Under current law, municipalities may enter into agreements to share
revenues from taxes and special charges with other municipalities and with
federally recognized American Indian tribes or bands if the signatory to an
agreement is contiguous to at least one other signatory. A municipal revenue sharing
agreement must be for a minimum term of ten years, describe the boundaries within
which the revenues are to be shared, and describe the method of determining the
amount of revenues to be shared.
This bill authorizes a county, as well as municipalities, to enter into a revenue
sharing agreement and expands the types of revenues that may be subject to a
revenue sharing agreement to include fee revenues and payments received from the
state.
Under current law, the state, Indian tribes and bands, and local units of
government may enter into intergovernmental cooperation agreements for the
receipt or furnishing of services or joint exercise of powers and may create a
commission to perform the service or exercise the joint power. This bill provides that
if a commission is created under such an agreement, the employees of the
commission are not employees of the units of government that created the
commission unless the contract creating the commission specifies otherwise.
Natural resources
Fish, game, and wildlife
This bill modifies a number of the fees for fish and game licenses and for fish
and hunting licenses and stamps and for duplicates of certain licenses. The bill also
increases the wildlife damage surcharge. The wildlife damage surcharge is generally
used for the funding of the wildlife damage program that compensates farmers for
damages caused by deer, geese, bear, and turkey.
Under current law, no person may hunt waterfowl or pheasant without a license
authorizing the hunting of small game and a waterfowl or pheasant hunting stamp,
which is attached to or imprinted on the license. DNR charges a fee for both the
hunting license and the stamp. This bill creates a grouse and woodcock hunting
stamp which, with certain exceptions, must be attached to, or imprinted on, the
license in order for a person to hunt ruffed grouse or woodcock. The bill establishes
a fee for this stamp. The fees are appropriated to DNR for the development and
management of the ruffed grouse and woodcock populations.
This bill requires that lake sturgeon that are taken by hook and line, instead
of by spearing, be tagged with a sturgeon hook and line tag issued by DNR. The bill
establishes a fee for this tag. The fees are appropriated to DNR for managing the lake
sturgeon fishery in inland lakes.
Under current law, DNR issues wild turkey hunting licenses and tags according
to a cumulative preference system, which give priority to applicants based on
residency, land ownership, and the receipt of licenses for earlier seasons. Applicants
apply for a specific wild turkey hunting zone or specific time period and the
preference system is used separately in each zone and for each time period. In a zone
where, or for a time period when, the number of applicants is less than the number
of tags available, the bill authorizes DNR to issue the surplus tags and establishes
a fee for these tags.
Under current law, with certain exceptions, no person born on or after January
1, 1973, may obtain a hunting approval without a certificate of accomplishment,
which DNR issues to persons who complete DNR's hunter education program or bow
hunter education program. Current law prohibits DNR from charging a fee for the
course of instruction under either program.
This bill requires DNR to charge a fee for its hunter education and bow hunter
education courses, authorizes DNR to offer advanced courses, and allows DNR to
charge an additional fee for the advanced courses.
This bill increases the fees for commercial fishing and fishing guide licenses and
for wholesale fish dealer licenses. The bill also authorizes DNR to charge fees for
certain permits that it issues in regulating the commercial harvesting of certain
species of fish.
Under current law, DNR may issue, at a reduced fee, a conservation patron
license to a resident or a nonresident who is under the age of 18. A conservation
patron license gives the licensee the privileges of a combination of various fish and
game licenses, admission to state parks and other recreational areas, and an annual
subscription to the Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine. Under this bill, a
conservation patron licensee who is under the age of 18 does not receive the privilege
of admission to state parks or other recreational areas and does not receive the
magazine subscription.
Under current law, DNR may issue a conservation patron license to any person
who is at least 14 years old. Current law also specifies a reduced fee for a
conservation patron license issued to a person who is at least 12 but less than 18
years old. This bill clarifies that DNR may issue a conservation patron license to any
person who is at least 12 years old.
