SB205: Bill Text

SB205,9,9 3. A railroad subject to ch. 195, as described in s. 195.02 (1) and (3).

SB205,9,10 4. A water carrier, as defined in s. 195.02 (5).

SB205,9,14 (d) "Comprehensive unified local transit system" means a transit system that is comprised of motor bus lines and any other local public transit facilities, the major portion of which is located within, or the major portion of the service of which is supplied to the inhabitants of, the jurisdictional area of the authority.

SB205,9,16 (e) "County jurisdictional area" means the geographical area designated by a county under sub. (3) (a).

SB205,9,19 (f) 1. Except as provided in subd. 2., "jurisdictional area" means the geographic area formed by the combined territorial boundaries of all participating political subdivisions.

SB205,9,21 2. For a participating political subdivision that is a county, "jurisdictional area" includes the county jurisdictional area.

SB205,9,23 (g) "Municipality" means any city, village, or town except any portion of a city, village, or town within a county jurisdictional area under sub. (3) (a) 2. or 3.

SB205,10,3 (h) "Participating political subdivision" means a political subdivision that has adopted a resolution creating an authority or joining an established authority under this section.

SB205,10,4 (i) "Political subdivision" means a municipality or county.

SB205,10,14 (j) "Transit system" means all land, shops, structures, equipment, property, franchises, and rights of whatever nature required for transit of passengers within the jurisdictional area of the authority and outside the jurisdictional area of the authority. "Transit system" includes motor buses, fixed guideway transit, ridesharing, specialized transportation, motor vehicles, elevated railroads, subways, underground railroads, and any combination thereof, and any other form of mass transit, but does not include transportation excluded from the definition of "common motor carrier" under s. 194.01 (1), charter or contract operations to, from, or between points that are outside the jurisdictional area of the authority, or travel by aircraft flight.

SB205,10,22 (2) Creation of transit authorities. (a) Subject to pars. (g), (i), and (j), the governing body of a political subdivision may, by resolution, declare the need for an authority to function in the political subdivision and may join together with one or more other political subdivisions to jointly create, by adopting identical resolutions, a public body corporate and politic in these political subdivisions. This public body shall be a separate governmental entity and shall be known as a "regional transit authority." The authority may transact business and exercise any powers granted to it under this section.

SB205,11,2 (b) Subject to pars. (g) and (i), if an authority has been created under par. (a), a political subdivision may join this authority if the governing body of this political subdivision adopts a resolution identical to the existing identical resolutions of the participating political subdivisions of the authority and the authority adopts a resolution allowing this political subdivision to join the authority.

SB205,11,4 (c) Any resolution under pars. (a) and (b) creating or joining an authority shall specify all of the following:

SB205,11,5 1. The name of the authority and a description or map of its jurisdictional area.

SB205,11,7 2. The purpose of the authority and the functions or services to be provided by the authority.

SB205,11,8 3. The powers, duties, and limitations of the authority.

SB205,11,13 4. The establishment and organization of a board of directors, in which all powers of the authority shall be vested. The resolution may permit the board of directors to create an executive committee of the board of directors to assist the board of directors in exercising its powers and duties, but these powers and duties may be carried out only by action of the board in compliance with subd. 7.

SB205,11,18 5. The number of directors, the manner of their appointment, the required representation, if any, for each participating political subdivision and city, village, or town within a county jurisdictional area designated under sub. (3) (a) 2. or 3., the terms of their office, their compensation, if any, and the procedure for filling vacancies on the board of directors.

SB205,11,20 6. The manner of selection of the officers of the authority and their powers, duties, and limitations.

SB205,11,23 7. The voting requirements for action by the board of directors. At least a majority vote of the authorized directors is necessary for any action to be taken by the board of directors.

SB205,12,3 8. The duties of the board of directors, including the obligation to comply with this section and the laws of this state and with the terms of the resolutions adopted under this section.

SB205,12,4 9. The method of financing the formation and operation of the authority.

SB205,12,13 10. If taxes may be imposed by the authority under sub. (4) (s), the maximum rate of the taxes that may be imposed by the authority under sub. (4) (s), including the initial limit on the rate of taxes that may be imposed by the authority, if any, not to exceed the maximum rate specified in s. 77.708 (1). The rate of the taxes that may be imposed by the authority under sub. (4) (s) shall be uniform among all cities, villages, and towns within the authority's jurisdictional area that are within the same county. For purposes of this subdivision, an authority may declare a participating political subdivision with territory in the jurisdictional area of the authority and in more than one county to be wholly within one of those counties.

SB205,12,17 11. A transit plan or previously approved transit plan for the authority or reference to a transit plan or previously approved transit plan set forth in detail elsewhere. A transit plan under this subdivision shall provide opportunity for public involvement in the transit plan development process.

