This bill changes the tobacco products tax from an occupational tax to an excise
tax. The change allows the state to tax certain sales of tobacco products sold on
reservations by American Indians to persons who are not American Indians.
This bill permits DOR to enter into agreements with American Indian tribes to
provide for the refunding of the tobacco products tax imposed on tobacco products
sold on reservations to enrolled members of the tribe residing on the tribal
reservation. In addition, DOR is required to refund 50% of the taxes collected with
respect to sales on reservations or trust lands of an American Indian tribe to the
tribal council of the tribe having jurisdiction over the reservation or trust land on
which the sale is made. These two provisions parallel existing authority of DOR in
regard to cigarette taxes.
The bill also reduces from 70% to 50% the percentage of cigarette tax revenue
collected in sales on reservations or trust lands that must be refunded to American
Indian tribes.
Under current law, any taxpayer may petition DOR to compromise delinquent
income or franchise taxes, including any applicable costs, penalties and interest.
Under this bill, DOR is authorized to compromise any taxes, interest, penalties and
costs that are due this state and that have not yet been recorded as delinquent.
This bill changes the rate of the gross earnings tax that is levied on a car line
company and the amount that a railroad company must withhold from rental
payments made to a car line company. A car line company is any person, other than
a railroad, engaged in the business of leasing or furnishing car line equipment to a
railroad and car line equipment is any railroad car or other equipment used in
railroad transportation under a rental agreement.
Under current law, delinquent sales and use tax returns are subject to a $10 late
filing fee unless the return was not timely filed because of the death of the person
required to file or because of reasonable cause, but not because of neglect. This bill
changes the late filing fee to $30 for returns that are filed for periods beginning after
September 30, 1999.
This bill removes the requirement that the recertification application for
assessors and assessment personnel be notarized and that it be submitted at least
60 days before the expiration date of the current certificate. Under the bill, DOR may,
for good cause, accept an application for renewal up to one year after the expiration
of the current certificate if the applicant has complied with the current continuing
education and other recertification requirements.
transportation
Highways
Current law requires that any major highway project, unlike other construction
projects undertaken by the department of transportation (DOT), receive the
approval of the transportation projects commission (TPC) and the legislature before
the project may be constructed. A major highway project is a project having a total
cost of more than $5,000,000 and involving construction of a new highway 2.5 miles
or more in length; reconstruction or reconditioning of an existing highway that
relocates at least 2.5 miles of the highway or adds one or more lanes five miles or more
in length to the highway; or improvement of an existing multilane divided highway
to freeway standards. There are currently 75 enumerated major highway projects
approved for construction. This bill adds one major highway project to the list of 75
enumerated projects already approved for construction.
Under current law, the building commission may issue revenue bonds in a
principal amount of $1,348,058,900, of which $1,255,499,900 may be used for major
highway projects and other transportation facilities and $92,559,000 may be used for
fees and other expenses related to the revenue obligations.
This bill increases the level of revenue bonding for major highway projects and
transportation administrative facilities by 14.3% to $1,435,165,900. The bill also
authorizes the building commission to contract revenue obligations in any amount
to pay fees and other expenses related to the revenue obligations.
This bill authorizes DOT to designate highways that have outstanding intrinsic
value as scenic byways. The bill allows DOT to apply for federal designation of a
scenic byway as a national scenic byway. Federal designation would make the scenic
byway eligible for federal aid for scenic byways.
Under current law, outdoor advertising signs that are located along interstates
and certain other highways and that advertise activities conducted on the property
on which the signs are located (on-property signs) are subject to restrictions as to
size, number and location. This bill prohibits the erection of on-property signs at
locations that constitute traffic hazards and eliminates specific restrictions that
apply solely to on-property signs located outside the incorporated area of a city or
village. The bill specifies that on-property signs do not require permits issued by
DOT.
Drivers and motor vehicles
Current law authorizes circuit courts and municipal courts to suspend or
revoke a person's motor vehicle operating privilege for a variety of reasons, including
failure to pay an amount ordered by the court for ordinance violations unrelated to
operating a motor vehicle, such as failing to properly keep sidewalks clear of snow
and ice. Suspensions and revocations for failure to pay generally continue until the
person pays the amount owed. The suspension and revocation orders are forwarded
to DOT, which updates the person's driving record to reflect the suspension or
revocation.
