The Whitewater Finance Committee met April 28 to discuss a new technology park project and the purchasing of software for the Whitewater Police Department.
Lifetime Manufacturing LLC, doing business as Summerset Marine Construction, is seeking to build a 150,000-square-foot facility in the city’s technology park. The site where Lifetime hopes to build has been city-owned since the mid-90s and has remained vacant.
The project came before the Finance Committee as Lifetime seeks city assistance. City staff, with advice from Ehlers Senior Municipal Advisor Greg Johnson, presented three $2.5 million cash incentive financing options. The first is a general obligation (G.O.) bond and the other two are tax increment financing (TIF) revenue bonds, one with a 7% interest rate and the second with a 6% interest rate.
Although the G.O. bond would be backed by the city’s taxing authority, officials said that it would be repaid using the tax increment generated by the project. This bond would generate a surplus as soon as 2027, totaling $86,364 over the life of the financing.
A concern associated with the G.O. bond is that the debt would count toward the city’s G.O. debt limit, reducing its borrowing capacity. However, as indicated by the city staff and Ehlers, the impact on the debt limit would be minor.
Despite the minor impact on the debt limit, Ehlers also evaluated the alternative TIF revenue bond options.
“You are pledging the same tax increment revenue to repay the debt service,” Johnson said. “But legally that is not viewed as secure as a form of debt. If you issue a tax increment revenue bond, that full backing of the city’s taxing authority doesn’t exist, because it’s not general obligation debt. So it generally carries a higher rate.”
While the TIF revenue bond avoids counting toward the G.O. debt limit, using the 7% interest rate estimated by a local lender would result in a $230,777 shortfall over the life of the financing. To reach surplus levels, a six percent interest rate would be needed; however it was not indicated whether the rate would be available.
Ultimately, the committee voted to recommend the G.O. bond to the Common Council.
Detectives at the Whitewater Police Department have been increasingly reliant on electronic device extractions. With many cases involving child sexual assault material, they must use the City of Waukesha’s forensics lab to access GrayKey, a device extraction tool. Access to the lab costs the City of Whitewater $5,000 annually, with additional related costs totaling $24,383 per year.
“We have the hard cost of that $5,000, but we also have some of the other, soft costs [that] come with that,” Police Chief Dan Meyer said. “We have the gas getting there. That time going to and from Waukesha. Once they’re there, they don’t always have work that’s easily able to be done while they’re waiting for an extraction. That lab is getting more and more crowded because other municipalities are taking advantage of the same things we are.”
To resolve the cost and access issues with Waukesha’s forensic lab, the Whitewater Police Department seeks to purchase the GrayKey software. This would be aided by an $8,000 “Our Rescue” grant for 2026 and a potential $4,000 grant in 2027.
If the police department gets access to the software in 2026, they would have the remainder of the Waukesha contract with its additional costs, plus the GrayKey software cost. The total costs would be $19,691.50 including the grant. Without the contract and additional costs, the 2027 total cost would be $9,000 if they receive the grant. The 2028 cost, only having to account for the software, would be $13,000.
The committee voted to recommend the GrayKey software purchase to the Common Council.
The next Finance Committee meeting is scheduled for May 26 at 5 p.m. The recording, agenda and packet are available on the city’s website.