SB205,12,21 12. Subject to sub. (13), a procedure by which a participating political subdivision may withdraw from the authority and provisions for the disposition, division, or distribution of any property, assets, and obligations of the authority on withdrawal of a participating political subdivision or on dissolution of the authority.

SB205,13,2 (d) Subject to par. (e), a resolution under par. (a) or (b) shall be approved by at least a majority vote of the members of the governing body of the political subdivision. The governing body of the political subdivision may also require that the resolution be ratified by the electors at a referendum held in the area of the political subdivision that would be within the jurisdictional area of the authority under the resolution.

SB205,13,8 (e) At least 30 days before approving a resolution under par. (a) or (b), the governing body of a political subdivision shall hold a public hearing on the resolution. Notice of the hearing shall be published as a class 3 notice under ch. 985. At the public hearing, the governing body of the political subdivision shall solicit comments and recommendations on the preferred method under par. (d) for approving the resolution.

SB205,13,12 (f) 1. A county may not be a participating political subdivision in an authority under this section if it is a participating political subdivision of an authority authorized under any other statute, except an authority created under s. 59.58 (6) (a) 1.

SB205,13,14 2. Subject to subd. 3., a county may be a participating political subdivision in more than one authority under this section.

SB205,13,16 3. No portion of a city, village, or town may be included in the jurisdictional area of more than one authority.

SB205,13,19 (g) If an authority created under par. (a) includes as a participating political subdivision a county that has designated a county jurisdictional area under sub. (3) (a) 1., the authority shall also include at least one municipality within that county.

SB205,14,4 (h) If an authority has been created under this subsection, the participating political subdivisions of the authority may amend or modify their original resolutions creating or joining the authority if, after any amendment or modification, the resolutions of all participating political subdivisions of the authority remain identical and continue to satisfy the requirements under this section for the creation of an authority, except the requirement under par. (e). Any such amendment or modification of the original resolutions creating or joining the authority does not create a new authority unless specifically provided otherwise in the amendment or modification, even if the amendment or modification is undertaken for the purpose of including additional participating political subdivisions in the authority.

SB205,14,12 (i) 1. Subject to subd. 2., an identical resolution under par. (a) or (b) that is approved by a municipality under par. (d) is not effective unless approved by the county that contains the geographical area of the municipality to be included in the authority within 45 days of submission of the resolution to that county for approval. For a county to withhold its approval under this paragraph, the county must adopt a resolution by which the county declares its intention to create an authority that will include the municipality in the authority's jurisdictional area, and declares that it will commence, or has commenced, a study relating to the creation of the authority.

SB205,14,14 2. An identical resolution that is not approved by a county under subd. 1. may go into effect, without county approval, unless each of the following occurs:

SB205,14,17 a. The county that withheld approval completes its study relating to the creation of the authority under subd. 1. within 18 months after the county first withheld its approval of the resolution.

SB205,14,20 b. All of the geographic area of the municipality that is within the county that withheld approval is included within the jurisdictional area of an authority within 24 months after the county first withheld its approval of the resolution.

SB205,14,23 (j) A county that has designated a county jurisdictional area under sub. (3) (a) 2. or 3. may create an authority without joining together with one or more other political subdivisions to create the authority.

SB205,15,2 (3) County jurisdictional area. (a) Subject to par. (c), a county that is a participating political subdivision in an authority must designate, by resolution, the county jurisdictional area of the authority. The county jurisdictional area shall be one of the following:

SB205,15,5 1. The portion of the county that is within the combined territorial boundaries of each of the cities, villages, and towns in the county that are also participating political subdivisions of the authority.

SB205,15,6 2. The territorial boundaries of the county.

SB205,15,10 3. The combined territorial boundaries of each of the cities, villages, and towns in the county with at least 75 percent of their populations residing within a metropolitan planning area, as defined in 23 USC 134 (b) (1), at the time of designation by the county.

SB205,15,14 (b) Under par. (a) 3., counties that contain all or a part of more than one metropolitan planning area may designate a county jurisdictional area for one or more of the metropolitan planning areas for inclusion in the same authority or different authorities.

SB205,15,18 (c) A county may not designate a county jurisdictional area under par. (a) 2. or 3. without prior approval, by resolution, by each city, village, town, or tribal government wholly or partially within the proposed county jurisdictional area that is any of the following:

SB205,15,22 1. The owner, operator, or controlling authority of a transit system that serves at least 10 percent of the passengers, as expressed in unlinked trips, served by all transit systems in the county on average over the 3 years preceding creation of the authority, as determined by the department of transportation.