Under current law, no person may hunt pheasant without a license issued by
DNR. With certain exceptions, the hunter must also have a pheasant hunting stamp,
issued by DNR, attached to, or imprinted on, the person's license. DNR charges a fee
for both the hunting license and the stamp.
This bill generally requires a person to obtain an additional permit from DNR
to hunt pheasant on certain pheasant-stocked lands under DNR's management and
control. Under the bill, DNR must issue the permit to any person who applies for the
permit and who has a valid conservation patron license or a valid pheasant hunting
stamp attached to or imprinted on the person's small game or sports license. The bill
authorizes DNR to charge a fee for the permit.
Under current law, the Lac du Flambeau band of the Lake Superior Chippewa
(band) agrees to limit its treaty-based, off-reservation rights to fish in exchange for
being able to issue DNR fishing licenses and stamps as an agent of DNR. In addition,
DNR agents may issue these licenses and stamps on the band's reservation. Current
law authorizes DNR to pay the band the amount that the band would have received
if the band issued those licenses and stamps. This bill requires DNR to make an
annual payment of $50,000 to the band, in addition to the payment under current
law. The band must use the money for fishery management within the band's
reservation.
Navigable waters
Under current law, a person may not place a boat, boat trailer, or boating
equipment in the Lower St. Croix River if the person has reason to believe that the
boat, trailer, or equipment has zebra mussels attached. Also under current law, a
person must remove zebra mussels from a boat, boat trailer, or boating equipment
before placing it in the St. Croix River if required to do so by a law enforcement officer.
This bill expands the scope of these two provisions to cover any navigable water.
The bill also authorizes a law enforcement officer to require a person to remove any
aquatic plants or zebra mussels from a boat, boat trailer, or boating equipment before
or while transporting the boat, trailer, or equipment on a highway or other
thoroughfare open to the public.
Under current law, a variety of activities affecting navigable waters, dams, and
wetlands are prohibited without a permit or other approval issued by DNR.
Generally, DNR charges a fee for these permits and approvals. Current law specifies
that, if more than one fee is applicable to a project, DNR may charge only the highest
applicable fee rather than charging a separate fee for each permit or approval. Under
this bill, an applicant must pay the permit or approval fee for each activity for which
the applicant seeks a permit or other approval.
Current law directs DNR to make available in each fiscal year at least $500,000
for cost-sharing grants to be awarded to local governmental units for the control of
invasive species that are aquatic species. This bill specifies that nonprofit
conservation organizations and qualified lake associations are also eligible to receive
a portion of these grants.
Recreation
Under current law, a person may not operate a vehicle in state parks or certain
other state recreational lands unless DNR has issued a vehicle admission receipt for
that vehicle. The base fee varies depending on whether the receipt is issued on an
annual or a daily basis, on the kind of vehicle for which the receipt is issued and, for
certain types of receipts, on whether the receipt is issued to a resident or to a
nonresident. DNR charges a reduced fee for receipts issued to certain persons,
including persons who share a household with a person who has been issued a
current annual vehicle admission receipt (additional receipt).
This bill increases the base fee charged for annual resident and nonresident
vehicle admission receipts, the base fee charged for a daily resident vehicle
admission receipt, and the base fee charged for an additional receipt for residents
and nonresidents.
Under current law, DNR operates state campgrounds, classifies these
campgrounds by category, and charges a campsite fee that varies depending on how
the campground is categorized. This bill increases the nightly campsite fees by $2.
Current law authorizes DNR to appoint agents, who are not DNR employees,
to issue all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and snowmobile registration certificates, and
certificates of number and registration certificates for boats. Under current law,
DNR may implement both a noncomputerized procedure and a computerized
procedure for issuing original and duplicate registration documents and for
transferring and renewing these documents. Under the noncomputerized
procedure, agents collect a service fee of $3 from the registrant; there is no service
fee if the application is submitted directly to DNR. Under the computerized
procedure, both agents and DNR collect the $3 service fee; if the $3 fee is collected
by an agent, the agent sends $1 of the fee to DNR.
