Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers is dropping plans to open a clinic in West Milwaukee following disagreements with the village board over the organization’s planned payment to the village in lieu of taxes.
The organization unveiled plans in May to develop a one-story, 24,000-square-foot clinic on a 2.3-acre property at 4603 W. Mitchell St. in West Milwaukee. The project is backed by a $12 million commitment from Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Earlier this month, the village’s finance committee rejected the organization’s proposal to pay the village $30,000 annually in lieu of taxes. A week later, the village board tabled a decision on the organization’s rezoning request for the proposed clinic, citing concerns about whether it was the best use for the site.
Sixteenth Street officials said Monday they were unable to come to an agreement with the village board on the organization’s planned payment in lieu of taxes, known as a PILOT. Sixteenth Street offered to pay $30,000 annually; the village asked for about $75,000, said Chris Rasch, director of government and community relations for the organization.
“We’re disappointed we couldn’t come to an agreement with the Village of West Milwaukee board on the PILOT,” Rasch said. “We felt we offered a very fair proposal and the best proposal we could offer them, and unfortunately it didn’t work out.”
West Milwaukee village administrator Kim Egan and village president John Stalewski could not be reached for comment Monday.
Sixteenth Street and Froedtert & MCW first announced plans to open a clinic in an underserved neighborhood on Milwaukee’s near south side in 2015. Now, the organizations will return to the drawing board to identify a new location for the project, based on a community health needs assessment, Rasch said.
“We’re committed and we know Froedtert and the Medical College is committed to the project, so we’re working with them … so we’re going to to go back to the table just as we did before we found this site,” he said.
