In 1879 Mr. VanDyke and Mr. Hagerman, financiers, purchased a three-fourths interest, arranged for railroad extension because of the good work done in this mining region by Mr. N.P. Hulst and called the mine in Florence in honor of Mrs. Florence Hulst, his wife. This name was first applied to the iron mine, then to the town and county. The following is an account of the letter sent to Mrs. Florence Hulst on December 15, 1879 by Mr. J.J. Hagerman President of the Menominee Mining company:
Mrs. Hulst -- The time is come when we must give a name to the new town in Wisconsin at the end of the Railroad now building, and to the new mine in the vicinity, now called the Eagle, but which name we do not wish to keep, as there is already an Eagle P.O. in Wisconsin. The Company owns all the land around the lake, where the town will be located. It will be a lively town. We shall put an anti-whiskey clause in all deeds and we expect it will be as much noted for its temperance and morality as for its -- well, anything the future may develop. We all wish to call the new town and the mine FLORENCE, in honor of the first white woman who had courage enough to settle (for a while) in that rugged country. I mean the first white woman known to us.
Will you permit your name to be used?
Thus the town and mine had been given a name, a very prim and proper name!
Because of the mine people rushed into the region and by 1880 Mr. Fisher laid out the townsite, putting a number of lots upon the market. He said he would put the lots in at government prices selling the ordinary lots from $100.00 while the corners sold for $150.00.
In sixty days Mr. Fisher had sold $60,000 worth of realty. The population at this time was 50 people. In a short time a blast furnace was put up as was a foundry, five coal kilns, a large sawmill and a cheese factory.
This page was last updated: April 18, 2025
Website Disclaimers
Disclaimer of Liability
Neither the Town of Florence, nor any of its boards, committees, commissions nor any of its elected or appointed officials or employees shall be held liable for any improper or incorrect use of the information described and/or contained herein and assumes no responsibility for anyone's use of the information, nor shall they be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procurement of substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of this system. This disclaimer of liability applies to any damages or injury, including but not limited to those caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, alteration of or use of record, whether for breach of contract, tortious behavior, negligence or under any other cause of action.
Disclaimer of Warranties and Accuracy of Data
Although the data found using the Town's access systems have been produced and processed from sources believed to be reliable, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made regarding accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of any information. This disclaimer applies to both isolated and aggregate uses of the information. The Town provides this information on an "as is" basis. All warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, freedom from contamination by computer viruses and non-infringement of propriety rights are disclaimed. Changes may be periodically made to the information herein; these changes may or may not be incorporated in any new version of the publication. If you have obtained information from any of the Town's web pages from a source other than the Town's web site, be aware that electronic data can be altered subsequent to original distribution. Data can also quickly become out of date. It is recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of any data associated with a file and that the originator of the data or information be contacted with any questions regarding appropriate use. If you find any errors or omissions, we encourage you to report them by using our feedback form.
Disclaimer of Endorsement
The Town is a distributor of content sometimes supplied by third parties and users. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including information providers, users, or others, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and do not necessarily state or reflect those of the Town and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Town.
Disclaimer for External Links
The Town is not responsible for the contents of any off-site pages referenced. The user specifically acknowledges that the Town is not liable for the defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of other users, links, or third parties and that the risk of injury from the foregoing rests entirely with the user. Links from the county's web site on the World Wide Web to other sites do not constitute an endorsement from the Town. These links are provided as an information service only. It is the responsibility of the web surfer to evaluate the content and usefulness of information obtained from other sites. The Town's website contains links to other related World Wide Web Internet sites and resources. Since the Town's web site is not responsible for the availability of these outside resources or their contents, you should direct any concerns regarding any external link to its site administrator or webmaster.
Disclaimer of Duty to Continue Provision of Data
Due to the dynamic nature of the Internet, resources that are free and publicly available one day may require a fee or restricted access the next and the location of items may change as menus, homepages, and files are reorganized. The user expressly agrees that use of the Town's web site is at the user's sole risk. Web site content and related graphics published on this server could contain technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically added to the information herein. The Town and/or its respective agencies and programs may make improvements and/or changes in the information and/or programs described herein at any time.
Town board meetings are held every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month at 6:00 p.m. at the Community Center located at 749 Central Avenue, Florence. Meeting agendas will be posted online no later than the Friday before the meeting. Agendas are also posted at the Florence Post Office, Courthouse, and at Bigfoot's Riverside Liquor.
Minutes are posted after they are approved from the most recent meeting only. For copies of minutes prior to those posted online, please contact the Town Office.