For all three types of registrations, this bill eliminates the separate
computerized and noncomputerized procedures. Instead, for ATV and snowmobile
registrations, the bill allows DNR to implement two procedures, one under which the
applicant is issued a validated receipt showing the registration of the vehicle at the
time of application, and another procedure under which the applicant receives, in
addition to the receipt, a decal that can be immediately placed on the vehicle. For
an application submitted directly to DNR, there is no fee for receiving only the
receipt, and the fee for the receipt plus a decal is $5. For an application submitted
to an agent, the fee for just the receipt is $3. The fee for a receipt and a decal is $5
with the agent sending $1 of the $5 to DNR.
For boat registration, the bill allows DNR to implement the procedure under
which the applicant receives a receipt and one decal that can be immediately placed
on the boat. The fee for this type of registration is $5, with the agent sending $1 of
the $5 to DNR.
This bill increases the amount that the state pays per mile for the maintenance
and grooming of state and county snowmobile trails.
Current law requires DNR to distribute funds to local units of government and
federal agencies for the operation of off-the-road Type I motorcycle trails and
facilities and for such trails at the Black River State Forest and the Bong State
Recreation Area. This bill eliminates this payment.
Other natural resources
This bill creates a five-member Managed Forest Land Board in DNR to award
grants to cities, towns, counties, DNR, and nonprofit conservation organizations to
acquire land for certain outdoor recreation activities such as fishing, hiking,
sight-seeing, and cross-country skiing. The grants are funded from a portion of the
payments made by certain land owners in lieu of property taxes.
Retirement and group insurance
Under current law, the Group Insurance Board offers health care coverage
plans for state employees, local government employees, school district employees,
and annuitants under the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS). This bill provides
that domestic partners of state employees and annuitants are eligible to receive
coverage under the health care coverage plans offered by the Group Insurance Board
and that state employees and state annuitants are able to purchase the policies for
their domestic partners. Under the bill, a domestic partner is defined as any
individual who is in a relationship with any other individual that satisfies all of the
following:
1. Each individual is at least 18 years old and otherwise competent to enter into
a contract.
2. Neither individual is married to, or in a domestic partnership with, another
individual.
3. The two individuals are not related by blood in any way that would prohibit
marriage under current law.
4. The two individuals consider themselves to be members of each other's
immediate family.
5. The two individuals agree to be responsible for each other's basic living
expenses.
Under current law, the Historical Society may contract with the Wisconsin
Historical Foundation, Inc., for the purpose of administering certain Historical
Society programs and functions. This bill provides that if the Historical Society
enters into such a contract, any Wisconsin Historical Foundation, Inc., employee who
was previously employed by the Historical Society is eligible to receive health care
coverage under a state employee health care plan.
State government
State finance
In the 2003-05 fiscal biennium, the state issued obligations to pay its unfunded
liabilities under WRS. These liabilities had been incurred as a result of unfunded
WRS benefit improvements and their cost had been allocated to each state agency
as part of its required WRS contributions. This bill requires the secretary of
administration, during the 2005-07 fiscal biennium, to lapse or transfer to the
general fund from appropriations to each state agency, other than DETF and the
State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), moneys that would otherwise have
been expended by the state agency to pay the WRS unfunded liabilities had the
obligations not been issued. In addition, the bill requires the secretary in each future
fiscal biennium to lapse or transfer these moneys to the general fund based on each
state agency's proportionate share of all state retirement contributions that are
required to be paid in that fiscal biennium.
Current law authorizes the Building Commission to contract public debt to
refund the whole or any part of any unpaid indebtedness used to finance
tax-supported or self-amortizing facilities or for veterans' housing loans. Such
indebtedness includes any premium and interest that is currently payable on the
unpaid indebtedness. Current law also sets caps on the amount of public debt that
may be contracted for these purposes. This bill eliminates these caps.
