Under current law, if a decedent left solely owned property not exceeding
$20,000 in value, an heir may have any of the property, including an interest in real
property, transferred to himself or herself by presenting the person holding the
property with an affidavit containing certain information. This bill provides that,
if an interest in real property of a decedent is transferred to an heir by affidavit,
DHFS has a lien on that interest in real property if the decedent does not have a
surviving spouse or child who is under age 21 or disabled. If the decedent has a
surviving spouse or child who is under age 21 or disabled, DHFS has a lien on the
interest in real property only if the real property was the decedent's home. DHFS
may enforce its lien by foreclosure, in the same manner as a mortgage, but not while
the decedent's spouse, if any, or child who is under age 21 or disabled, if any, is alive.
Under current law, financial institutions must participate in a financial record
matching program operated by DWD for the purpose of determining whether a
person who owes child support or maintenance (formerly called alimony) has an
account at a particular financial institution. Under this bill, DWD must reimburse
a financial institution up to $125 per quarter for its participation in the program.
Under current law, DWD must provide by rule for a reimbursement amount that
does not exceed a financial institution's actual cost.
Insurance
Current law prohibits an insurance stock or mutual corporation from being a
party to a contract that has the effect of delegating to a person, to the substantial
exclusion of the board of the insurance stock or mutual corporation, any
management control of the corporation or of a major corporate function, such as
underwriting or loss adjustment. Current law provides exceptions, however, for
health maintenance organizations, limited service health organizations, and
preferred provider plans if the person to whom the management authority is
delegated exercises the authority according to the terms of a written contract that
is filed with, and not disapproved by, OCI. This bill eliminates these exceptions
effective January 1, 2004.
Current law sets out the various services provided by OCI for which fees must
be paid and specifies the fee amounts. This bill provides that the fee amounts in the
statute apply unless OCI specifies a different amount by rule, and authorizes OCI
to provide for different fee amounts by rule, to provide for maximum fee amounts in
any such rule, and to charge less than the maximum amount specified in the rule.
local government
Under current law, a municipality receives a shared revenue payment based on
the municipality's population. This bill eliminates the current shared revenue
payment to a municipality based on population.
Under current law, a municipality also receives an aidable revenues payment
that is equal to the product of the municipality's aidable revenues and the
municipality's tax base weight. Aidable revenues are, generally, revenues raised by
the municipality, such as local taxes and regulation revenues. Tax base weight is
based, generally, on the value of property in the municipality compared to the
municipality's population. This bill eliminates a municipality's aidable revenues
payment.
This bill creates an aidable expenditures payment for a municipality. The bill
also creates a "growth-sharing region" payment for a municipality. Beginning in
2002, a municipality receives an aidable expenditures payment that is equal to the
product of the municipality's aidable expenditures and the municipality's tax base
weight. Aidable expenditures include a municipality's expenditures for general
government operations; law enforcement, fire protection, ambulance services, and
other public safety services; and health and human services. Aidable expenditures
do not include a municipality's expenditures for highway maintenance,
administration, or construction; road-related facilities or other transportation; solid
waste collection and disposal or other sanitation; culture; education; parks and
recreation; conservation; or development.
DOR must annually determine the amount of each municipality's aidable
expenditures, which is the lesser of: 1) the amount of the municipality's aidable
expenditures in the year that was two years before the municipality receives an
aidable expenditures payment; or 2) the average of the municipality's aidable
expenditures in 1998, 1999, and 2000, adjusted for inflation and for the property
value in the municipality.
Under the bill, a municipality in a growth-sharing region may also receive a
growth-sharing region payment. DOR must define "growth-sharing region" by rule
and in such way so that the state consists of at least seven but not more than 25
growth-sharing regions. A municipality will receive a growth-sharing region
payment if the municipality limits the annual increase in its municipal budget to the
allowable increase, based on the inflation rate and the property value in the
municipality, to qualify for the expenditure restraint program under current law and
if the municipality enters into an area cooperation compact (compact).
Beginning in 2002 and ending in 2005, to receive a payment, a municipality
must enter into a compact with at least two municipalities or counties, or with any
combination of at least two such entities, to perform at least two specified functions.
