Madison-McFarland Intergovernmental Agreement
Project Overview
The City of Madison and the Village of McFarland are considering whether to enter into an intergovernmental agreement to address issues of mutual concern surrounding our shared border and to plan for how growth may occur in the future. The City and Village previously had an agreement in place that expired in 2018, and the City currently has an agreement with the Town of Blooming Grove that will end on October 31, 2027 and an intergovernmental agreement with the Town of Cottage Grove expiring in December, 2061. Portions of the Town of Cottage Grove and Town of Blooming Grove also border the Village of McFarland. McFarland is not subject to or part of the agreement between Madison and the Town of Blooming Grove or the agreement between Madison and the Town of Cottage Grove. When the agreement between Madison and Blooming Grove ends, all remaining properties in Blooming Grove that have not yet been annexed into the City of Madison, or another adjacent municipality, will be absorbed into the City in accordance with the agreement's terms.
Preliminary discussions were held in order for City of Madison and Village of McFarland staff to share information and develop preliminary concepts for a potential intergovernmental agreement for both communities to review and consider. The intention is to share these concepts with elected officials and impacted community members and to gather feedback from all involved before elected officials from Madison and McFarland determine whether to proceed with a formal process to draft an intergovernmental agreement. The Village and City will be holding several joint public information meetings with various stakeholder groups:
- January 21, 2026: Residents of the April Hills subdivision
- January 28, 2026: Residents of the Secret Places subdivision
- February 4, 2026: All interested Village of McFarland residents and portions of the Town of Cottage Grove south of Siggelkow Road
- Week of February 9 or 16 (date TBD soon), 2026: Residents of the Siggel Grove, Quinn Ranch, Twin Oaks, Liberty Place, Owl's Creek, and Lot Creek subdivisions, other interested City of Madison residents, and portions of the Town of Cottage Grove north of Siggelkow Road
The first three meetings will be held at the McFarland Municipal Center, located at 5915 Milwaukee Street in McFarland, beginning at 6 p.m. The fourth meeting (dated TBD soon) will be held at the Madison Fire Station #14, located at 3201 Dairy Drive at 6 p.m. All are welcome to attend any of these meetings to learn about the proposals, but the specific subdivision meetings will focus on the needs and questions of individuals living in the specified areas.
Below are a number of resources that further describe the joint project and planning process. Please continue to check this webpage for future updates. As you review the information below, please keep in mind that concepts provided in these documents are very preliminary ideas. At this time, no agreements have been made between the Village and City, and both municipalities are committed to gathering community input before proceeding any further. At the conclusion of this initial public engagement process both municipalities will need to decide if they wish to proceed with next steps and begin the process of formerly drafting an agreement based on the feedback received on the preliminary concepts. If both the City and Village decide to move forward, the drafting and revision process would likely extend throughout 2026. This process would include additional opportunities for public review and input before the municipalities would convene to consider final approval of an agreement.
Residents of impacted communities are welcome to contact staff at the City of Madison (Jeff Greger, Planner, jgreger@cityofmadison.com, 608-243-0181) or McFarland's Village Administrator or Community & Economic Development Director with questions.
Staying Informed and Being Involved
This webpage will be used to post information regarding the project as it becomes available. Sign up to receive emails
Meetings
Below are links to meeting agenda packets and recordings from past meetings related to this project.
- November 11, 2025 Village Board meeting recording (video)
- November 11, 2025 Village Board meeting agenda packet (pdf)
Documents
Below are links to draft documents related to this project.
Other Resources
Below are links to general information provided by the Wisconsin Department of Administration (WDOA) regarding intergovernmental agreements and cooperative boundary agreements. Both types of agreements are regulated by the WDOA in accordance with state law. The WDOA also provides information on annexation procedures and requirements, which is also regulated by the WDOA in accordance with state law.