The Annual Town Meeting is held the third Tuesday in April each year at 6:30 p.m. The Annual Town Meeting for 2026 will be held on Tuesday, April 21, 2026.
Town board minutes will be posted online after they are approved (i.e. the January minutes are approved at the February Town Board meeting, and will be posted here to the website after the February meeting). Only the most recent minutes are posted online. For copies of previous meeting minutes, please contact the Town of Florence Office. Please Note: The Annual Meeting Minutes are unapproved minutes. They will be approved at the 2024 Annual Town Meeting, which will be held on Tuesday, April 15, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. at the Town of Florence Community Center.
Please note that any current notices for Town of Florence Residents/Property Owners that do not fall in a different category will be posted here.
OPEN BOOK & BOARD OF REVIEW
Please note R&R Assessing is in the area and has begun the work for on the 2024 Assessments. The Town is required to do a Reval this year. There will be a Market Reval done of all of the properties in the Town of Florence. When the Open Book and Board of Review dates have been set for the Town of Florence for 2024 they will be posted online. Visit the Taxes & Assessor Page of our website for details and complete information.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that at an election to be held in the Town of Florence, on Tuesday,
April 1, 2025, the following officers are to be elected to succeed the present incumbents listed. The term for these offices are for two years beginning on Tuesday, April 15, 2025.
OFFICE & INCUMBENT
Town Board Chairperson
Tim Bomberg
Town Board Supervisor #1
John Holbrook
Town Board Supervisor #2
Shane McLain
Clerk/Treasurer
Shelly VanPembrook
NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN, that the first day to circulate nomination papers is December 1, 2024, and the final day for filing nomination papers is 5:00 p.m. on
Tuesday, January 7, 2025, in the office of the town clerk.
NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN, that if a primary is necessary, the primary will be held on Tuesday,
February 18, 2024. GIVEN, under my hand, done in the Town of Florence, on this 21st Day of November, 2024.
A Market Revaluation on Property Assessments in the Town of Florence is in process for 2024.
Note: All assessments increased in the Town of Florence, but this does not mean that the taxes are going to go up the same percentage as assessment change.
Physical Inspections:
Physical inspections are done on all properties that were issued building permits in 2023 & 2024.
They are also done upon request by the property owner.
Looking at the Market:
Once completed with physicals we then turn to a review of all properties that have sold not only in calendar year 2023, but for years 2019 through 2022.
What we are looking for is market trends.
Has there been a steady crescendo in values?
Are all properties appreciating in value the same?
Or are lake properties going up in value greater than properties in the intown/city limits of Florence?
Adjustments:
Adjustments to assessments will be based on this research with the result being assessments representing property worth more in tune with today’s market, NOT 2012 (the date of the last revaluation). The last revaluation was conducted in 2012, which means for many property owners their assessments have not changed since 2012.
Unless owners put something up or tore something down, their assessment in 2023 is the same as what it was for years 2012 through 2023.
So, we are going to be looking at 11-12 years of market growth getting caught up in one year.
What does this mean for taxes?
Looking at the sale ratios for 2023, if a revaluation were not performed this year, the estimated level of assessment appears to be 58% for 2024 assessment year.
However, with the revaluation taking place and the level of assessment we are targeting is 100%, the mill rate for 2024 should go down approximately 42%.
With the increase in overall value to the township (58% to 100%) the taxes can be spread amongst that larger value base.
Therefore, the mill rate goes down approximately the same percentage, pending spending from the various taxing jurisdictions are comparable to the previous year. (School, Tech College, Municipality, County, etc.)
The first step for information is reaching out to the assessor if you have more questions, to make an appointment for the open book, or to talk to the assessor directly about what exactly is included in the valuation of your property
Note: The information below is for Town of Florenceresidents/properties only. If you are in the Town of Commonwealth, you need to contact them directly. Contact information for the Town of Commonwealth can be found by visiting the Florence County website municipality page at: https://www.florencecountywi.com/municipalities/?i=bc93992f6b36
We have received a lot of calls about Commonwealth garbage collection. Florence and Commonwealth have similar systems, but they are not the same. Commonwealth addresses list Florence as their mailing city. The easiest way to determine if you are Florence or Commonwealth is to look at the physical fire number posted on your property. It will identify the Town that yourproperty is in.