Beginning in 2006, to receive a payment, a municipality must enter into a compact
with at least four municipalities or counties, or with any combination of at least four
such entities, to provide law enforcement and to perform at least five of the following
functions: housing, emergency services, fire protection, solid waste collection and
disposal, recycling, public health, animal control, transportation, mass transit, land
use planning, boundary agreements, libraries, parks and recreation, culture,
purchasing, and electronic government.
A compact must provide a plan for any municipalities or counties that enter into
the compact to collaborate to provide the specified functions. Annually, the
municipality that is to receive a payment must certify to DOR that the municipality
has complied with all of the compact requirements.
The total amount of the growth-sharing region payments allocated to all
growth-sharing regions is an amount equal to the sales and use taxes collected in the
state in a year multiplied by .05. Each growth-sharing region is allocated an amount
that is proportional to the sales and use taxes that are collected in the region. A
municipality that is eligible to receive a growth-sharing payment receives an
amount, from the amount allocated to the growth-sharing region in which the
municipality is located, in proportion to its population within the growth-sharing
region.
Under current law, a city, village, or town (municipality) is authorized to impose
a special charge against real property for current services rendered by allocating all
or part of the cost of the service to the property served. A municipality may also
impose a special charge against real property in an adjacent municipality for current
services rendered by the municipality imposing the special charge, if the
municipality in which the property is located approves the imposition. A "service"
under current law includes snow and ice removal, repair of sidewalks or curb and
gutter, garbage and refuse disposal, and other similar services. If not paid on time,
a delinquent special charge becomes a lien on the property against which it is
imposed.
A recent court of appeals decision, Town of Janesville v. Rock County, 153 Wis.
2d 538, 546-547 (Ct. App. 1989), interpreted current law to mean that special
charges may be imposed "only for services which are actually performed" and that
the statute limits a municipality to "charging only for services actually provided and
not for services that may be available but not utilized."
Under this bill, special charges may be imposed for services that are available,
without regard to whether the services are actually rendered, and may be allocated
to the property that is served or that is eligible to be served. This change also applies
to special charges imposed against real property in an adjacent municipality, under
the same terms and conditions that exist under current law.
Under current law, the Environmental Remediation Tax Incremental
Financing Program (ERTIP) permits a city, village, town, or county (political
subdivision) to defray the costs of remediating contaminated property that is owned
by the political subdivision. The mechanism for financing costs that are eligible for
remediation is very similar to the mechanism under the tax incremental financing
program. If the remediated property is transferred to another person and is then
subject to property taxation, environmental remediation tax incremental financing
may be used to allocate some of the property taxes that are levied on the property to
the political subdivision to pay for the costs of remediation. This bill makes technical
changes to ERTIP, including definitional changes; creating procedures for the
termination of an environmental remediation tax incremental district (ERTID);
requiring that the final report under the program include an independent certified
financial audit; requiring that DOR be provided with a final accounting of the
ERTID's project expenditures and the final amount of eligible costs that have been
paid for an ERTID; and modifying certain provisions of the program to apply to
contiguous parcels of property or land, as well as to a parcel of property or land.
Under current law, a municipality may sell or lease any public utility plant that
it owns only by completing a number of steps that must be performed according to
a specified time table, including enacting an ordinance or resolution that
summarizes the proposed terms of a sale or lease and that authorizes the negotiation
of a preliminary agreement with a prospective purchaser and submitting the
proposed transaction to the electors of the municipality for a referendum. This bill
eliminates all of the steps that must be completed under current law and allows a
municipality to sell or lease any public utility plant it owns in any manner that it
considers appropriate.
Under current law, a register of deeds may charge a fee to provide copies of
documents that are recorded in his or her office and to certify the copies. Currently,
the copying fees are $2 for the first page of a document and $1 for each additional
page, plus 25 cents to certify the copy of the document. None of these fees apply to
DOR, however. This bill increases the certification fee to $1.
Under current law, the Milwaukee board of police and fire commissioners is
required to conduct a city-wide communications media campaign to educate the
public about the legal consequences of unlawful possession and use of firearms, with
the goal of deterring both. Current law also requires the state to provide money to
the board for that media campaign. This bill eliminates the media campaign
requirement and the reimbursement for it.
Natural resources
Wild animals and plants
This bill authorizes DNR to issue elk hunting licenses to residents and
nonresidents and otherwise to regulate the hunting of elk in this state. The bill
allows DNR to make available only to state residents up to 99% of all the elk hunting
licenses available in each year. The bill authorizes DNR to select at random who will
be issued these licenses if the number of applicants exceeds the number of licenses
available. Under the bill, a person must have completed an elk hunter education
course in this state or another state or province to be eligible for a license. The bill
requires DNR to establish an elk hunter education course.