Current statutes contain several rules of procedure governing legislative action
on certain bills. One rule provides that no bill directly or indirectly affecting general
purpose revenues (GPR) may be adopted if the bill would cause the estimated general
fund balance on June 30 of any fiscal year to be less than a certain amount of the total
GPR appropriations for that fiscal year. For fiscal year 2005-06, the amount is
$75,000,000; for fiscal year 2006-07 and each fiscal year thereafter, the amount is
2 percent of total GPR appropriations for that fiscal year. This bill provides that for
fiscal year 2005-06 through fiscal year 2008-09, the amount is $65,000,000, and for
fiscal year 2009-10 and each fiscal year thereafter, the amount is 2 percent of total
GPR appropriations for that fiscal year.
Another rule of procedure provides that, with certain exceptions, the amount
appropriated from GPR may not exceed the amount appropriated from GPR in the
prior fiscal year, increased by the percentage increase in the state's aggregate
personal income. In the 2005-07 fiscal biennium, this bill excludes from this
limitation a GPR appropriation for county and municipal aid payments. The bill also
excludes from the limitation any amount appropriated to pay WRS unfunded
liability obligations.
A third rule provides that in fiscal year 2005-06 and in fiscal year 2006-07, the
amount appropriated from GPR for state operations generally may not exceed the
amount appropriated from GPR for state operations in fiscal year 2004-05, less
$100,000,000. This bill eliminates this rule for fiscal year 2006-07 and excludes a
number of appropriation expenditures from the calculation for fiscal year 2005-06.
Under current law, the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands (BCPL) may
invest moneys deposited into the common school fund, the normal school fund, the
university fund, and the agricultural college fund (the trust funds) only in certain
specified investments. This bill authorizes BCPL to invest moneys derived from the
future sale of public lands in the purchase of land in this state, subject to certain
conditions. The bill also provides that, if the land sold was at the time of purchase
subject to an assessment or property tax levy, BCPL must make annual payments
in lieu of property taxes to the appropriate local governmental unit in an amount
equal to 74 cents per acre.
This bill also authorizes BCPL to delegate to SWIB the authority to invest part
or all of the moneys belonging to the trust funds. Under the bill, if BCPL delegates
the authority, SWIB may invest the moneys belonging to the trust funds in any fixed
income investment or fund that invests in fixed income instruments.
Current law requires the secretary of administration to prepare a statement of
estimated GPR receipts and expenditures in the biennium following the succeeding
biennium based on recommendations in the executive biennial budget bill or bills
that is to accompany the biennial budget report. Current law also requires the
Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) to prepare the same statement but based on the
recommendations in the executive biennial budget bill or bills as modified in the
legislative process. Current law specifies the methodology to use to prepare these
statements. This bill allows DOA and LFB to develop their own methodologies.
This bill requires the secretary of administration to lapse or transfer to the
general fund, from the unencumbered balances of most state operations
appropriations, an amount equal to $35,500,000 during the 2005-07 fiscal biennium.
The secretary of administration must lapse or transfer these moneys from
allocations for human resources and payroll functions and server and network
support, from moneys saved as a result of restructuring procurement contracts and
changes to purchasing and procurement functions, and from efficiencies achieved as
a result of space management improvements in that fiscal biennium under those
appropriations.
In addition, the bill requires the secretary of administration to lapse or transfer
to the general fund from the unencumbered balances of these state operations
appropriations an amount equal to $55,000,000 during each fiscal year of the
2007-09 fiscal biennium. The secretary of administration must lapse or transfer
these moneys from allocations for human resources and payroll functions and server
and network support, from moneys saved as a result of restructuring procurement
contracts and changes to purchasing and procurement functions, and from
efficiencies achieved as a result of space management improvements in that fiscal
biennium under those appropriations.
This bill transfers $36,000,000 from the general fund to the budget stabilization
fund.
The bill also requires the secretary of administration to lapse moneys to the
general fund from a number of program revenue appropriation accounts. The
appropriations are made to the following state entities: the Office of State
Employment Relations in DOA, DATCP, DHFS, DOJ, DPI, DOC, DORL, DOR, and
DVA, the Department of Commerce, BCPL, the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention
Board, the Technical College System Board, and OCI.
