Written by Preston Vande Voort
EDITORIAL UPDATE 1/9/2018: In late November 2017, the Village of Weston voted to withdraw from Marathon County’s Uniform Addressing project while still working to correct any non-compliant addresses in the village. (NOTE: The Town of Weston will still be participating.) Please visit www.MyMarathonCountyAddress.org for a current status map, as the map featured in this 10/23/2017 article is now out of date.
In February 2016, the Marathon County Board adopted policy to implement a Uniform Addressing system. (Read the ordinance here.)
Instead of the current 10 rural address grids that contain duplicate or similar addresses, there will now be a Uniform Addressing grid, which will enable public agencies — especially emergency services — to provide the right service to the right place at the right time. (More on that topic can be found in Sheriff Parks’s 6/20/17 article “Uniform Addressing — The Right Call”.)
Currently, 43 municipalities have joined together to partner in the county’s Uniform Addressing Project. Participating municipalities can be viewed at the current status map available at: http://mymarathoncountyaddress.org/.
If you reside in a town or if you live in the Village of Elderon, Stratford, or Weston — your address will be changing, as can be seen below and on this map.
According to Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger:
“The County Board Supervisors have truly demonstrated our core value of Shared Purpose in agreeing to foot the full bill for the government cost of uniform addressing. The law permits them to shift the financial burden onto the participating communities. They didn’t have to do anything — but after listening to local officials, they moved from a cost-sharing arrangement to generously deciding to cover the entire cost, even though the county has its own financial issues.”
Over the next few months, Marathon County’s Conservation, Planning, & Zoning Department will be releasing the new uniform addresses to all participating landowners with the projected effective date of the address change.
Those participating in the project will be receiving a new 6-digit address number, and in some cases, may also be getting a new road name.
Implementation will begin in spring of 2018 once the snow clears so that workers may install new address and road name signs. Installation will be phased in by municipality, starting with the eastern municipalities and moving west sequentially across the county.
The county’s chosen firm will be supplying and installing the signs and posts for each home, business, or other establishment with a new flag address sign just like those currently in the towns.
For people who are not receiving a replacement flag-style address sign — such as in participating villages — the county’s firm will be mailing each landowner a uniform building address number sign. There will be instructions of how and where to install the address sign to a building in a uniform location.
Notifying Others of Your Address Change
There are a number of methods you can use to notify entities of your address change:
- Billing statements usually have a box to check ([ ]) and a space to print address changes on the reverse side of the bill.
- Online accounts will need you to log onto your account and update your contact information electronically with your new address.
- Telephone companies usually require you to call your account provider to update your contact information.
The following is a sample (though not exhaustive) list of some accounts you may need to contact to notify of your address change:
- Bank
- Lenders
- Health Providers
- Medicaid, WIC, Other Government Offices
- Insurance Companies
- Utilities
- Cable/Dish Providers
- Cell Phone Companies
- Employers
- Family
- Tenants/Renters
- Veterinarians (and update any Pet Tags)
- Magazine Subscription Service Providers
Marathon County will take care of notifying the following entities:
- Marathon County E911 Communication Center
- United States Postal Service
- Municipal Officials
- Marathon County Clerk/Elections
- Marathon County Treasurer
- Local Fire and Police Departments
- Marathon County Departments
Mail / Post Office
Marathon County will be working directly with the United States Postal Service (USPS). You will NOT have to file a Change of Address form with the USPS. The United States Postal Service will forward your mail for 1 year from the official effective date.
Driver’s License / DMV
Please note that you will NOT need to get a new driver’s license. The change of address can be updated online through the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV’s) website at no charge. The Department of Transportation does NOT require the new address to be printed on the actual Driver’s License; if you want your new address printed on your Driver’s License, you would need to pay $14 for a duplicate license, which can be done online for all U.S. citizens. You can update your address directly with the DMV online at the following website: http://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/online-srvcs/change-addy/default.aspx.
Passports
You do NOT need to update your current passport with your new address. However, if you have a passport application that is currently in process and you would like to change your mailing address, please visit: https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/services/correction.html.
Where to Turn for Assistance
With 9 locations throughout the county, the Marathon County Public Library System will play a significant role as an Information Center for Public Assistance. The libraries will serve the public as a reliable source of vetted resources to assist individuals through the address change process.
If you have any questions or concerns in the meantime, please review the CPZ’s Frequently Asked Questions page or contact the Marathon County CPZ Department at 715-261-6000 or cpz@co.marathon.wi.us.
Preston Vande Voort
GIS Specialist | Marathon County Conservation, Planning, & Zoning Department
Preston Vande Voort is a Geographic Information Specialist with the Marathon County Conservation, Planning, and Zoning team. A more accurate title would be “Cartographer at Heart.” His background is in geography and urban area planning. He uses location and geography to integrate, analyze, and understand all types of data. Without maps we are spatially blind. Outside work, you can find Preston spending time with his family, traveling, and hiking the greater outdoors. Email Preston Vande Voort.
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