UPDATE FEB. 17, 2025: In light of the confusion and concerns raised by business owners and citizens, and with the busy season rapidly approaching, the Minocqua Town Board has decided to defer implementation of a new parking plan until further notice.
This will allow the Town to step back and assess objections and misconceptions that arose from the initial presentation of a proposed new parking plan.
As a result, there will be no changes to downtown parking through at least the 2025 calendar year.
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ORIGINAL POST JAN. 30, 2025: There is a lot of wildly inaccurate information being circulated locally about the new downtown business district parking plan. Here are the facts:
DOWNTOWN BUSINESS DISTRICT PARKING PLAN
Daily parking is free on all public streets and in all public parking lots between mid-October and mid-May without time limits. That’s seven months of the year where 100% of all public parking is free (however, overnight parking will be regulated and/or prohibited in a manner to be determined).
During the peak season of May 15 and October 15, daily parking is also free on all public streets and in all public parking lots with only the following exceptions:
– Zone 1* – Oneida Street (Hwy 51 southbound); Torpy Park Parking Lots
– Zone 2* – The first block on each side of Oneida Street; Chippewa St (Hwy 51 northbound)
Everywhere else, parking is free with no time limit whether it’s street parking spaces or in parking lots (again, overnight parking will be regulated and/or prohibited, TBA).
365 days per year, the first hour of parking is free no matter where you are parked, including Zone 1 and Zone 2. Payment is only required if you choose to park in Zone 1 or Zone 2 between May 15 and October 15, for more than one hour. Paid parking in these limited areas is enforced from 10am to 8pm, with Sundays exempt until Noon.
No matter where you are shopping or where you are working, there is ample free parking with no time limit no more than a block away, year-round. For employees, it means no longer needing to obtain a merchant parking permit since there is so much more free long-term parking available for merchant/employee parking. 12 of the 15 public parking lots downtown are now free daily parking year-round.
There are three special zones where parking will remain free, but is limited to 3 hours:
– Public fishing pier (Lot J)
– Row of spaces on the north side of Lakeview Condominiums (E Park Ave)
– Row of spaces along the north side Veterans Park
All of these areas will be signed accordingly.
GOOD TO KNOW:
The initial version of the parking plan had incorporated all of the downtown business district to be in a premium parking zone. This was greatly scaled back to limit it to only the two most premium zones described above.
There will be no parking meters.
Motorists choosing to park in Zone 1 or Zone 2 between May 15 and October 15, for more than one hour, will use one of the following methods to start their parking session by entering their vehicle license plate #:
– Scan the QR code found on the signage within that Zone (no app download is required to enter your parking session); or
– Call the 800# on the signage within that zone; or
– Visit parkminocqua.com (not yet activated)
So, for those reluctant or unable to scan QR codes, there are two other methods. You do not have to have a smartphone. The online form options to start a parking session use only about as much bandwidth as a text message.
The Town implemented a similar system for boat ramp fees in 2024 (same options of scanning QR code, dialing 800#, or visiting website) with very few issues related to the process of registering the vehicle.
For the initial violation of a vehicle, no citation will be issued. Rather, a pamphlet will be placed on the vehicle advising them of the new parking program, where to learn more and what to do next time. The Town isn’t trying to play “gotcha”, it’s simply looking to generate needed revenue in a limited way for its most premium parking spaces during peak season only, and even there only after the first hour.
All of the upfront costs associated with implementation of the parking plan (signage, web page, administration, etc.) is the responsibility of the Town’s contracted parking management company, Interstate Parking Company, which also manages the Town’s boat ramp use fee system. The company has a history and good track record with the Town as can be attested to by the Town Clerk.
Enforcement of parking in the paid zones will also be the responsibility of the Town’s parking management company, who will hire seasonal parking ambassadors to monitor and enforce parking over an hour in premium zones. All costs related to their employment, including wages, are the responsibility of the parking management company.
(Businesses that have their own private parking lots do not fall under this plan; their parking lots are controlled solely by their business owners.)
A seasonal Taxpayer Pass will be available to all Town of Minocqua taxpayers for $20.00 that allows parking anywhere in Zone 2 (but cannot be used for employee parking). The Board is considering allowing use of the seasonal Taxpayer pass in Torpy Park lots also.