Public utility regulation
This bill establishes maximum late payment charges that telecommunications
utilities are allowed to charge retail consumers. A telecommunications utility is an
entity that provides local calling service to consumers, excluding entities that
provide such service on a resale basis.
With two exceptions, the bill prohibits a telecommunications utility from
imposing on retail consumers a late payment charge at a rate greater than 1.5
percent per month computed upon the declining principal balance of any amount
that is not paid when due. The first exception applies to retail consumers that are
not residential consumers. For these consumers, for any month in which the
maximum late payment charge otherwise allowed under the bill is less than $5, the
bill allows the telecommunications utility to impose a late payment charge of $5 for
that month. Under the bill's second exception, the PSC may allow a
telecommunications utility to impose a late payment charge that is greater than that
otherwise allowed under the bill if the PSC determines that the greater charge is
consistent with factors specified under current law for determining whether a charge
is just and reasonable.
The bill also requires telecommunications utilities that impose late payment
charges to pay to the PSC, on a semiannual basis, 5 percent of the charges they collect
from consumers that are not residential consumers. The PSC must use the money
for consumer education purposes.
This bill transfers $18,185,300 in fiscal year 2005-06 and $16,949,400 in fiscal
year 2006-07 from the utility public benefits fund to the general fund.
Other state government
Under current law, DATCP administers most laws regarding consumer
protection and trade practices. Current law also authorizes DATCP to enforce some
of these laws by initiating court actions. The district attorney enforces other laws.
Where DATCP has enforcement authority, that authority may be exclusive, or
DATCP may share enforcement authority with the district attorney or with DOJ.
This bill transfers the administration of certain of these laws from DATCP to
DOJ, including laws relating to ticket refunds, dating service contracts, mail-order
sales, fraud, methods of competition and trade practices, telecommunications
services, cable television subscriber rights, hazardous substances, product safety,
products containing or made with ozone-depleting substances, future services plans,
landlord and tenant, and time-share ownership. The bill also transfers enforcement
authority for these laws to DOJ or to DOJ jointly with the district attorney. The bill
leaves intact DATCP's administration of certain other laws, but transfers their
enforcement authority to DOJ or to DOJ jointly with the district attorney. These
laws include laws regarding unfair trade practices in the dairy industry and in the
procurement of vegetable crops, and laws regarding discrimination in the purchase
of milk. The bill does not affect DATCP's authority to administer and enforce certain
other laws, including laws relating to music royalty collection, energy savings or
safety claims, and motor fuel dealerships.
Under current law, if a court imposes a fine or forfeiture for a violation of certain
consumer protection laws or the laws regulating weights and measures, the court is
required to impose also a consumer protection surcharge. These surcharges are, up
to a certain limit, appropriated to DATCP to fund consumer protection, information,
and education. Under the bill, these surcharges are, with certain exceptions,
appropriated to DOJ, rather than DATCP. The bill also requires a court to impose
the surcharge when it imposes a fine or forfeiture for certain violations involving
trusts and monopolies.
Under current law, DATCP is governed by the Board of Agriculture, Trade and
Consumer Protection. The board currently consists of nine members, seven of whom
must have an agricultural background and two of whom represent consumers. This
bill requires that all nine members have agricultural backgrounds.
The bill also changes the name of DATCP to the Department of Agriculture,
Trade, and Rural Resources and changes the board's name to the Board of
Agriculture, Trade, and Rural Resources.
