Hello fellow members,

I am your newly elected president, Ted Birsch-bach. I am looking for-ward to the upcoming year and to working with each of you and keeping this association run as well as we have.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the members who at-tended the Christmas par-ty. It was a great success earning $960.00 for the

PAC Fund$. We raised $20.00 above our goal and collected food and toys for the local Chilton Salva-tion Army.

I especial would like to thank WBA President Elect Jeff Dorner, all award recipients for all their hard work and most of all our esteemed auc-tioneer, Gary Roehrig, for making it a memorable Christmas party.

Reminder, the Home Fest 2020 committee has be-gun selling booths and ads for the March 7th & 8th Home Show. Also, please note that the early bird rates expire January 31st. I hope to see you at the next General Member-ship Meeting at the Alto-na Supper Club on Janu-ary 14th.

Ted Birschbach Builders, LLC

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE By Ted Birschbach, Birschbach Builders, LLC Membership 2

MSHBA Holiday Party 3

Home Fest 2020 4

WBA Advocacy 5

WBA Free Classes 6

NAHB Member Savings 6

Inside this issue:

CALENDAR OF EVENTS: • Jan. 8 Home Fest

2020 Committee Meeting 5:30 pm at the Altona Supper Club, NH

• Jan. 14 MSHBA BOD/GM Meeting Altona Supper Club , NH 5:30 pm BOD Meeting 6:30 pm GM Meeting

• Feb. 7 WBA Board Day & President’s Installation Stone Harbor, Sturgeon Bay

• Feb. 11 MSHBA BOD/GM Meeting

M i d - S h o r e s H o m e B u i l d e r s A s s o c i a t i o n , I n c .

the Cutting

Edge

January 2020 Volume 10, Issue 12

Celebrating 20 Years! 1998-2018

MEMBERSHIP…the Ultimate Building Resource

THANK YOU FOR RENEWING YOUR MEMBERSHIP! Meggers Enterprise LLC, Plumbing Thiel Real Estate Vande Hey Brantmeier

Mid-Shores HBA offers a 3-Pay Dues Payment Program…

MSHBA offers an option to pay your dues in three consecutive monthly payments of $140.00. Your membership will take into effect on your final payment. A 3-Pay Dues payment contract will be included with your renewal statement.

__________________________

WBA Member Meeting Friday, February 7—President’s Installation & Member Meeting Day at the Stone Harbor, Sturgeon Bay

March 5 - Trends in Housing Conference June 24—Member Meeting Day October 1—Virtual Member Meeting Day

__________________________

MSHBA Membership

2020 MSHBA OFFICERS

President : Ted Birschbach Birschbach Builders LLC

920-238-9253

President-Elect: Tim Mathes Mathes Construction & Gutter Co.

920-894-7697

Treasurer: Darlene Schwobe Zander Press Inc.

920-756-2222

Secretary: Denise Bangart National Exchange Bank & Trust

920-849-8888

Past-President : Kevin Schmitz K & J Construction and Design LLC

920-849-8811

2020 DIRECTORS

Dave Amel Premier Properties Realty, LLC

920-980-4477

Thomas Heiberger Christel & Heiberger Builders, Inc.

920-898-2820

Jerry Mallmann Chilton Furniture

920-849-9023

WBA Directors Dan Schneider Glenn Christel

NAHB Delegate Kevin Schmitz

Page 2

PO Box 125 New Holstein, WI 53061

www.midshoreshomebuilders.com

Executive Officer Tena Hartwig 2104 Mary Ave.

New Holstein, WI 53061 Phone (920) 898-5030

Fax (920) 827-1232 thartwig@midshoreshomebuilders.com

THANK YOU FOR THE GIFT!

Mid-Shores HBA Members & Board of Direc-tors,

Thank you for the wonderful Christmas bo-nus…it is greatly appreciated! Working for MSHBA is a blessing. I have especially en-joyed working with each of you. I especially enjoyed working on the Jerry Arenz Memori-al Trap Shoot, Parade of Homes and the newly branded Home Fest 2020!

In addition, I congratulate you on the suc-cess of this year’s events. MSHBA’s success is a reflection of the support and commit-ment of each of you…thank you!

Wishing you and your family a blessed 2020!

Tena Hartwig Executive Officer Mid-Shores Home Builders Assoc., Inc.

__________________________

Introducing MSHBA’s 2020 Officers & Directors… MSHBA’s 2020 Officers and Directors were elected at it s November General Member-ship Meeting and installed at the Decem-ber 5 Christmas Party at the Altona Supper Club. Officers: 1-year term, no limit on terms

• President: Ted Birschbach, Birschbach Builders LLC

• President Elect: Tim Mathes, Mathes Construction & Gutter Co.

