The Town of Lac du Flambeau may be going to a referendum over the road easements issues with the Tribe.
It was considering a special town meeting this Wednesday to get voter approval for raising the tax levy limit, but that’s not an option.
In January, the Lac du Flambeau Tribe barricaded four roads.
The roads are tribal property but give access to dozens of private homes within the reservation.
The easements on them had expired more than 10 years ago. The tribe said the town and title companies involved had not been negotiating in good faith over those 10 years.
Around the time the barriers went up, the tribe said it was owed $20 million for the easements, lawyer fees, and repayment for 10 years of trespassing on those roads.
The town board is considering raising the tax levy limit to pay towards a resolution.
A draft of the May 3 meeting minutes shows the town is considering, “an additional $1 million a year payable to the tribe with an agreement that all roads within the town would remain open to the public.”
The levy would be on all properties within the boundaries of the town. The cost would come to roughly $106 per $100,000 of assessed value.
This needs voter approval.
The original plan was to have people vote during a special town board meeting this Wednesday.
“What we had done is in setting up a special town meeting because of our population size we’re approximately 3,500, we cannot levy additional taxes by use of a special town meeting. We need to do it as a referendum in election form,” said Town Board Chair Matt Gaulke.
At its meeting Monday morning, the Town Board voted to cancel the special town board meeting on Wednesday.
The town is now considering the referendum.
Wednesday’s special town board meeting would have also asked voters if they approve of deeding over some land to the tribe.
According to the town’s website, there are three properties totaling roughly 93 acres worth more than 372-thousand dollars combined that it’s considering deeding over to the tribe.
These are the properties it posted:
The property offered is a 17.97 acre parcel off Grey Lake Lane, described as Section 19, Town 41, Range 5E/Computer #10-2630. See attached map. Per the Town’s assessor, the estimated assessed value is $4,000 per acre; $71,800.00 value.
A second parcel owned by the Town is located off County F. It is a 40.29 acre parcel, Section 30, Town 40, Range 6E, Computer #10-3412. See attached map. Per the Town’s assessor, the estimated assessed value is $4,000 per ace; $161,160.00 value.
A third parcel owned by the Town is located off West Clear Lake Road. It is a 35 acre parcel. Section 27, Town 40, Range 4E, Computer #10-423. See attached map. Per the Town's assessor, the estimated assessed value is $4,000 per acre; $140,000 value.
Negotiations with the tribe have been ongoing since March.
The Town Board is scheduled to meet with the Tribal Government again this Friday to discuss the roads.