SB205,15,23 2. A participating political subdivision in an authority.

SB205,15,25 (4) Powers. Notwithstanding s. 59.84 (2) and any other provision of this chapter or ch. 59 or 85, an authority may do all of the following:

SB205,16,2 (a) Establish, maintain, and operate a comprehensive unified local transit system primarily for the transportation of persons.

SB205,16,6 (b) Acquire a comprehensive unified local transit system by purchase, condemnation under s. 32.05, or otherwise and provide funds for the operation and maintenance of the system. Upon the acquisition of a comprehensive unified local transit system, the authority may:

SB205,16,8 1. Operate and maintain it or lease it to an operator or contract for its use by an operator.

SB205,16,10 2. Contract for superintendence of the system with an organization that has personnel with the requisite experience and skill.

SB205,16,13 3. Delegate responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the system to an appropriate administrative officer, board, or commission of a participating political subdivision.

SB205,16,16 4. Work with the department of transportation to maintain and improve railroad rights-of-way and improvements on these rights-of-way for future transit use.

SB205,16,18 (c) Contract with a public or private organization to provide transit services in lieu of directly providing these services.

SB205,16,20 (d) Purchase and lease transit facilities to public or private transit companies that operate within and outside the jurisdictional area.

SB205,16,22 (e) Apply for federal or other aids to purchase transit facilities or operate a transit system.

SB205,17,6 (f) Coordinate, provide, or assist in providing specialized transportation services, as defined in s. 85.21 (2) (g), for individuals who are disabled or aged 60 or older, including services funded under 42 USC 3001 to 3057n, 42 USC 5001, and 42 USC 5011 (b), under ss. 49.43 to 49.499 and 85.21, and under other public funds administered by the county. An authority may contract with a county that is a participating political subdivision for the authority to provide specialized transportation services, but an authority is not an eligible applicant under s. 85.21 (2) (e) and may not receive payments directly from the department of transportation under s. 85.21.

SB205,17,9 (g) Acquire, own, hold, use, lease as lessor or lessee, sell or otherwise dispose of, mortgage, pledge, or grant a security interest in any real or personal property or service.

SB205,17,11 (h) Acquire property by condemnation using the procedure under s. 32.05 for the purposes set forth in this section.

SB205,17,18 (i) Enter upon any state, county, or municipal street, road, or alley, or any public highway for the purpose of installing, maintaining, and operating the authority's facilities. Whenever the work is to be done in a state, county, or municipal highway, street, road, or alley, the public authority having control thereof shall be duly notified, and the highway, street, road, or alley shall be restored to as good a condition as existed before the commencement of the work with all costs incident to the work to be borne by the authority.

SB205,17,20 (j) Fix, maintain, and revise fees, rates, rents, and charges for functions, facilities, and services provided by the authority.

SB205,17,22 (k) Make, and from time to time amend and repeal, bylaws, rules, and regulations to carry into effect the powers and purposes of the authority.

SB205,17,23 (L) Sue and be sued in its own name.

SB205,17,24 (m) Have and use a corporate seal.

SB205,18,3 (n) Employ agents, consultants, and employees, engage professional services, and purchase such furniture, stationery, and other supplies and materials as are reasonably necessary to perform its duties and exercise its powers.

SB205,18,5 (o) Incur debts, liabilities, or obligations including the borrowing of money and the issuance of bonds under subs. (7) and (10).

SB205,18,9 (p) Invest any funds held in reserve or sinking funds, or any funds not required for immediate disbursement, including the proceeds from the sale of any bonds, in such obligations, securities, and other investments as the authority deems proper in accordance with s. 66.0603 (1m).

SB205,18,11 (q) Do and perform any acts and things authorized by this section under, through, or by means of an agent or by contracts with any person.

SB205,18,14 (r) Exercise any other powers that the board of directors considers necessary and convenient to effectuate the purposes of the authority, including providing for passenger safety.

SB205,18,21 (s) Impose, by the adoption of a resolution by the board of directors, the taxes under subch. V of ch. 77 in the authority's jurisdictional area. If an authority adopts a resolution to impose the taxes, it shall deliver a certified copy of the resolution to the department of revenue at least 120 days before its effective date. The authority may, by adoption of a resolution by the board of directors, repeal the imposition of taxes under subch. V of ch. 77 and shall deliver a certified copy of the repeal resolution to the department of revenue at least 120 days before its effective date.

SB205,19,5 (5) Limitations on authority powers. (a) Whenever the proposed operations of an authority would be competitive with the operations of a common carrier in existence prior to the time the authority commences operations, the authority shall coordinate proposed operations with the common carrier to eliminate adverse financial impact for the carrier. This coordination may include route overlapping, transfers, transfer points, schedule coordination, joint use of facilities, lease of route service, and acquisition of route and corollary equipment. If this coordination does not result in mutual agreement, the proposals of the authority and the common carrier shall be submitted to the department of transportation for arbitration.