• Secretary: Denise Bangart, National Exchange Bank & Trust

• Treasurer: Darlene Schwobe, Zander Press Inc Immediate Past President: Kevin Schmitz, K & J Construction and Design LLC Directors: 3-year term, limited to two consecutive terms

• Jerry Mallmann, Chilton Furni-ture: term ending 2022

• Dave Amel, Premier Properties Realty LLC: term ending 2020

• Tommy Heiberger, Christel & Heiberger Builders Inc.: term ending 2021

• Director: term ending 2020 – OPEN

Page 3

MSHBA Raises $960 & Meets its BBW Goal!

MSHBA held its Build A Better Wisconsin PAC auction in conjunction with its Christ-mas party and Installation banquet on De-cember 5. $935.00 was raised at the auc-tion. Combined with previous PAC dona-tions, our total for 2019 was $960.00; there-fore surpassing MSHBA’s goal of $940.00! Thank You for your contribution to the 2019 Build A Better Wisconsin & MSHBA Auction and thank you to those who purchased items at this year’s event! Special thanks to our auctioneer, honorary member Gary Roehrig.

Thank you National Exchange Bank & Trust for sponsoring the poinsettias! Exchange Bank & Trust for sponsoring the poinsetti-as. Thank you for the toys and food for the

Calumet County Salvation Army Bread of Life Assistance Center!

MSHBA also recognized members for their special commitment and service to MSHBA at its Holiday Party and Installation Ban-quet on December 5. Tim Mathes of Mathes Construction & Gutter Co. was honored with MSHBA’s President's Award. Kevin and Julie Schmitz of K & J Construction and Design LLC, was honored with the 2019 Builder Member of the Year award and Darlene Schwobe of Zander Press Inc., was honored with the 2019 As-sociate Member of the Year award. Kevin Schmitz was also recognized with a NAHB Spike Club award. Congratulations and thank you for your association involvement

and leadership!

December 5’s Christ-mas Party included

Installation of 2020’s Officers & Directors,

Awards Presenta-tions and a live BBW

Auction.

Associate Member of the Year Zander Press Inc.

Builder Member of the Year K & J Construction and Design LLC

President’s Award Mathes Construction & Gutter Co.

Installation of Officers & Board of Directors - Ted Birschbach of Birsch-bach Builders, LLC was installed by

WBA President Elect Jeff Dorner

Page 4

REGISTER NOW...Home Fest 2020

March 7 & 8 Saturday, March 7 10AM-5PM | Sunday, March 8 10AM-3PM

2245 Calumet Drive, New Holstein Former Tractor Supply Co.

Calumet County’s ONLY Home & Garden Show! Mid-Shores Home Builders Association proudly invites you to participate in Home Fest 2020! Long-known for our annual Home & Garden Expo, we’ve taken our show to a whole new level with Home Fest 2020. Home Fest 2020 will be held March 7 & 8 at 2245 Calumet Drive, New Holstein. The 24,000 sq. ft. venue is located on US Highway 32/57 in the former Tractor Supply Co. and offers us the ability to host a large variety of exhibitors and seminar opportunities in an open atmosphere.

This newly branded event will not only showcase products and services of the home building and re-modeling industries, but include informational sessions, NEW themed days with daily activities and a NEW focus on helping consumers choose the best options whether they are a new homeowner, main-taining their home, building their dream home or looking at down-sizing. We will be using a variety of media to promote the event in the Calumet County area and beyond, including social media, newspaper and banners. We also produce an event brochure that is distributed to more than 20,000 households in the Calumet area. NEW THIS YEAR - Promote your business by purchasing an ad in the brochure!

Members…Home Fest 2020 is an excellent opportunity to learn about your customers, prospective homeowners and buyers and let them know we are there to help them. It is also an opportunity for the members of MSHBA to educate the community and consumers about the homebuilding process, prod-ucts and services and our association. Please consider participating in this educational event. Contact MSHBA to register.

EXHIBIT YOUR BUSINESS

BROCHURE ADVERTISING—distribution 20,000

THEMED DAYS WITH ACTIVITIES & SEMINARS

SPONSORSHIPS—Event, Seminar and Hospitality GENERAL HELP: The committee will need help with ticket sales at the door, set up, general clean up, general snow removal and monitoring the expo areas. Let us know if you can help…a signup sheet will be at the Janu-ary and February GM.

The Deadline to be included in the Home Fest 2020 Brochure is February 7

Complimentary Exhibitor Hospitality Room NEW - Brochure Advertising Opportunities

Page 5

2020 Workforce Housing Proposal With the passage and implementation of 2019 Wisconsin Act 38, we now turn our efforts to address the issue of making more workforce housing units available. WBA is working with the Wisconsin Real-tors Association, the Wisconsin Econom-ic Development Association, Representa-tive Rob Brooks, and Senator Dan Feyen to roll out a package of reforms to en-courage the construction of more work-force housing units.

There are several items that are being considered for a package to be rolled out in January. They include:

• changes to make TIF more available for workforce housing

• incentives for local units of govern-ment to reduce fees and red tape to encourage single family and small multifamily units that would be avail-able to a broader range of buyers

• levy limit flexibility for municipalities that encourage more workforce housing to be constructed.