A person may be issued a license only once in his or her lifetime, and the license
may be used in only one elk hunting season. The license authorizes the hunting of
elk with bows and arrows, as well as with firearms, unless the licensee is eligible for
a crossbow permit under current law due to physical disabilities.
The bill specifically bans the keeping of elk on game farms, on deer farms, and
in wildlife exhibits.
This bill authorizes DNR to establish a program to protect aquatic plants that
are native to this state and to regulate the introduction, cultivation, and control
(management) of aquatic plants. The bill defines controlling aquatic plants to mean
cutting, removing, destroying, or suppressing aquatic plants.
Under current law, the only specific authority DNR has regarding aquatic plant
management is the authority to develop a statewide program to control purple
loosestrife. Under the new program, the types of aquatic plants that will be
regulated include Eurasian water milfoil, curly leaf pondweed, and purple
loosestrife. Under the program, with certain exceptions, DNR must issue aquatic
plant management permits and promulgate rules to regulate the conditions under
which aquatic plants may be managed. The bill prohibits any person who does not
have such a permit from cultivating or introducing aquatic plants that are not native
to this state, from manually removing any type of aquatic plant from navigable
waters, and from controlling any type of aquatic plants by the use of chemicals. The
bill repeals the current law that makes the failure to remove cut aquatic weeds from
a navigable water a nuisance.
Under current law, DNR issues various hunting, trapping, and fishing licenses
and permits. Those licenses and permits must contain certain information including
the name and address of the holder. The agent that issues the licenses and permits
must also sign them. Current law also specifies that DNR may require any stamp
that it issues to bear the signature of the holder of the stamp. This bill eliminates
the requirement that hunting, trapping, and fishing licenses and permits be signed
by the issuing agent and that stamps bear the signature of the holder.
Under current law, DNR administers a program under which counties receive
reimbursement for accepting deer carcasses, having them processed into venison,
and then donating the venison to charitable organizations. To participate, a county
must participate in the administration of the wildlife damage abatement and claim
programs. These three programs are funded from the wildlife damage surcharge
that DNR collects with certain hunting license fees. Current law requires that, from
the wildlife surcharge moneys, DNR make the payments under the venison
processing program after it has made the payments required under the wildlife
damage abatement and claim programs.
This bill provides funding for the venison processing program by establishing
a voluntary contribution of at least $1 that a person may pay when being issued a
hunting license. Under the bill, DNR makes payments under the venison processing
program from these contributed moneys. If the contributed moneys are not
adequate, DNR will also use wildlife damage surcharge moneys for payments for
processing venison from deer killed in special seasons established to control the deer
population.
The bill authorizes DNR to establish a master hunter education program to
provide instruction on such topics as wildlife damage and the responsibilities of
hunters to landowners. Completion of this program is not a requirement for the
issuance of any hunting license or permit.
The bill uses Indian gaming receipts for the costs of managing the state's deer
population.
Under current law, certain natural bodies of water may be used as fish farms
or as parts of fish farms. This bill specifies when a fish farm operator may use water
from a natural body of water that is not part of a fish farm. The water must be
transferred directly to the fish farm and back to the same body of water after use and
the transfer must be done by ditches or certain types of equipment. The ditches and
equipment must have barriers that prevent the passage of fish.
Navigable waters
Under current law, the Fox River management commission (river commission),
is authorized to enter into agreements with the federal government to operate and
manage the Fox River navigational system (navigational system), which includes
locks, harbors, and other facilities related to navigation that are on or near the Fox
River. Under current law, a second commission, the Fox-Winnebago regional
management commission (Fox-Winnebago commission), will replace the river
commission when the state receives federal funding for the restoration and repair of
the navigational system. The duties and powers of these two commissions are
similar; however, these two commissions differ in that the river commission is a state
agency attached to DNR and the Fox-Winnebago commission is a regional
commission with ten of its thirteen members representing the five counties in which
the navigational system is located and the remaining three members being
appointed by the governor.
This bill replaces both of these commissions with the Fox River Navigational
System Authority (authority). The authority is not a state agency. The board of
directors of the authority consists of six members appointed by the governor and the
secretary of natural resources, the secretary of transportation, and the director of the
state historical society, or their designees.
