Stoughton
Thursday, December 13, 2018 • Vol. 137, No. 21 • Stoughton, WI • ConnectStoughton.com • $1.25
Can for a Cone! December 17 - December 31
Bring in a canned good (cannot be expired) for the food pantry and receive a free cone or dish of custard Exclusively at…
of Stoughton 916 Nygaard Street (608) 873-6635
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Courier Hub The
On Wed., December 19 from 4-8 p.m., 10% of total store proceeds will benefit the Stoughton Food Pantry!
Kettle Park West
Commission considers residential ALEXANDER CRAMER Unified Newspaper Group
A new concept for residential housing at Kettle Park West drew praise from the city’s Planning Commission Monday, and comments from its developer suggest there is major progress on two points of contention that have held up the project for about two years. Though Jenson the commission was missing three members and did not vote on the plan, Ald. Greg Jenson (Dist. 3) called it a “marked improvement” with the potential to bring
in more young families, something that’s been a point of emphasis with both the school district and city governments in recent years. Mayor Tim Swadley told the Hub he thinks it’s “much better than the first plan they had.” The new Forward Development Group plan largely does away with apartments in favor of single-family homes, and a representative told the commission the company will attempt to make it happen with little or no taxpayer assistance, something several alders have indicated they’d like to see. FDG development manager Dennis Steinkraus said at the meeting “our goal is to eliminate or get any (tax increment financing) requests down as low as possible.” He also said his firm had
Turn to KPW/Page 3
Photo by Amber Levenhagen
Darriell Banks, 10, wraps a present with officer Noel Crystal during the fifth annual Shop with a Cop program.
Wrapping holiday happiness AMBER LEVENHAGEN Unified Newspaper Group
Taxes up $226 on average home ALEXANDER CRAMER Unified Newspaper Group
The average Stoughton homeowner will find an increase of $226.42 over last year’s taxes when bills arrive in the mail in the next few days. That comes despite a 44-cent decrease in the overall mill rate because an average home in the city increased nearly $15,000 in value over last year. But homes that have been reassessed with less than the average increase will see a smaller hike, or even a decline in their taxes. For example, a $200,532 home, last year’s average, would see its taxes remain the same or lessen if its value increased less than $4,055.
Each home in the city is reassessed every year. The city contracts with Accurate Appraisal to do “walk-through” on-site assessments of 20 percent of properties each year for five years. The rest are adjusted by computer modeling and through sales of comparable homes, according to an email from co-owner Jim Danielson, “to maintain 100% market value assessments.” For the second year in a row, home values increased more than 50 percent higher compared to last year’s, and this year’s total is double the more-than-$7,000 increase in 2016. The Stoughton Area
Turn to Taxes/Page 14
Courier Hub
A school bus packed full of gifts, children and Stoughton Police Department officers unloaded at the EMS building Saturday morning. The group had just finished shopping at the Walmart Supercenter and was settling in to wrap their gifts, which would be distributed closer to the holiday – as long as the kids could
resist opening presents early. Av a S w e n s o n - S t e v e n s o n , 8 , wrapped gifts with Hannah Ruffolo, a volunteer from outside of the police department. She had a pile of gifts around here and when the Hub asked what her favorite part of the day was, she said “everything,” with a big smile on her face. She was clutching a baby doll which she said was her favorite gift
for herself, while Ruffolo helped wrap the other gifts. Ruffolo said she attended to help support both the officers and the kids. “I think it’s important for the police officers and the kids to grow a relationship, a positive relationship,” she said. “It’s good for the community.” This year was the fifth for Stoughton’s Shop with a Cop program, a
Turn to Cop/Page 16
Stoughton youth highlight holiday shows Students in Fireside, Overture Center performances AMBER LEVENHAGEN Unified Newspaper Group
Two River Bluff Middle School sixth-grade students are featured in holiday shows in Madison area. Lukas Hartberg, 11, is cast as Michael Hobbs in
the Fireside production of “Elf.” Olivia Peters, 11, will perform as Clara in The Nutcracker, performed by Madison Ballet at the Overture Center. It’s not the first time Hartberg and Peters have performed onstage outside Stoughton, and the two have both been featured in other performances in the Stoughton community in the past.
Peters has been featured in three Stoughton Center for the Arts shows: she was in the Christmas Carol twice, and once in its production of the Nutcracker. Hartberg has performed with multiple groups in the area, such as the Oregon Straw Hat Players and the Children’s Theater of Madison. Elf performances will continue until Dec. 23 and The Nutcracker runs
through Dec. 26.
The Nutcracker Peters is among 150 dancers that make up the Nutcracker ballet. She was featured in the p e r f o r m a n c e l a s t y e a r, though in a smaller role, and during that performance, she decided she wanted to earn the lead role for this year’s performance.
Turn to Shows/Page 13
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Single-family homes focus of new plan