Wisconsin Legislature: 16,2022s

10. Libraries.

11. Recreation and culture.

12. Human services.

13. Youth services.

(f) "Political subdivision" means any city, village, town, or county with a population greater than 2,500.

(2) Pilot program. The department shall establish a pilot program to study governmental services delivered by and to political subdivisions. The department shall solicit political subdivisions to participate in the program. Based on the department's solicitation, the department shall select 5 political subdivisions to form councils as provided under sub. (3) and shall include in that selection at least one county and at least one city, village, or town.

(3) Creation of council. (a) No later than January 1, 2002, each political subdivision selected under sub. (2) shall create a council consisting of 5 members, as follows:

1. The chief executive officer of the political subdivision, or his or her designee.

2. A member who is an employee of the political subdivision.

3. A member with cost accounting experience who is a resident of the political subdivision and who is not a political subdivision officer or employee.

4. Two members, not including the member under subd. 3., who are residents of the political subdivision and who are not political subdivision officers or employees.

(b) The political subdivision's chief executive officer shall appoint the council members under par. (a) 2. to 4. The chief executive officer shall appoint 2 members to initial terms of 2 years and the remaining 2 members to initial terms of 4 years. The chief executive officer shall appoint the respective successors of the members under par. (a) 2. to 4. to terms of 4 years. All members under par. (a) 2. to 4. shall serve until their successors are appointed and qualified.

(c) The council shall organize annually at its first meeting to elect a chairperson. Four members of the council shall constitute a quorum.

(4) Duties of council. The council shall conduct an analysis of governmental services provided by the political subdivision with which the council is affiliated. In conducting such an analysis, the council shall do all of the following:

(a) Establish specific benchmarks for performance, including goals related to intergovernmental cooperation to provide governmental services.

(b) Conduct research and establish new methods to promote efficiency in the delivery of governmental services.

(c) Identify and recommend collaborative agreements to be developed with other political subdivisions to deliver governmental services.

(5) Data collection and analysis. (a) A council may conduct an analysis of a governmental service provided by the political subdivision with which the council is affiliated on its own or after receiving any of the following:

1. A written suggestion regarding delegating a governmental service to a private person.

2. A written complaint that a governmental service provided by the political subdivision is competing with the same or a similar service provided by a private person.

3. A written suggestion by a political subdivision employee or political subdivision employee labor organization to review a governmental service delegated to a private person.

(b) After receiving a suggestion or complaint under par. (a), the council shall meet to decide whether an analysis of the governmental service indicated in the suggestion or complaint is necessary. The council may hold hearings, conduct inquiries, and gather data to make its decision. If the council decides to analyze a governmental service under this paragraph, the council shall do all of the following:

1. Determine the costs of providing the governmental service, including the cost of personnel and capital assets used in providing the service.

2. Determine how often and to what extent the governmental service is provided and the quality of the governmental service provided.

3. Make a cost-benefit determination based on the findings under subds. 1. and 2.

4. Determine whether a private person can provide the governmental service at a cost savings to the political subdivision providing the service and at a quality at least equal to the quality of the service provided by the political subdivision.

5. If the council decides that a governmental service is not suitable for delegating to a private person, determine whether the governmental service should be retained in its present form, modified, or eliminated.

(c) After completing an analysis under par. (b), the council shall make a recommendation to the political subdivision providing the governmental service analyzed under par. (b) and publish the council's recommendation. The recommendation shall specify the recommendation's impact on the political subdivision and the political subdivision's employees.

(6) Training and assistance. The board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System shall direct the extension to assist councils created under this section in performing their duties under subs. (4) and (5). The board of regents shall ensure that council members are trained in how to do all of the following:

(a) Conduct an analysis of a governmental service.

(b) Determine ways to improve the efficiency of delivering a governmental service.

(d) Prepare the reports required under sub. (7) (a) and (b).

(7) Reports. (a) On or before June 30, 2002, each council shall submit a report to the department describing the council's activities.