This bill requires DOT to develop a process, by rule, to charge courts a
processing fee for each court order that suspends or revokes a person's operating
privilege for failure to pay a forfeiture that was imposed for violating an ordinance
unrelated to the violator's operation of a motor vehicle. The bill also allows courts
to charge the violator a fee in an amount not more than the fee DOT charges the court
for processing the order.
Current law requires DOT to redesign motor vehicle registration plates that are
issued to certain specified vehicles, primarily automobiles and light-duty trucks, or
that identify the registrant as a member of an authorized special group (such as U.S.
military or veteran, physically disabled, University of Wisconsin campus or natural
resources). DOT must begin issuing the newly designed plates beginning with
registrations effective July 1, 2000, and must issue newly designed plates for every
specified vehicle registered in this state by July 1, 2003. Vehicle registrants must
pay $10 or $15, depending on the type of plate, for the newly designed plates.
This bill allows DOT until July 1, 2005, to complete the issuance of the newly
designed plates. The bill also requires DOT to redesign these registration plates
every six years, and to issue plates of the new design to replace plates that are six
or more years old.
Under current law, if a person arrested for operating a motor vehicle while
under the influence of an intoxicant (OWI) refuses to take a test to determine the
amount of alcohol in his or her blood or breath, the law enforcement officer who
requested the test takes possession of the person's license, prepares a notice of intent
to revoke the person's operating privilege and gives a copy of the notice to the person,
to the circuit court and to the district attorney. The notice informs the person of a
number of items, including the right to request a court hearing to contest the
revocation. The Wisconsin court of appeals, in State v. Schoepp, 204 Wis. 2d 266
(1996), held that a person who receives a notice of intent to revoke the person's
operating privilege may utilize the full range of discovery procedures under state
law, including the use of depositions and interrogatories.
This bill prohibits either party's use of discovery in these cases, except that if
a hearing is requested, the person who refused to take the test has the right to receive
a copy of any written or voice recorded statement of a witness before that witness
testifies.
Currently, 31.29% of all moneys received by the state as driver improvement
surcharges from persons convicted of OWI is used to pay for chemical testing and
services provided by the state traffic patrol. The secretary of administration
transfers the remaining driver improvement surcharge moneys to programs or
purposes related to OWI, such as for the purchase of breath screening devices. Under
this bill, the separate 31.29% payment is eliminated and the chemical testing and
services program is eligible for a funding transfer approved by the secretary of
administration as are the other OWI-related programs.
Under current law, DOT may contract with third-party testers to conduct
on-the-road tests for commercial motor vehicle drivers, abbreviated on-the-road
tests for school bus drivers and special examinations for school bus drivers. This bill
permits DOT to contract with third-party testers to conduct on-the-road tests for
noncommercial motor vehicle drivers, except on-the-road tests for authorization to
operate certain motorcycles.
This bill raises the fee for a driving skills test in a school bus or in a
noncommercial motor vehicle from $10 to $15.
Current law requires DOT to issue a distinctive license document to any person
who is under the legal drinking age when the license is issued. Under this bill,
beginning on January 1, 2000, DOT must also issue a distinctive license document
to any person who is under 18 years of age when the license is issued.
Under current law, no person may operate a school bus unless the person
possesses an endorsement to operate school buses. A school bus endorsement is valid
for the eight-year duration of the person's operator's license. This bill requires each
school bus operator to pass an examination of his or her ability to safely operate a
school bus at least once every 4 years.
1997 Wisconsin Act 84 made extensive changes to this state's laws regarding
operating a motor vehicle with an operating privilege that is revoked or suspended
(OAR or OWS). Most of those changes are scheduled to take effect on May 1, 2000,
or sooner if DOT's computer system can accommodate the necessary changes.
This bill delays the effective date of
1997 Wisconsin Act 84 until May 1, 2001,
or until DOT's computer system can accommodate the necessary changes, whichever
occurs earlier. The bill specifies that DOT is not required to implement all of that
act's changes simultaneously, but may establish different effective dates for those
changes. The bill makes an OAR or OWS committed in another jurisdiction a minor
traffic offense for purposes of determining whether the offending driver is a habitual
traffic offender. Under the bill, all OAR and OWS will be treated as minor traffic
offenses, without regard to where the offense was committed.