07-15-24: There are have been issues with the 96 gallon bins and the 300 gallon bins. These issues that have come up may result in garbage not being picked up by GFL, which can create a nuisance and a mess for the areas that are not following the rules. A couple of pictures were taken on the containers that would not be serviced on 07-08-24 & 07-16-24. There are a list of rules below the pictures. NOTE: Ash from a firepit is not material that will be serviced by GFL. Someone put bags of ash that became wet in one of the 300 gallon containers, and it could not be serviced by GFL because of the weight.
Automated Refuse Collection Reminders
Please note the items in red below as after a year these are still issues that keep coming up from the garbage collection company.
The Town of Florence was required to switched to automated refuse collection with Green For Life (GFL) providing the service. In the year that the system has been in place, GFL has communicated with the Town of Florence about some of the issues they are having servicing refuse collection carts in the Town of Florence and Spread Eagle locations.
Here are some reminders when it comes to the procedures to have your cart serviced:
Garbage stickers are no longer required
All refuse must be bagged. No loose items may be placed in the carts.
All bags must fit into the cart with the lid mostly closed. If the cart is over filled or the lid is not down, the cart will be left and not emptied.
Only Town of Florence Garbage Carts (or preapproved privately owned carts) will be serviced (emptied) by Green for Life. Do not put garbage into your Eagle Waste/Republic Services recycling bins as they will not be emptied even if there is garbage in them since they are recycling bins only.
All refuse carts should be placed on the street side your house. If a cart is placed in the alley, it will not be serviced (note: this does not currently affect where you are putting your Eagle Waste/Republic Services recycling bins—this is for Town of Florence garbage collection only)
There is a new GFL employee servicing the Town of Florence route. He is approximately 1-2 hour earlier than the previous driver. Bins should be placed out no later than 6 a.m. on Tuesdays for collection this includes Spread Eagle.
This refuse collection service is only for household waste. Do NOT put demolition material in the cart (insulation, lumber, concrete, etc). Do NOT put yard waste (leaves, branches, lawn clippings, etc).
The carts are owned by the Town. If you have a cart, you are considered the caretaker of the cart. You have the responsibility to bring the cart out and back in after collection day, which is especially true in the winter months for snow removal.
The Town is charged by the number of carts that are serviced. Currently, there are 788 carts. The Town of Florence is planning on passing on approximately 70% of the cost (the approximate amount previously covered by the sale of garbage stickers). Note: this charge may change depending on the number of carts that are out and serviced for the entire year. At this point, the Town cannot confirm the amount of the charge until the actual cost for the year is known. This charge will show up on their 2024 Tax Bill, which will be mailed in December.
NOTE: If you are a Town of Florence resident who lives in the Patten Lake area, you use the Town of Fern drop-off site. Nothing is changing in regards to how your garbage handled. You will still drop it off there.
Agendas for upcoming Town Board Meetings are posted below. They are typically posted on the Thursday or Friday prior to the regularly scheduled Town Board Meeting (Monday).
TOWN BOARD MEETING
TOWN OF FLORENCE
Monday, April 14, 2025, at 6:00 p.m.
at the Florence Community Center
located at – 749 Central Avenue, Florence, WI
1.Meeting called to order
2.Pledge of Allegiance
3.Adoption of agenda
4.Approval of minutes of previous meeting(s) held on March 24th, 2025
5.Discussion Scott Sternhagen, CPA for CliftonLarsonAllen, LLC review of 2024 Year End Financials
6Communications from the floor (up to 30 minutes)
7.Discussion and possible action on operator license applications received
8.Discussion and possible action Class B Liquor License for Lakeside B&B, LLC, Janelle Ruohomaki, Owner/Agent 509 Furnace Street, Florence
9.Discussion and possible action Keyes Lake Improvement Association request for financial support to help manage Eurasian Milfoil
Note: If you have any special needs or require special accommodations in order to attend town board meetings, please call 715-528-3595 or write PO Box 247, Florence, WI 54121
Deputy Clerk/Treasurer position will be available at the Town of Florence. This will be a full-time position (35 hours a week). Must be a resident of the Town of Florence. Applications can be picked up at the town office located at 749 Central Ave, Florence. Please contact the Town of Florence Office with any questions at 715-528-3595.
Deadline for submitting applications is April 10, 2025 at 3:30 p.m.
NOTICE ANNUAL MEETING TOWN OF FLORENCE
The Annual Meeting for the Town of Florence will be held
Tuesday, April 15, 2025 at 6:30 p.m.
at the Florence Community Center located at 749 Central Avenue.
RESIDENTS are encouraged to attend-Items to discuss include the construction of a Spread Eagle Fire Station