(b) On or before June 30, 2003, each council shall submit a final report to the department describing the council's activities and recommendations and the extent to which its recommendations have been adopted by the political subdivision with which the council is affiliated. A report submitted under this paragraph shall provide a detailed explanation of all analyses conducted under subs. (4) and (5).

(c) On or before July 31, 2003, the department shall submit a report concerning the activities and recommendations described in the reports submitted under pars. (a) and (b) to the legislature under s. 13.172 (2) and to the governor. The department's report shall describe ways to implement such recommendations statewide.

16,2022t Section 2022t. 66.0317 of the statutes is created to read:

66.0317 Cooperation region. (1) Definitions. In this section:

(a) "Cooperation region" means a federal standard metropolitan statistical area. For purposes of this section, if only a part of a county is located in a federal standard metropolitan statistical area the entire county is considered to be located in the federal standard metropolitan statistical area.

(b) "Governmental service" has the meaning given in s. 66.0316 (1) (e).

(c) "Metropolitan service delivery" means any governmental service provided to a city that is provided by the city or by another city or by a town, village, or county and provided on a multijurisdictional basis.

(d) "Municipality" means any city, village, or town.

(2) Area cooperation compacts. (a) 1. Except as provided in subd. 3., beginning in 2003 and ending in 2005, a municipality shall enter into an area cooperation compact with at least 2 municipalities or counties located in the same cooperation region as the municipality, or with any combination of at least 2 such entities, to perform at least 2 governmental services.

2. Except as provided in subd. 3., beginning in 2006 and in each subsequent year, a municipality shall enter into an area cooperation compact with at least 4 municipalities or counties located in the same cooperation region as the municipality, or with any combination of at least 4 such entities, to perform at least 5 governmental services.

3. A municipality that is not adjacent to at least 2 other municipalities located in the same cooperation region as the municipality may enter into a cooperation compact with any adjacent municipality or with the county in which the municipality is located to perform the number of governmental services as specified under subd. 1. or 2.

(b) An area cooperation compact shall provide a plan for any municipalities or counties that enter into the compact to collaborate to provide governmental services. The compact shall provide benchmarks to measure the plan's progress and provide outcome-based performance measures to evaluate the plan's success. Municipalities and counties that enter into the compact shall structure the compact in a way that results in significant tax savings to taxpayers within those municipalities and counties.

(c) 1. Annually, beginning in 2002, a municipality shall certify to the department of revenue by May 1, in a manner prescribed by the department that the municipality complied with pars. (a) and (b).

2. Annually, beginning in 2002, a municipality shall submit to the department of revenue on or before June 30, in a manner prescribed by the department, a report that indicates whether the municipality has entered into any agreements with any other municipality or any county located in the same cooperation region as the municipality related to the following:

a. Establishment of performance standards for delivery of governmental services by municipalities or counties within a federal standard metropolitan statistical area or county.

b. Collaborative service delivery.

c. Reduction or elimination of overlapping service delivery.

d. Municipal revenue sharing under s. 66.0305.

e. Smart growth planning under s. 16.965.

f. Metropolitan service delivery.

g. Financial incentives for shared regional planning services.

h. Boundary issues.

i. Other intergovernmental issues.

(d) The department of revenue may grant a municipality additional time to submit any report under par. (c), if the municipality shows good cause for granting the additional time.

(e) Annually, beginning in 2004, the legislative audit bureau shall prepare a report on the performance of area cooperation compacts and shall submit copies of the report to the chief clerk of each house of the legislature for distribution to the appropriate standing committees under s. 13.172 (3) by June 30.

16,2022tb Section 2022tb. 66.0407 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:

66.0407 (5) This section does not apply to Canada thistle or annual noxious weeds that are located on land that the department of natural resources or the department of forestry owns, occupies, or controls and that is maintained in whole or in part as habitat for wild birds by the either department of natural resources.