Currently, DOT is required to revoke the operating privilege of a person
determined to be a habitual traffic offender. The revocation commences on the day
on which DOT mails the person notice of the revocation or, if the person is already
suspended or revoked, on the day on which the person is convicted and first
considered a habitual traffic offender, or on the date on which the person surrendered
his or her operator's license to begin the current revocation or suspension period.
This bill makes all revocations by DOT for habitual traffic offenders begin on the date
DOT mails notice of the revocation.
Under current law, a highway authority may impose special weight limitations
on highways that would likely be seriously damaged or destroyed if such limitations
were not imposed. The weight limits are effective only if weight limit notice signs
are properly posted. This bill requires the posting of advance weight limit notice
signs, in addition to the weight limit notice signs, to allow motorists to avoid the
weight-limited highway altogether.
Current law prohibits any person from driving upon a highway any motor
vehicle that exceeds the maximum permissible gross vehicle weight or the maximum
permissible weight per axle. Current law allows additional weight, beyond the
weight limits ordinarily applicable, for certain trucks transporting exclusively milk
from the point of production to the primary market and returning with dairy supplies
and dairy products from such primary market to the farm. Only milk trucks having
axle measurements of nine feet, one inch or greater qualify for the additional 2,000
pound axle weight. This bill extends the 2,000 pound weight limit to milk trucks
having an actual axle distance of eight feet, six inches or more.
Under current law, DOT utilizes a telephone call-in procedure through which
applicants may obtain certain single trip permits to operate vehicles that exceed the
statutory size or weight limits. This bill requires DOT to implement a telephone
call-in procedure through which applicants may obtain single trip, annual,
consecutive month and multiple trip permits to operate vehicles that exceed the
statutory size or weight limits, together with the designated route of travel. The bill
also raises fees for certain single trip, annual, consecutive month and multiple trip
permits issued by DOT by 10% beginning on January 1, 2000, and ending on June
30, 2003, after which time the fees revert to their current amounts.
This bill increases the fee for late payment of fees for registering a motor truck
through DOT's automated telephone registration system from $5 to $10.
This bill eliminates the $5 fee charged to financial institutions for processing
electronic applications for motor vehicle title and registration.
Under current law, a claimant must serve legal process upon the secretary of
transportation to commence a legal action against a nonresident driver for damages
arising from a motor vehicle accident in this state. The secretary of transportation
collects a $15 fee from the claimant for each defendant in the action and forwards the
legal process to the nonresident driver. This bill increases this service-of-process
fee to $25.
Transportation aids
Under current law, DOT provides state aid payments to local public bodies in
urban areas served by mass transit systems to assist the local public bodies with the
expenses of operating those systems. DOT makes state aid payments in amounts
sufficient to ensure that the combination of state and federal aids contributed toward
the operating expenses of an urban mass transit system equals the uniform
percentage established by DOT for the class of mass transit system. The percentage
varies for each of the three classes of mass transit systems but is uniform for all mass
transit systems within a class. The three classes are: 1) mass transit systems serving
urban areas having a population of less than 50,000; 2) mass transit systems serving
urban areas having a population of more than 50,000 but having annual operating
expenses of less than $20,000,000; and 3) mass transit systems having annual
operating expenses of more than $20,000,000.
This bill modifies the classes of mass transit systems and revises the amount
of state aids payable to local public bodies served by those systems. The bill creates
two classes of mass transit systems: 1) those having operating expenses of more than
$20,000,000 (Tier A); and 2) those having operating expenses of $20,000,000 or less
(Tier B). Under the bill, the sum of state and federal aid provided to a local public
body served by a Tier A mass transit system may not exceed 50% of the mass transit
system's projected operating expenses. The sum of state and federal aid provided to
a local public body served by a Tier B mass transit system may not exceed 65% of the
mass transit system's projected operating expenses, except that the sum of aids
provided to local public bodies served by certain Tier B mass transit systems may not
exceed 60% for calendar years 2000 and 2001.
