New Glarus Village Board Candidate Chuck Phillipson

Chuck Phillipson
Age: 71
Occupation: Real Estate Appraiser
Years lived in village: Except for college and military service, all my life.
Incumbent? No
Have you been on the village board or held any other public office before? If so please describe: I have served a few terms on the village board; I was on the original Village Plan Commission.
Why are you running for village board? Having lived in this great town for so many years, I feel it is important to give something back. I feel I have a pretty good handle on the community's culture, history and traditions.
What issues do you find most important to the village board? List your top three priorities: Of course, property taxes are always a major issue in any municipality. I think we might be able to better promote and encourage residential development in the village in order to increase revenues. We do have a lot of land ready for development, but we haven't grown in population in many years. There has been extensive residential growth outside of the village, which equates to a loss in tax revenue for the village as the property owners outside the village are placing demands on the amenities and services of the village.
I am also concerned about the recently village property revaluation. As an appraiser, I have been contacted by many people who feel they were not treated fairly in the new assessments and I agree that there are some actual inequities. I believe I have the knowledge to look into this and perhaps keep a check on future assessment activity.
I also believe we could do a better job of improving village amenities and services. I was on the village board when the existing fire station was built and would like to help in the expansion and improvement which the fire department is working toward. And I would definitely like to see a new and improved library facility.
If you could reverse one village action, what would that be? I can't think of anything I would completely reverse but I think there are areas we can improve upon.