for comment.
Town Attorney Katheryn Guntenkunst said she was “delighted” with the judge’s ruling and emphasized town officials have been trying to minimize the cost of legal fees in the dispute.
Guntenkunst asked the judge for the restraining order against the library board earlier this year after Library Director Kathy Klager discussed with the library board the possibility of hiring an architect. Klager wanted the architect to advise the board on the design of additional library space that might be included in a proposed new village hall.
Town representatives on the library board were furious. They later complained to a reporter that town funds would be used to help pay for an architect who would design library facilities that would be owned and controlled by the village after the end of the year.
Although Klager later rescinded the idea of hiring the architect, Guntenkunst pursued the restraining order because town officials wanted to prevent the library board from spending any money that was not in the 2014 library board budget that included town funds.
In 2014, the town contributed $426,000 and the village added $468,000 in operating revenues to the library’s $1.2 million budget.
The town board terminated the funding agreement because the municipalities could not reach an agreement on a new funding formula for the library.
Mediation over Haass library scheduled
Posted: Sept. 9, 2014 12:41 p.m., Living Sussex Sun
Village of Sussex Although court-ordered mediation is scheduled to begin on Oct. 8, the Pauline Haass Library Board which will be dissolved in three months may continue its legal battles with the town of Lisbon over farm land once donated to the town to be used for library purposes.
Library Board President Tim Dietrich says he has “absolutely not” ruled out the possibility the library board may appeal a recent decision by Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge James R. Kieffer, which resulted in an injunction against the library board that limits 2014 spending and an order requiring the library board, the town, and the village of Sussex to begin mediation over various legal issues.
However, Dietrich, who is also a village trustee, emphasized that the library board and the village of Sussex will abide by the judge’s order and begin mediation with the town of Lisbon.
Dietrich, a retired truck driver with 15 years experience in negotiating Teamster labor contracts, said he hopes the mediation sessions can be productive and will result in an out-of-court settlement.
“We want to spend as little money as possible on this,” he said.
However, David Hase, an attorney for the library board, recently demanded that town officials produce numerous documents dating back to the creation of the municipal agreement and answer a series of question about what the town board has done with other funds and assets donated by Haass.
Town Attorney Kathryn Gutenkunst believes the document demand “violates the spirit” of Judge Kieffer’s order, according to Town Chairman Matt Gehrke.
During an Aug. 28 hearing, Kieffer suggested that taxpayer money would be better spent by lawyers representing the town, library, and village, trying to reach an out-of-court settlement through mediation rather than preparing for court hearings and a possible trial involving the library board that goes out of existence on Dec. 31.
The town board voted earlier this year to terminate the 27-year-old joint municipal agreement with the village that created the library. The village board plans to continue library operations but will have to appoint a new library board after Jan. 1.
The mediation issues are likely to include whether the town board or the library retains “custody and control” of the Haass farm land and how the assets of the library will be divided between the town and village when the joint municipal agreement ends on Dec. 31.
Five things to know about the Pauline Haass Library after the board dissolves
By Kelly Smith
Posted: Sept. 29, 2014 12:41 p.m., Living Sussex Sun
The Library Board of the Pauline Haass Library, which serves the village of Sussex and the town of Lisbon, will be eliminated on Dec. 31 as a result of the town of Lisbon deciding not to renew the agreement that authorized the operation of the library, provided most of its funding, and created the library board.
The debate among elected officials and maneuvering among lawyers for the town, village and library board has resulted in some confusion regarding the future of the library.
Here are some answers to frequently asked questions:
1. What will happen to the library after Dec. 31?
The village of Sussex will continue operating the Pauline Haass Library as a municipal library funded by a combination of village and county tax revenues as well as non-tax revenue sources. The village and the Waukesha County Board will appoint members of a new library board, a majority of which will be Sussex residents, according to village and county officials. The new library board will take over on Jan. 1.
2. How will library services be affected ?
According to the village and library officials, the existing level of library services will continue. Residents of both the town of Lisbon and village of Sussex, as well as residents of other communities, will be permitted to continue to check materials out of the library and participate in library programs.
3.What will happen to library employees?
Nothing, according to Library Board Chairman Tim Dietrich. The employees will remain on their jobs and their salaries and benefits will be administered by the village of Sussex.
4. How will this affect my taxes?
If you are a resident of the town of Lisbon, you will pay an additional Waukesha County real estate tax rate of approximately 28 cents per $1,000, which is lieu of the annual contribution the town of Lisbon made to the library prior to the termination of the joint municipal library agreement, according to county library officials.