Current law requires a local public body that receives state aid under the urban
mass transit operating assistance program to pay a local contribution towards the
mass transit system's operating expenses in an amount equal to at least 20% of the
amount of state aid received under the program. This local contribution does not
apply to local public bodies served exclusively by a shared-ride taxicab system. This
bill requires all recipients to pay at least 10% of the operating expenses, regardless
of the amount of state aid received under the program, except that recipients served
exclusively by a shared-ride taxicab system must pay at least 5% of the system's
operating expenses.
Under current law, DOT makes general transportation aids payments to a
county based on a share-of-costs formula, and to a municipality (city, village or
town) based on the greater of a share-of-costs formula for municipalities or an aid
rate per mile ($1,596 for 1998 and thereafter).
Beginning with general transportation aids payable for the year 2000, this bill
increases the aid rate to $1,644 per mile and increases the maximum amount of aid
that may be paid under the program from the current limit of $78,744,300 to
$81,106,600 for counties, and from the current limit of $247,739,100 to $254,784,900
for municipalities. The bill also allows a portion of law enforcement costs to be
considered in the share-of-costs formula, instead of as highway-related traffic
police costs. The bill allows DOT to establish different portions for different classes
of counties or municipalities.
This bill provides that aid amounts payable to any single municipality or county
under the general transportation aids program may not be reduced by more than 2%
annually.
This bill requires each municipality to assess biennially the condition of roads
under its jurisdiction and to report the results to DOT.
This bill provides that the amount of aid that DOT may award under the elderly
and disabled transportation capital assistance program, which provides aid for
specialized vehicles and facilities used to provide transportation services to elderly
and disabled persons, may not exceed the percentage of estimated costs specified by
DOT or the percentage of costs that are eligible for federal aid, whichever is less.
Under current law, DOT may contract up to $19,000,000 in public debt for the
acquisition and improvement of rail property. This bill increases this authorized
general obligation bonding limit from $19,000,000 to $23,500,000.
Rail and aid transportation
Under current law, DOT, local governmental bodies, local residents and
railroad companies may petition the office of the commissioner of railroads (OCR) for
a determination of whether a railroad crossing over a public highway protects and
promotes public safety. OCR may order the railroad to install automatic warning
signals or other suitable safety device at the railroad crossing.
This bill creates a railroad grade crossings committee to review every railroad
grade crossing in this state to recommend crossings for improvements. The bill
generally prohibits DOT from paying for improvements to railroad grade crossings
ordered by OCR unless the committee first recommended improvements to the
crossing.
Currently, under the freight railroad assistance program, DOT makes loans to
cities, villages, towns and counties for acquiring freight railroad facilities,
rehabilitating or constructing rail property improvements or improving freight
railroad infrastructure. The loans are made at the legal rate of interest of 5%, unless
DOT and the borrower agree to a different rate. This bill requires DOT to specify by
rule a rate of interest applicable to such loans.
Other transportation
This bill increases the authorized general obligation bonding limit for grants
awarded by DOT for harbor improvements from $15,000,000 to $18,000,000.
Under current law, participants under the Wisconsin retirement system (WRS)
whose principal duties involve law enforcement, require frequent exposure to a high
degree of peril and require a high degree of physical conditioning are classified as
protective occupation participants. Current law specifically classifies members of
the state patrol as protective occupation participants. Under WRS, the normal
retirement age of a protective occupation participant is lower, and the percentage
multiplier used to calculate retirement annuities is higher, than for other
participants.
This bill specifically classifies the administrator of the division of state patrol
as a protective occupation participant for the purposes of WRS, if the division
administrator is certified as qualified to be employed as a law enforcement officer in
this state. The bill also makes the administrator a member of the state traffic patrol
(having the same powers and duties of other members) if the administrator is
certified as a law enforcement officer in this state. As a member of the state traffic
patrol, the administrator is entitled to receive full pay and other benefits during any
period in which the administrator is unable to work because of an injury sustained
while performing certain duties that entail a considerable risk of injury or danger.
Under current law, the state traffic patrol consists of not more than 385 traffic
officers in the classified service. This bill increases the authorized number of state
patrol officers from 385 to 400.