*FEE SCHEDULE – (Again, payment requirement only applies to parking for more than one hour in Zone 1 and Zone 2 between May 15 and October 15)
Zone 1: Up to 1 Hour = Free
1 – 2 Hours = $3
2 – 3 Hours = $4
3 – 4 Hours = $5
4 – 5 Hours = $6
5 – 6 Hours = $7
6 – 7 Hours = $8
7 – 8 Hours = $10
Zone 2: Up to 1 Hour = Free
1 – 2 Hours = $2
2 – 3 Hours = $3
3 – 4 Hours = $4
4 – 5 Hours = $5
5 – 6 Hours = $6
6 – 7 Hours = $7
7 – 8 Hours = $8
WHAT WILL FUNDS BE USED FOR?
Offset costs for maintenance and ongoing improvements at Torpy Park and the Bearskin trailhead
Continue placement, repair and periodic replacement of the Christmas decorations and lighting downtown, on the bridge, and along the Hwy 51 north and Hwy 70 west corridors during the holiday season
Continue placement and daily watering of the many hanging flower baskets and pots in the downtown business district
Continue to place and empty trash bins on every corner of Oneida Street
Offset the cost of resources, extra manpower, and overtime involved with the 4th of July Parade and Beef-A-Rama
Offset the Town’s cost share ($350,000) for decorative LED street lamp conversion in downtown business district in 2026; lights would match the decorative street lamps at Torpy Park
Assist Town’s cost share associated with street repairs and ADA ramp construction in downtown business district in 2026
Continue to contract for snow bank / snow pile removal from the downtown business district during winter months at the current frequency
Help offset costs related to eventual street, sidewalk and storm sewer reconstruction in downtown business district with goal of avoiding imposing special assessment on all adjacent property owners
WHY HAVE MUNICIPAL BUDGETS COME TO FACE SUCH SEVERE CHALLENGES?
Since 2006, the State of Wisconsin has mandated a zero percent increase in town tax levies from the
previous year, with the exception of what’s called “net new growth”; this is equal to the percentage
change in equalized value due to new construction less improvements removed, which for the Town
of Minocqua is currently 1.353%.
Since the State-imposed caps took effect in 2006, the cost of materials, equipment, labor, construction,
services, heat, fuel, electricity, property insurance and health care have increased at a much greater rate than what the Town’s levy can cover. In the last several years, these increases have been more dramatic than ever.
One of the most glaring examples of skyrocketing costs is road construction. In 2006, the cost to blacktop one mile of road was approximately $85,000. A recent quote in 2024 for a mile of road is $330,000 — a 388% increase. Shared revenue and gas tax payments from the State of Wisconsin have nowhere near kept pace with these increases.
The Town Board has been aware that the cumulative effect of these State-mandated limits in the face
of rising costs would eventually require the Town to pursue an increase to the levy or be forced to reduce or eliminate services currently provided by the Town.
One thing State law does allow for is a referendum vote where Town citizens can authorize exceeding the State-imposed levy limits to help municipalities meet current and future needs. The Minocqua Town Board presented a referendum to increase the Town levy by $950,000 in the spring of 2024. That increase would have enabled the Town to continue to sustain all of the services and funding support it had traditionally provided. That referendum narrowly failed.
In the fall of 2024, the Town presented a referendum to raise the Town levy by $750,000. This referendum passed, for the specific purpose of retaining current levels of service for police, fire, public works and library, as well as maintaining public infrastructure, equipment, and facilities. However, due to the lowered level of the increase, the Town would need to reduce costs and find alternate sources of revenue to prevent the need for another referendum for at least a five-year period.
Could the Town could just borrow the money it needs? Yes, that’s something the State does allow, but that’s pretty much like putting Town expenses on a credit card which of course would be a wasteful option leading to a debt snowball.
Minocqua is well-known for having modest real estate tax rates, especially considering the many services that the Town provides: ● Full-time police department and emergency dispatch center ● Two fire stations ● A large and very well-used public library ● Numerous popular park facilities ● Nearly 200 miles of Town roads to plow, sand and maintain ● Brush disposal site ● Eleven town-owned boat landings
Even with the passage of the referendum, the town’s tax rates remain very much in line with where they’ve been over the last ten years. The reality is, after so many years of severe budget constraints in the face of hyper-inflation, it inevitably reaches the point where municipalities are simply not able to operate beneath the State-mandated caps.
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