This bill creates a Division of Legal Services in DOA to provide legal services
to executive branch agencies. With certain exceptions, the bill transfers all attorney
positions in executive branch agencies to the Division of Legal Services effective on
January 1, 2006. The bill also transfers all positions identified as hearing examiners,
hearing officers, or administrative law judges, other than such positions in DWD, to
the Division of Hearings and Appeals in DOA. Attorney positions in DOJ (except for
two attorney positions with tax-litigating duties), the Office of the State Public
Defender, the PSC, the UW System, the Employment Relations Commission, the
State of Wisconsin Investment Board, the Elections Board, the Ethics Board, and the
Office of the Governor are exempt, as are all state employees working in an office of
a district attorney. In addition, the bill retains a general counsel or lead attorney
position in each of 17 major state agencies and offices.
Under the bill, executive branch agencies that are authorized or required to
employ or retain an attorney may do so only in the following ways: (1) employ an
attorney in a position authorized by law, (2) contract with DOA for legal services, (3)
allow DOJ to furnish legal services if DOJ is required by law to furnish the services,
(4) allow or contract with the Division of Hearings and Appeals to furnish legal
services if the Division of Hearings and Appeals is required or authorized by law to
furnish the services, or (5) employ or retain any attorney who is not a state employee
subject to the approval of the governor.
The bill also requires the secretary of administration to lapse or transfer to the
general fund from the unencumbered balances of agency appropriations, other than
sum sufficient appropriations and appropriations of federal revenues, an amount
equal to $724,900 during the 2005-07 fiscal biennium. The secretary of
administration must lapse or transfer these moneys from allocations for agency legal
services that would have been provided in that fiscal biennium with funding from
those appropriations.
This bill directs the secretary of administration, no later than July 1, 2006, to
review all holdings of state-owned real property for potential sale, except property
under the jurisdiction of the Board of Regents of the UW System, property under the
jurisdiction of DNR (except central or district office facilities), and certain other
specified property. Potential sales may include surplus or nonsurplus property, and
may be evaluated with or without the approval of the state agency that administers
the affected property.
Under the bill, if the Building Commission votes, on or before June 30, 2007,
to approve the sale of any property reviewed by DOA, DOA may sell the property if
DOA believes that the sale is in the best interests of the state, subject to certain
exceptions. The bill does not authorize DOA to close or sell any facility or institution
the operation of which is provided for by law.
With certain exceptions, all net proceeds of property sales, after retirement of
any outstanding debt on the affected properties and after any required
reimbursement of the federal government for any federal financial assistance used
to acquire the properties, must be deposited into the general fund.
Currently, the Land Information Board, attached to DOA, serves as a state
clearinghouse for access to land information and provides technical assistance to
state agencies and local governmental units with land information responsibilities,
reviews and approves county plans for land records modernization, and provides aids
to counties, derived from recording fee revenues collected by counties, for land
records modernization projects. Under current law, the board and most of its
functions are abolished effective on July 1, 2005.
This bill assigns to DOA most of the functions of the Land Information Board.
Currently, counties collect a fee for recording and filing most instruments that
are recorded or filed with the register of deeds. Until July 1, 2005, counties must
remit a portion of each fee collected to the Land Information Board, which the board
uses to fund its operations and to make grants to counties for land records
modernization projects. On July 1, 2005, the fee for recording or filing the first page
of an instrument is reduced and no portion is remitted to the state. This bill
reinstates the current fees but requires that the state's share be remitted to DOA
instead of to the Land Information Board.
Current law directs the Wisconsin Land Council in DOA to do the following:
1) identify and recommend to the governor land use goals and priorities; 2) study the
development of a computer-based land information system and make
recommendations to the governor; and 3) establish a state agency resource working
group that is composed of representatives of various state agencies. Current law
directs this group to discuss, analyze, and address land use issues and related policy
issues. Currently, the Wisconsin Land Council sunsets on September 1, 2005. This
bill transfers almost all of the functions and responsibilities of the Wisconsin Land
Council to DOA.
This bill provides that a person who knowingly presents or causes to be
presented a false claim under any contract or order for materials, supplies,
equipment, or contractual services to be provided to the state or a local government
is subject to a forfeiture (civil penalty) of not less than $5,000 nor more than $10,000,
plus three times the amount of the damages that were sustained by the state or
would have been sustained by the state, whichever is greater, as a result of the false
claim.
