The Lakewood village board is considering compressing the boundaries of a special taxing district in the Turnberry subdivision so only the homeowners who have recreational access to three lakes will pay for their upkeep.
Most of the homeowners in the Turnberry subdivision are now in a special service area that is assessed for maintenance of three lakes and a dam, around $29,000 yearly.
Those who have recreational access to the lakes are people whose property is subject to the original covenants written in the 1970s, said Michael D. Friesen, village administrator.
Lakewood Trustee John Schrauf suggested shrinking the special service area at a recent village board meeting. Schrauf lives in the Turnberry subdivision and has access to one of the lakes.
“Some people who are paying for maintenance of the lakes cannot use those lakes,” Schrauf said. “The question out there is, `Is this fair?’ “
A resident with a $300,000 home in the special service area pays $110 a year for upkeep of the lakes, Friesen said.
Under the special service area ordinance, the village can charge the homeowner of a $300,000 home up to $400 a year, he said. If the service area is compressed, people with lake access would likely pay more for lake maintenance.
Ed Kisman, who lives on a lake and is the president of the Turnberry Property Owners Association, said he endorses reducing the special service area even if it means he would pay more. He estimated that 80 percent of the homeowners in “old Turnberry” feel the same way.
“I’m accustomed to high taxes,” Kisman said. “I live in Lakewood. I don’t mind paying more if it means limiting access to the lakes.
“I moved to (the Turnberry subdivision) for the mystique and the serenity of sitting out on an exclusive piece of property. The lakes here are not designed for a mass population. This is no Crystal Lake.”
Kisman said there are two Turnberrys in the special service area: There is an area that is marketed “Turnberry” on billboards; and then there is the original Turnberry, which is smaller and more exclusive.
Friesen said the village collects around $29,000 from property owners in the special service area. The annual cost of lake maintenance is $15,000 and the rest is salted away for future dam maintenance.
Friesen said that although some taxpayers in the special service area do not have access to a lake, the clean lakes help increase the value of their property.
In addition, lake water is used to irrigate the fairways and greens of the Turnberry and Red-Tail golf courses.
“The lakes used to look like vegetable soup and had a horrendous odor,” he said. “The lakes are now clean and an asset.”
Village Atty. Richard G. Flood said he brought the issue before the board as a matter of legal housekeeping, so the tax bills in the special service area could be uniform and fair. The village board originally considered expanding the special service area, bringing in segments of subdivisions that had been omitted through error.
After Schrauf’s inquiry, trustees directed the village attorney to investigate the legal procedure for compressing the special service area. Friesen said the procedure, for either expanding or compressing the special service area, could take four months or longer.
Not included in the special service area is most of the 27-acre Falcon Green Townhomes development. And, in the northwest section of Turnberry, several custom-built houses are not in the special service area.
A public hearing to discuss an ordinance change will be held at 7:30 p.m. on June 9 at the Lakewood village hall, 2500 Lake Ave.