The bill requires the authority to take over the rehabilitation, repair,
replacement, operation, and maintenance of the navigational system after the
transfer of the navigational system from the federal government to the state. Once
the navigational system is transferred to the state, the state in turn will enter into
a lease with the authority to transfer the navigational system to the authority.
For the rehabilitation and repair of the navigational system, the federal
government will provide federal funding to the authority in an amount that matches
the amount of funding provided by the state to the authority. The state funding will
come from the recreational boating aids program that DNR administers.
In order to receive the state funding, the authority must contract with one or
more nonprofit corporations to provide marketing and fund-raising services. The
funds raised by these corporations will provide the matching amounts for the state
funding and will also be used for the rehabilitation and repair of the navigational
system.
The bill requires DNR to set aside from the recreational boating aids program
for the navigational system $400,000 in each fiscal year for seven fiscal years and
requires DNR to release the set-aside funding on an annual basis in amounts to
match the amounts raised by the nonprofit corporations. The authority may not
issue bonds to raise funding for the navigational system.
In addition to providing fund-raising services for the authority, the nonprofit
corporations must invest the funding received by the authority for the rehabilitation
and repair of the navigational system. These nonprofit corporations must be based
in one or more of the counties in which the navigational system is located.
The bill requires that the authority submit a management plan to DOA that
addresses the costs and funding for the rehabilitation, repair, replacement,
operation, and maintenance of the navigational system and describes how the
authority will manage its funds to ensure that there are sufficient funds available
to abandon the navigational system if its operation is no longer feasible. If the
operation of the navigational system does become infeasible, the authority must
submit a plan for its abandonment. Before abandoning the navigational system,
DOA and DNR must determine that the abandonment plan will preserve the public
rights in the Fox River and will ensure safety.
Under current law, a person may not have a boat, a boat trailer, or boating
equipment in the lower St. Croix River if the person has reason to believe that the
boat, equipment, or trailer has zebra mussels attached. This bill provides that a
person may not place these items in any navigable water if the person has reason to
believe that there is any type of aquatic plant other than wild rice attached to the
boat, trailer, or equipment.
Under current law, DNR administers two grant programs to address water
quality problems in lakes. Under the first program, DNR awards grants for planning
projects to provide information on the use of lakes and their ecosystems and on the
quality of water in lakes. These grants are for 75% of the project's costs up to $10,000
per project. Under the second program, DNR awards grants for management
projects that will improve or protect the quality of water in lakes or in their
ecosystems. Nonprofit conservation organizations, most units of local government,
and lake associations that meet certain requirements (qualified lake associations)
are eligible for grants under these programs.
This bill makes the following changes to the first program:
1. It increases the $10,000 cap per project to $25,000 for certain lake
associations that qualify as "premier" lake associations. To be a premier lake
association, the lake association must meet all of the requirements of a qualified lake
association and must meet certain additional requirements.
2. It allows certain school districts to be eligible for a grant.
3. It changes the annual membership fee requirements for lake associations
that are eligible for these grants.
4. It expands the types of activities that are eligible for a grant.
Under the second program, current law allows a grant recipient to use the grant
to restore a wetland if the restoration will improve a lake's water quality or
ecosystem. This bill expands this provision to allow a grant recipient to use the grant
to restore shoreline habitat. The bill also requires that DNR give higher priority to
premier lake associations in awarding grants under the second program.
Under current law, DNR, with approval from the Wisconsin waterways
commission, administers a financial assistance program for expenses relating to
construction and maintenance of recreational boating facilities, locks, or other
facilities that provide access between waterways. Among the projects that qualify
for funds under the program is a project for the dredging of a channel in a waterway
to the degree that is necessary to accommodate recreational watercraft, if the project
is for an inland water. This bill eliminates the requirement that such a project must
be for an inland water before it may qualify to receive recreational boating aid
funding.
Under current law, a person who wants to conduct an activity that would create,
enlarge, or otherwise affect certain waterways must have a permit issued by DNR.
Certain activities, including the agricultural use of land, are exempt from this permit
requirement. This bill specifically includes aquaculture as an agricultural use for
purposes of this exemption.
Under current law, a person who wants to divert water from a stream for
agricultural use must have a permit issued by DNR. This bill specifically includes
aquaculture as an agricultural use for purposes of this requirement.