Under current law, a county that has a federally recognized Indian reservation
within or partly within its boundaries may develop a cooperative county-tribal law
enforcement program with a tribe located in the county. The county and the tribe
may apply for aid from DOJ for the program. The Office of Justice Assistance (OJA)
administers a separate grant program to fund county law enforcement services in
counties that border Indian reservations. A county is eligible for a grant under the
OJA program only if: 1) the county demonstrates a need for those services; 2) there
is a neighboring tribe with which the county does not have a county-tribal law
enforcement agreement; and 3) the county meets criteria established by rule by OJA.
Both of these grant programs are funded from Indian gaming receipts.
This bill makes OJA responsible for administering the cooperative
county-tribal grant program and extends its applicability to cases in which a county
borders a reservation. The bill eliminates the existing OJA grant program for
counties that border Indian reservations.
Currently, the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization must recommend
to the legislature, in the form of a joint resolution, a Wisconsin newspaper to be the
official state newspaper. This bill provides that the secretary of administration
designates a Wisconsin newspaper to be the official state newspaper.
taxation
Income taxation
This bill adopts, for state income and franchise tax purposes, changes made to
the Internal Revenue Code by the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, not
including changes related to bonus depreciation and expensing provisions and an
increase in the alternative minimum tax exemption; the Military Family Tax Relief
Act; the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act, not
including changes related to health savings accounts; the Social Security Protection
Act; the Pension Funding Equity Act; the Working Families Tax Relief Act, not
including changes related to deductions for charitable contributions of computer
equipment and expensing provisions related to brownfields remediation costs; the
American Jobs Creation Act, not including changes related to the expensing of film
and television production costs; and the YMCA retirement fund.
Under current law, spouses that file a joint income tax return are both liable for
the payment of any tax related to that return. However, DOR may relieve a person
of that tax liability if the person's spouse did not notify the person of any tax liability
or understatement of taxes related to the joint return. This bill requires a spouse to
apply for relief from tax liability within two years from the date on which DOR begins
collection activities on the spouse's tax liability or within two years from the effective
date of the provision, whichever is later.
In general, current law provides a subtraction from federal adjusted gross
income for up to $3,000 paid per year per student for tuition to attend a university,
college, technical college, or other school that is approved by the Educational
Approval Board and that is located in this state or that is subject to the
Minnesota-Wisconsin reciprocity agreement. This bill increases the amount of the
allowable subtraction from $3,000 per year per student to $5,100 or twice the average
amount charged by the UW System Board of Regents at four-year institutions for
resident undergraduate tuition for the most recent fall semester, whichever is
greater.
This bill authorizes DOR to prepare a list of delinquent taxpayer accounts in
excess of $25,000 that are unpaid for more than 90 days after all appeal rights have
expired. The list must include the name, address, and type and amount of tax due,
including interest, penalties, fees, and costs for each person on the list. If the person
listed is a corporation, the list must also include the name and address of each of the
corporation's officers.
The bill also authorizes DOR to maintain the list on the Internet. However,
DOR may not post on the Internet the name of any person who has reached an
agreement with DOR or DOJ regarding the payment of delinquent taxes, and is in
compliance with that agreement, or the name of any person who is protected by a stay
in effect under the federal Bankruptcy Code. DOR must update these provisions on
the Internet site each business day.
Under current law, an individual may on his or her income tax return designate
any amount of additional payment or any amount of a refund due for the endangered
resources program, a local professional football district, and a breast cancer research
program. This bill creates a similar income tax checkoff for designations to the
veterans trust fund. The bill also allows a corporation that files a state tax return
to designate on its return any part of its refund, or any amount in addition to taxes
owed, as a donation to the veterans trust fund.
This bill requires a partnership, a limited liability company, a tax-option
corporation, an estate, or a trust that is treated as a pass-through entity for federal
income tax purposes to withhold income taxes from income that the entity
distributes to a nonresident partner, member, shareholder, or beneficiary.
