Buc-ees previously received approval for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) from the Village of DeForest. That permit has since expired. In order to move forward, a new CUP would need to be approved . A site plan would then be required.

In 2023, the Village adopted the Northern Interstate Corridor Plan as part of its Comprehensive Plan. The Village anticipates the lands immediately abutting this the County V/Interstate intersection to be developed for Shopping and Services and/or Mixed or Flex Commercial/Industrial. On the west side of the Interstate, future land use suggests business and industrial growth. On the east side of the interstate, the plan calls for a transition back into residential.

The Village has seen tremendous development interest in this area over the last few years. Currently, 298 residential units are under construction to the southeast quadrant of this interchange. There are plans for over a million square feet of industrial facilities to be constructed over the next several years in the southwest quadrant. The Village is working with the current landowner in the northeast quadrant to recruit more commercial development. A new 82 room Hampton Inn is currently under construction in the northwest quadrant and the Village in the process of approving a new Pomp’s Tire development in the same quadrant. All of this development will utilize this interchange as their primary access on/off the interstate.

A recent Traffic Impact Analysis reviewed three improvement options for the County Highway V/Interstate intersection in order to properly handle the anticipated traffic increase. The study suggests that a Diverging Diamond Intersection would provide the highest level of service.

If the interchange is not reconstructed, it is likely to mean that a high traffic user will not be able to develop in this area immediately. Any future high traffic user will be required to commission a new traffic impact assessment and make any necessary improvements. Research by Village staff shows that the current interchange is approximately 20-25 years old and has approximately 10-15 years of life remaining under the current traffic conditions. If/when it needs to be replaced/resurfaced, this portion of County Highway V will cost approximately $5M. Since CTH V is under jurisdiction of the county, the county would bear most of this cost. Any improvements sought by the Village in addition to the reconstruction (sidewalk, traffic lights, etc.) would likely be the responsibility of the Village.

The anticipated cost of improvements to County Highway V from the current alignment to a Diverging Diamond Intersection is estimated to be approximately $17,100,000. The developer is asking for the Village or other governmental agencies assist with approximately 47% of the cost through reimbursement. This percentage is indexed with the proposed growth and anticipated future impact from Buc-ees versus other users of the improvement.

Economic Impact: We have been informed that a typical Buc-ees location brings in approximately $25M in sales revenue through approximately 5M visitors. This equates to 4,000-8,000 cars per day visiting the site. Of these, approximately 85% are anticipated to be non-Dane County residents. The investment from Buc-ees is expected to reach $50M. There have been several landowners and potential businesses that have reached out to the Village and are awaiting to see what happens with Buc-ees before they make a decision on their own development/redevelopment.

Labor Market Impact: A Buc-ees location generally employs 175-200 full time staff. Their wages are generally $18-22/hr with benefits. The temporary construction jobs that this site will provide is unknown at this time and is dependent on the magnitude of the project (including the public infrastructure).

Traffic Impact: A recent Traffic Impact Analysis shows that the project and anticipated growth of the area will have a significant impact on traffic at the County Highway V intersection. The current exchange mostly operates at a Level of Service of A and B because of the low traffic volume. The Traffic Impact Study and modeling show that a diverging diamond interchange will provide a Level of Service of C or above at the approaches and movements with the increased traffic. The study does not look at the level of service of the area with increased traffic from anticipated growth in the area absent Buc-ees.

Public Services Impact: We expect potential increased impacts on community services in public safety. Retailers generally have a higher call for service due to thefts, but this is dependent on the business’s Loss Prevention unit and policy. The increase in traffic will also provide more opportunities for traffic violations and incidents which could lead to additional municipal tickets. Fire and EMS calls are expected to increase since they also respond to traffic incidents. The public infrastructure improvements are intended to minimize traffic incidents and help traffic flow. County Highways V and I are maintained by the County. Staff does not anticipate significant increases to service demands for public services, parks, recreation, library, community development and administration.

Tax impact: This property is not in the Tax Increment District. Therefore, any property taxes created will be distributed to the taxing jurisdictions accordingly. Research show that other Buc-ees locations assess between $12-16M. To be on the conservative side, if assessed at $12M and levied at the current mill rate, this property would bring in approximately $224,400 annually in new property tax revenue. Of this, 31% ($69,564) will come to the Village, 50.1% ($112,424) will go to the school district, 15.2% ($33,884) will go to Dane County, and 3.7% ($8,302) will go to MATC. The $25,000,000 in sales would net $1,250,000 in sales tax annually to State. Act 12 recently allocated 20% of the sales tax collected to the local government shared revenue pot. Therefore, sales revenue increases are a crucial part of the municipal aid formula. Municipal aid helps to balance the dependency of local governments on property taxes. Additional development and public infrastructure improvements will increase property value in this area and drive development further increasing tax revenue from commercial and industrial properties to balance property taxes from the residential section.

While the Village is appreciative of the funding allocation toward this project, it is only a portion of the funding. Buc-ees is willing to match up to 53% of the project cost. That leaves a funding gap of approximately $4,000,000 (before adjustments). The Village is currently looking at options to finance this gap without significant fiscal impacts to the general taxpayer.

Currently, the Buc-ees project in DeForest is on hold pending efforts to obtain additional funding to the public infrastructure improvements to the interchange at CTH V and Interstate 90-94-39.

Tax increment districts allow for the Village to leverage future taxes generated in a specific area to pay for projects in that district now. This limits costs of projects that mostly impact the district to those properties within the district. You can learn more about the Village’s tax increment districts by going to https://www.engagedeforest.com/tax-increment-districts.

Buc-ees continues to confirm their commitment to DeForest, WI. However, Buc-ees understands the traffic impacts on the community and their own business operations, therefore they need to have high confidence that the interchange will be improved prior to site construction.

The intention of the Village’s legislative effort was to provide flexibility for the Village to expand the territory of the district and the life of the district. Since the TID plan already had a portion of the cost of CTH V improvements in the plan, the Village would have been able to expand the scope and cost. The extended boundary would have allowed for the Village to included property taxes created from the development to pay for the improvements. Additionally, extending the life of the TID would have allowed more time to pay off the obligation. At this point, TID #9 can only use up to $1,897,500 in taxes generated in the district towards this project.

The Village maintains contact with Buc-ees and are currently reviewing its financial options, including reaching out to the State of Wisconsin and Dane County. The Village has re-engaged Buc-ees in negotiations to pay for the funding gap in order for this project to continue in the development process.