Rep. Brooks and Sen. Feyen are working hard to get those that represent build-ers, realtors, economic development entities, and municipalities, in agreement on the provisions in this bill before it is introduced.

There will be some challenges to passing this bill prior to the end of the legislative

session which is anticipated to be some-time in March. There have been some members of the state Senate that have objected to the expansion of TIF to help aid as an additional economic develop-ment or as a tool to expand workforce housing options. A concerted lobbying effort will be needed to have a chance to get this bill signed into law in 2020.

Electrical Code Changes After a delayed effective date and some additional review time requested by standing committees of the legislature, the updated electrical code for one- and two-family homes will go into effect on January 2, 2020. The updated code for the commercial building code has been in effect since 2018 and electricians throughout the state have likely been trained on the updates to both the com-mercial and single-family electrical code in 2018 and 2019.

The Department of Safety and Profes-sional Services recently published a doc-ument highlighting the changes that can be found here.

NAHB Launches New Podcast Recently, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) announced a new podcast called the “Housing Develop-ments Podcast.”

The podcast is presented by NAHB CEO Jerry Howard and NAHB Chief Lobbyist

Jim Tobin and includes topics on housing affordability, housing economics, work-force development issues, and the state of the residential construction industry.

Click here to access the podcast or search for it on any of the platforms that you chose for podcasts for great up to date information on what NAHB is up to on your behalf in Washington D.C.

From NAHB: Congress Poised to Revive Expired Tax Extenders, Make Other Key Tax Changes Recently congressional and White House negotiators agreed to a package of tax changes that include a number of provi-sions sought by NAHB, including a series of temporary tax provisions known as “tax extenders.” Congress is expected to approve the package in the coming days and send it for the president’s expected signature.

The tax extenders section of the bill con-tains a number of temporary tax items that expired at the end of 2017. The legis-lation would retroactively reinstate in 2018 and 2019, and extend the following tax provisions through 2020:

• Deduction for Mortgage Insur-ance. Allows taxpayers, subject to an income cap beginning at $100,000, to deduct premiums paid for private mortgage insurance and FHA/RHA/VA insurance premiums.

• Section 45L Tax Credit for Energy-Efficient New Homes. Provides build-ers a $2,000 tax credit for the con-struction of homes exceeding heat-ing and cooling energy standards by 50%. The base energy code is the 2006 International Energy Conserva-tion Code plus supplements. Builders must have tax basis in the home to claim the credit (i.e., they must own and then sell/lease the residence).

• Section 25C Tax Credit for Qualified Energy-Efficiency Improvements. Offers a credit worth up to $500 (subject to a $500 lifetime cap), with

Advocacy Digest | December 2019 Brad Boycks, Executive Director

Page 6

lower caps for certain products, such as windows, for consumers to install qualified energy-efficient upgrades.

• Mortgage Forgiveness Tax Relief. Eliminates any taxes home owners might face because of renegotiating the terms of a home loan, which re-sult in forgiving or canceling a por-tion of the outstanding loan balance, particularly in connection with short sales. It applies only to principal resi-dences.

• Section 179D Energy-Efficient Com-mercial Buildings Deduction. Pro-vides a deduction of up to $1.80 per square foot for commercial and mul-tifamily buildings that exceed specific energy-efficiency requirements under ASHRAE 2007.

The legislation also includes the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement En-hancement (SECURE) Act, which passed the House earlier this year. The SECURE Act is intended to reduce the administra-tive costs of small businesses offering

their employees retirement savings plans. The SECURE Act will give small businesses a more cost-effective tool to offer retirement benefits by combining their buying power in the form of Open Multiple Employer Plans.

The bill further provides temporary tax relief for individuals and businesses in federally declared disaster areas occur-ring between Jan. 1, 2018, and 30 days following the enactment of the legisla-tion. These provisions allow certain early penalty-free withdrawals from retire-ment plans, provide an employee reten-tion tax credit for employers, and offer automatic adjustments to tax filing dead-lines, among other changes. The bill also includes a provision to provide additional low-income housing tax credit alloca-tions related to certain 2017 and 2018 California disasters.

The tax package will also repeal a provi-sion related to certain employee trans-portation fringe benefits offered by non-profit organizations, including trade as-

sociations. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 imposed the corporate tax rate of 21% on the value of employer-provided transportation benefits, including park-ing, or certain other subsidy programs. The bill repeals that tax change for non-profit employers retroactively, which should allow non-profit entities to collect back any taxes paid in 2018.

For more information, contact J.P. Del-more at 800-368-5242 x8412.

Free Continuing Ed Courses Now Available

Thanks to our partnership with Slipstream and the B4 Conference, we are now officially offering members 12 free credits through a promo code on our website . You will need your members-only login to access the page with the code. Like the previous Homebuilder University courses and oth-er courses offered by Slipstream, the new courses are approved through DSPS and will count to-wards license renewal.

Check out the courses here, and members, don't miss the link to take you to the free promo code.

https://www.wisbuild.org/online-courses