BURLINGTON — Aiming to unite Racine County leaders into a potent new organization, County Executive Jonathan Delagrave is urging all 17 municipalities to join forces.
Delagrave has proposed creating an Intergovernmental Cooperation Council for regular meetings that will include representatives from all 17 cities, towns and villages in the county.
The county executive hopes that improving communication will allow neighboring communities to work together in confronting problems and, if necessary, lobby for change.
The concept is based on a similar organization in Milwaukee County that has existed for decades and has recently united local officials in that county to examine such issues as taxes, public health and racial equality.
M.T. Boyle, community project manager for Racine County, pitched the idea March 1 to the Burlington City Council, seeking Burlington’s participation in the new group.
“We can start collaborating in ways that we haven’t before,” Boyle told the council. “This is something we want to do countywide.”
Burlington aldermen have not yet acted on the proposal, but City Administrator Carina Walters voiced support for the concept.
Walters cited state-imposed tax caps as an example of issues that faces all municipalities, and on which the new countywide council could enjoy more “leverage” in seeking reform at the state level.
“It’s really an opportunity for the communities of Racine County to collaborate,” she said, “to take formal action regarding issues or challenges or opportunities between all of the communities.”
Municipalities that already have signed on to the Intergovernmental Cooperation Council include the villages of Caledonia, Sturtevant, Union Grove and Yorkville, and the towns of Dover and Norway.
Delagrave and his staff plan to seek the involvement of all 17 municipalities, and to convene the first-ever meeting of the new countywide group in May. The group will start out meeting every two months.
Plans call for each municipality to be represented by its mayor or other highest elected official. Each will have one vote on the council, which means that the county’s smallest villages will have equal representation with the largest municipalities.
Could be ‘a very effective tool’
Racine City Administrator Paul Vornholt said he would not predict how Racine aldermen will view the concept.
Vornholt, however, said he participated in the Milwaukee County Intergovernmental Cooperation Council when he worked for the City of Milwaukee, and he found it useful in helping diverse communities find common ground on important issues.
As an example, he cited a need for state reform on “dark store” taxation, which helps big-box retailers lower their property tax bills, often at the expense of other local taxpayers.
“That’s its strength,” Vornholt said the countywide council idea. “It can be a very effective tool.”
The Milwaukee County organization was created in 1967, and today brings together 20 municipal representatives for monthly meetings.
Seeking more activity
Delagrave, who was elected Racine County executive in 2015, has been considering a similar organization for several years. It will replace a Heads Of Government group that meets about twice a year.
Boyle said she has been encouraged while visiting cities, towns and villages to seek participation in the new council. There have been no objections or serious concerns raised, she said.
“It’s been overwhelmingly positive,” she said.
Sturtevant Village President Mike Rosenbaum said he likes the fact that, when it comes to staking out positions, his community of 7,000 people will have equal representation with Racine and its 78,000 residents.
Rosenbaum said such an organization would have been helpful during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, when all municipalities were struggling to figure out how to respond. Rather than having a patchwork of local policies and practices to control the outbreak, Racine County could have pursued a uniform countywide approach.
Rosenbaum said the intergovernmental concept sounds promising.
“I do believe it’s going to be good for us,” he said. “It works really well with what we need to do.”
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