If you a resident of Sussex, there may be very little, if any, impact on your tax bill, according to village officials
Village Administrator Jeremy Smith has said that the village’s annual contribution to the library operations and debt service, in addition to additional revenues from Waukesha County, along with non-tax revenues, are sufficient for the village to maintain the library at its existing level of services.
5. What overall changes will I see in library operations?
Very few.
“When people walk through those (library) doors after Jan. 1, most of them are not going to notice any differences,” said Library Board President Tim Dietrich, who is also a member of the village board.
Library mediation set to begin
Posted: Oct 1, 2014 12:41 p.m., Living Sussex Sun
Village of Sussex With court-ordered mediation scheduled to begin in a week, there are indications that the long-standing dispute involving the Pauline Haass Library Board, the Town of Lisbon and the Village of Sussex may be winding down.
However, some of the legal skirmishes between attorneys and tensions between Lisbon and Sussex library board members and elected officials may continue.
Members of the library board clashed during a meeting last week before they agreed to dissolve a mediation committee that had been appointed earlier in the year.
Lawyers representing the town and the library board have been exchanging letters in a dispute over the meaning of ruling by Judge James Kieffer and the wording of a court order issued as a result of the Aug. 27 ruling.
During the board meeting, former Library Board President Robert Williams said it was likely a judge, either Kieffer or retired Judge Patrick Snyder, would resolve the dispute by making the final determination regarding how the assets of the library will be divided between the town and village.
Williams was expressing publicly what some key library and Town of Lisbon officials have said privately; they do not expect mediation to be successful and ultimately it will be up a judge to make the final determination.
However, if the mediation were successful any compromise agreement would have to be ratified by the village and town boards.
The mediation sessions are scheduled to begin on Oct. 8 and continue, if needed, on Oct. 17.
In ordering the mediation in August, Kieffer said the town and village should “cut to chase” and begin mediation rather than “simply piling up more legal fees.
“The issue that remains in how the assets of Pauline Haas Public Library Board are then to be distributed or parceled out amongst the various parties,” he said.
However, village officials have emphasized they intend to allow library operations to continue without the Town of Lisbon by using existing village library revenue, Waukesha County library tax revenues and other non-municipal revenue sources to fund the approximately $1 millon a year operation.
Therefore, a majority of the library board argues that library assets should not be divided, Tim Dietrich, board president, said.
Williams advised the board and staff to be cautious in its spending in the next four months to make sure it does not exceed spending authorized in the 2013 budget, which was the last approved budget.
Williams advised the board and staff to be cautious in its spending in the next four months to make sure it does not exceed spending authorized in the 2013 budget, which was the last budget approved by the both the town and village.
After some debate, the board agreed there was no longer a need for board members to serve on a mediation committee since agreement as a result fo the mediation would have to approved by the Library Board, if it still existed.
Before the library board is dissolved, the village board and the Waukesha County Board will both appoint members of a new board which will take over on Jan. 1. A majority of the new board will be village residents, according to county library officials.
Residents of the town and village will continue to be able check out books and other materials and participate in library activities. However, town residents will have to pay Waukesha County library tax of about 28 cents per $100,000, which generates about $300,000, according to county library officials, in lieu of the annual contribution the town board made to library operations.
Progress in Haass Library talks
Posted: Oct 21, 2014 12:41 p.m., Living Sussex Sun
Village of Sussex Both sides are reporting some progress in the mediation between the town of Lisbon and village of Sussex over the dividing of the assets of the Pauline Haass Library although key participants in the talks acknowledged the two sides are still far apart.
“I am hopeful that we can come to some agreement,” said Village Trustee Tim Dietrich, who is also library board president.
“I think we made some progress during the last two hours of the second day,” added Town Chairman Matt Gehrke.
Dietrich said he believed progress was made during the Oct.17 session because Gehrke and Town Supervisor Joe Osterman were able to meet face to face and privately with Village Administrator Jeremy Smith.
Dietrich said the session improved communication between the two sides.
“I wasn’t in the room during those discussions but I got the impression afterward that they made a difference,” he said.
Gehrke also expressed hope the two sides could reach an agreement but acknowledged they have not agreed on a key issue, the value of the assets of the library.
The town board voted to terminate the 27-year-old agreement with the village that provides most of the funding for the library earlier this year. The agreement stipulates that in the event the agreement is dissolved, the town and village will divide the total value of the assets of the library.
The village plans to take over, and continue, library operations after Dec. 31 when the agreement expires.
Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge James Kieffer ordered the mediation in hopes of resolving a series of lawsuits filed by the village, the town and the library board.
Retired Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Patrick Snyder is conducting the mediation sessions that began on Oct. 8 in the law offices of Town Attorney Kathy Gutenkunst and continued on Oct. 17.
Another mediation session has not been scheduled, according to Gehrke and Dietrich.