Local
McFarland Board to Decide April Hills Annexation as Residents Push to Avoid Madison
McFarland's Village Board is set to vote this week on annexing the April Hills subdivision, where about 250 adults signed a petition to join the village rather than be absorbed into Madison when the town of Blooming Grove dissolves. The move would boost McFarland's population by roughly 4% but carries an estimated $21 million in infrastructure costs and has complicated boundary talks with Madison.
McFarland's Village Board is scheduled to vote this week on whether to annex the April Hills subdivision, a decision that would keep the neighborhood out of Madison and reshape the border between the two communities.
Residents of the 80-acre subdivision in the town of Blooming Grove have petitioned McFarland for annexation. Of the nearly 400 people living in April Hills, 250 adults signed the petition, which organizers estimated represents about 90% of eligible voters in the neighborhood just north of Siggelkow Road.
"We already feel a part of the McFarland community, and we share many of the same values, so let's make this happen and I think you will be happy with the outcome," resident Justin Verhulst wrote in a letter to the Village Board introducing the petition.
April Hills is currently slated to be absorbed into Madison next fall when Blooming Grove dissolves under the terms of a 2006 agreement. Annexing the neighborhood would increase McFarland's populationâcurrently around 9,800, according to state estimatesâby about 4%. The village's record one-year population gain came in 2021, when it added 379 residents.
The fiscal and service implications are significant. Extending water and sewer to April Hills, where properties rely on wells and septic systems, along with resurfacing streets and adding sidewalks over a decade or more, would cost roughly $21 million, or about $140,000 per lot, according to village figures. Portions of that cost, including water and sewer mains, would likely be assessed to property owners in neighborhoods being updated. The timing of those special assessments has not been determined, and property owners can typically pay in a lump sum or installments.
Village Administrator Matt Schuenke wrote in a September memo that the municipal court and village office could likely absorb more residents with little operational impact, but emergency response agencies would see staffing stretched furtherâan issue he said would "remain a challenge regardless of this annexation." Schuenke told the board that who pays for infrastructure costs would ultimately be "a policy decision" for the board.
"With all our present obstacles to growthâwhether that be by agreement, availability of land or other natural featuresâthis is a decision that affords us some opportunity to do so," Schuenke wrote. "Decisions on growth though are not without their challenges."
The annexation question has complicated ongoing talks between McFarland and Madison over a new intergovernmental boundary agreement. The two cities' previous boundary agreement expired in 2018, and they later clashed over annexation, with Madison suing to block McFarland from annexing 148 acres. A Dane County judge sided with McFarland in 2020, allowing that annexation to proceed.
Recent negotiations have focused on transferring several parcels to McFarland to create more logical boundaries for emergency responders and infrastructure. Under the emerging framework, Madison would be barred from annexing land south of Siggelkow Road and McFarland from taking land to its north.
In February, McFarland's Village Board voted to remove provisions about April Hills from initial discussions with Madison after about 100 residents objected to joining Madison at a public meeting the previous month. Residents cited a stronger cultural affinity with McFarland, concerns about higher Madison taxes and slower emergency response times. McFarland's fire station is closer to the subdivision than Madison's nearest station.
In March, Madison's City Council passed a resolution reaffirming its willingness to annex April Hills this spring and urged the state Department of Administration to weigh whether Madison could better provide services to the area. City planning director Meagan Tuttle wrote that Madison had grown around April Hills over a quarter-century in preparation for its attachment in October 2027.
State officials agreed with Madison's assessment in a June letter to McFarland and Blooming Grove, writing that annexation by the village "is not in the public interest." The opinion is advisory, and the Village Board can still vote to annex. Schuenke called the state's review "incredibly flawed," and Verhulst described it as "nearly negligent."
"Regardless of what neighboring jurisdictions were hoping for or other entities might suggest, this is our decision," Schuenke wrote.
Madison planner Brian Grady told the Village Board that the city would like to "stick with what's been slated to happen," arguing that April Hills joining Madison would create the most logical boundary and allow both communities to use existing infrastructure. Tuttle warned in a fall letter that annexation by McFarland would result in less efficient municipal services, inefficiencies that "will eventually show up in both of our tax rates."
McFarland has been preparing for a possible annexation. Last month, the village Plan Commission recommended keeping April Hills' existing zoning in place if the board approves the move, given that McFarland is updating its comprehensive plan. Schuenke noted that the village has received three annexation petitions for Blooming Grove parcels over the past decade, all of which the board approved.
If the Village Board approves the annexation, it would take effect the following day.