Under current law, DNR administers a dam safety program that is funded by
state bonding and that provides matching grants to municipalities and public inland
lake protection and rehabilitation districts for the purpose of conducting dam safety
projects that DNR has determined necessary. Under this bill, DNR must provide up
to $250,000 in funding from this program to the village of Cazenovia for the repair
of a dam located in the village.
Recreation
This bill increases most annual vehicle admission fees that DNR collects for the
entry of vehicles to state parks and other recreational areas under the jurisdiction
of DNR. The bill also increases the daily vehicle admission fee for the entry of
vehicles that have registration plates from another state.
Under current law, DNR administers a registration program for snowmobiles.
This bill requires that $15 of each fee collected for a snowmobile trail use sticker be
used to provide supplemental funding for the maintenance of snowmobile trails. A
trail use sticker issued by DNR is required on all snowmobiles that are operated but
not registered in this state. Supplemental funding is available for maintenance of
trails if the actual cost of maintenance exceeds the amount determined under the
trail aids formula, which sets a maximum amount per mile of trail. The bill increases
the fee for a trail use sticker. The bill also raises the general registration fee for
snowmobiles and the registration fees paid by snowmobile manufacturers and
dealers.
Under current law, DNR administers the registration system for all-terrain
vehicles (ATVs), boats, and snowmobiles. Current law authorizes DNR to appoint
agents who are not employed by DNR to issue ATV and snowmobile registration
certificates and certificates of number and registration certificates for boats. Also
under current law, DNR may establish an expedited service for renewals of these
registration documents, which may be provided by the agents or by DNR directly.
Current law imposes issuing fees when the documents are issued by agents and
authorizes an expedited service fee when the expedited service is provided by DNR
or agents. The agents keep a portion of these fees.
This bill changes the expedited service system by authorizing the
establishment of a noncomputerized procedure and a computerized procedure for
issuing original and duplicate registration documents and for transferring and
renewing these documents. Under either procedure, DNR or the agents issue
adequate documentation so that the registrant is able to immediately operate the
ATV, boat, or snowmobile in compliance with the applicable registration laws. Under
both systems, DNR and the agents collect an expedited service fee of $3 from the
registrant. Agents using the noncomputerized system retain the entire fee while
agents using the computerized system send $1 of each $3 fee to DNR. Under the bill,
DNR may continue to provide a registration service that does not use any expedited
service procedure and for which no expedited service or issuing fee is charged.
Other natural resources
Under current law, drainage boards operate one or more drainage districts.
DATCP assists drainage boards and oversees their activities. A city, village, or town
(municipality) may assume jurisdiction to operate a drainage district from a
drainage board in certain instances. However, once a drainage district is under
municipal jurisdiction, it is subject to the drainage laws of that municipality and is
exempt from state drainage law.
DNR regulates construction in navigable waters. Generally, DNR determines
whether a body of water such as a stream is navigable. Current law, however,
provides an exemption for a drainage district drain that is located in the Duck Creek
Drainage District. Under the exemption, the drain is not considered navigable
unless a U.S. geological survey map or other scientific evidence shows that the drain
was a navigable stream before it became a drainage district drain. This bill extends
this exemption to any other drainage district drain if the drain is used primarily for
agricultural purposes.
Current law generally provides that a person wishing to deposit any material
or to place any structure upon the bed of any navigable water must obtain a permit
from DNR. Current law provides an exemption to this requirement for the Duck
Creek Drainage District under which the drainage board for that district may place
a structure or deposit in a drain if DATCP, after consulting with DNR, specifically
approves the structure or deposit or if the structure or deposit is required by DATCP
in order to conform the drain to specifications approved by DATCP in consultation
with DNR. This bill extends this exemption to any other structure or deposit to be
placed in a drainage district drain if the structure or deposit is used primarily for
agricultural purposes.
Current law also provides that, with certain exceptions, a person wishing to
remove material from the bed of a lake or stream must obtain a permit from DNR.
Under one of the exemptions, the drainage board for the Duck Creek Drainage
District may remove material from a drain that the board operates if the removal is
required by DATCP in order to conform the drain to specifications imposed by
DATCP in consultation with DNR. This bill extends this exemption to all other
drainage district drains if the removal of the material is necessary primarily for
agricultural purposes.