16,2022td Section 2022td. 66.0501 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

66.0501 (4) Compatible offices and positions. A volunteer fire fighter, emergency medical technician, or first responder in a city, village, or town whose annual compensation from one or more of those positions, including fringe benefits, does not exceed $2,500 the amount specified in s. 946.13 (2) (a) may also hold an elected elective office in that city, village, or town. It is compatible with his or her office for an elected town officer to receive wages under s. 60.37 (4) for work that he or she performs for the town.

16,2022tf Section 2022tf. 66.0607 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

66.0607 (1) Except as otherwise provided in subs. (2) to (5) and in s. 66.0608, in a county, city, village, town, or school district, all disbursements from the treasury shall be made by the treasurer upon the written order of the county, city, village, town, or school clerk after proper vouchers have been filed in the office of the clerk. If the statutes provide for payment by the treasurer without an order of the clerk, the clerk shall draw and deliver to the treasurer an order for the payment before or at the time that the payment is required to be made by the treasurer. This section applies to all special and general provisions of the statutes relative to the disbursement of money from the county, city, village, town, or school district treasury except s. 67.10 (2).

16,2022th Section 2022th. 66.0608 of the statutes is created to read:

66.0608 Separate accounts for municipal fire, emergency medical technician, and first responder volunteer funds. (1) Definitions. In this section:

(a) "Emergency medical technician" has the meaning given in s. 146.50 (1) (e).

(b) "Emergency medical technician volunteer funds" means funds of a municipality that are raised by employees of the municipality's emergency medical technician department, by volunteers, or by donation to the emergency medical technician department, for the benefit of the municipality's emergency medical technician department.

(c) "Fire volunteer funds" means funds of a municipality that are raised by employees of the municipality's fire department, by volunteers, or by donation to the fire department, for the benefit of the municipality's fire department.

(d) "First responder" has the meaning given in s. 146.53 (1) (d).

(e) "First responder volunteer funds" means funds of a municipality that are raised by employees of the municipality's first responder department, by volunteers, or by donation to the first responder department, for the benefit of the municipality's first responder department.

(f) "Municipality" means any city, village, or town.

(g) "Public depository" has the meaning given in s. 34.01 (5).

(h) "Volunteer funds" means emergency medical technician volunteer funds, fire volunteer funds, or first responder volunteer funds.

(2) General authority. Subject to subs. (3) and (4), the governing body of a municipality may enact an ordinance that does all of the following:

(a) Authorizes a particular official or employee of the municipality's fire department, emergency medical technician department, or first responder department to deposit volunteer funds of the department for which the individual serves as an official or employee, in an account in the name of the fire department, emergency medical technician department, or first responder department, in a public depository.

(b) Gives the municipality's fire department, emergency medical technician department, or first responder department, through the official or employee described under par. (a), exclusive control over the expenditure of volunteer funds of the department for which the individual serves as an official or employee in an account described under par. (a).

(3) Limitations, requirements. An ordinance enacted under sub. (2) may include any of the following limitations or requirements:

(a) A limit on the type and amount of funds that may be deposited into the account described under sub. (2) (a).

(b) A limit on the amount of withdrawals from the account described under sub. (2) (a) that may be made, and a limit on the purposes for which such withdrawals may be made.

(4) Ownership of funds. Notwithstanding an ordinance enacted under sub. (2), volunteer funds shall remain the property of the municipality until the funds are disbursed.

16,2022tj Section 2022tj. 66.0609 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

66.0609 (3) The ordinance under sub. (1) shall require that the governing body of the city or village obtain an annual detailed audit of its financial transactions and accounts by a certified public accountant licensed or certified under ch. 442 and designated by the governing body.

16,2022tL Section 2022tL. 66.0627 (title) of the statutes is amended to read:

66.0627 (title) Special charges for current services.

16,2022w Section 2022w. 66.0627 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

66.0627 (2) Except as provided in sub. (5), the governing body of a city, village or town may impose a special charge against real property for current services that are available, regardless of whether the services are actually rendered, by allocating all or part of the cost of the service to the property that is served or that is eligible to be served. The authority under this section is in addition to any other method provided by law.