SB205,19,8 (b) In exercising its powers under sub. (4), an authority shall consider any plan of a metropolitan planning organization under 23 USC 134 that covers any portion of the authority's jurisdictional area.

SB205,19,10 (c) An authority must revise its transit plan under sub. (2) (c) 11. at least once every 5 years.

SB205,19,14 (6) Authority obligations to employees of mass transit systems. (a) An authority acquiring a comprehensive unified local transit system shall assume all of the employer's obligations under any contract between the employees and management of the system to the extent allowed by law.

SB205,19,25 (b) An authority acquiring, constructing, controlling, operating, or contracting for the superintendence of or operation of a comprehensive unified local transit system shall negotiate an agreement with the representative of the labor organization, notwithstanding s. 111.70 (2), (3), and (6), that covers the employees affected by the acquisition, construction, control, or operation to protect the interests of employees affected. This agreement shall include all of the provisions identified in s. 59.58 (4) (b) 1. to 8. and may include provisions identified in s. 59.58 (4) (c). An affected employee has all the rights and the same status under subch. IV of ch. 111 that he or she enjoyed immediately before the acquisition, construction, control, or operation and may not be required to serve a probationary period if he or she attained permanent status before the acquisition, construction, control, or operation.

SB205,20,2 (c) In all negotiations under this subsection, a senior executive officer of the authority shall be a member of the authority's negotiating body.

SB205,20,7 (7) Bonds; generally. (a) An authority may issue bonds, the principal and interest on which are payable exclusively from all or a portion of any revenues received by the authority. The authority may secure its bonds by a pledge of any income or revenues from any operations, rent, aids, grants, subsidies, contributions, or other source of moneys whatsoever.

SB205,20,9 (b) An authority may issue bonds in such principal amounts as the authority deems necessary.

SB205,20,13 (c) Except with respect to refunding bonds under sub. (10), bond proceeds may be used only for capital expenditures related to the acquisition of transit system equipment having a useful life of at least 5 years. This paragraph does not apply to expenditures made for the acquisition of all or part of an existing transit system.

SB205,20,16 (d) 1. Neither the members of the board of directors of an authority nor any person executing the bonds is personally liable on the bonds by reason of the issuance of the bonds.

SB205,20,21 2. The bonds of an authority are not a debt of the participating political subdivisions. Neither the participating political subdivisions nor the state is liable for the payment of the bonds. The bonds of any authority shall be payable only out of funds or properties of the authority. The bonds of the authority shall state the restrictions contained in this paragraph on the face of the bonds.

SB205,21,7 (8) Issuance of bonds. (a) Bonds of an authority shall be authorized by resolution of the board of directors. The bonds may be issued under such a resolution or under a trust indenture or other security instrument. The bonds may be issued in one or more series and may be in the form of coupon bonds or registered bonds under s. 67.09. The bonds shall bear the dates, mature at the times, bear interest at the rates, be in the denominations, have the rank or priority, be executed in the manner, be payable in the medium of payment and at the places, and be subject to the terms of redemption, with or without premium, as the resolution, trust indenture, or other security instrument provides. Bonds of an authority are issued for an essential public and governmental purpose and are public instrumentalities and, together with interest and income, are exempt from taxes.

SB205,21,9 (b) The authority may sell the bonds at public or private sales at the price or prices determined by the authority.

SB205,21,13 (c) If an officer whose signatures appear on any bonds or coupons ceases to be an officer of the authority before the delivery of the bonds or coupons, the officer's signature shall, nevertheless, be valid for all purposes as if the officer had remained in office until delivery of the bonds or coupons.

SB205,21,15 (9) Covenants. An authority may do all of the following in connection with the issuance of bonds:

SB205,21,16 (a) Covenant as to the use of any or all of its property, real or personal.

SB205,21,18 (b) Redeem the bonds, or covenant for the redemption of the bonds, and provide the terms and conditions of the redemption.

SB205,21,24 (c) Covenant as to charge fees, rates, rents, and charges sufficient to meet operating and maintenance expenses, renewals, and replacements of any transit system, principal and debt service on bonds, creation and maintenance of any reserves required by a bond resolution, trust indenture, or other security instrument and to provide for any margins or coverages over and above debt service on the bonds that the board of directors considers desirable for the marketability of the bonds.

SB205,22,5 (d) Covenant as to the events of default on the bonds and the terms and conditions upon which the bonds shall become or may be declared due before maturity, as to the terms and conditions upon which this declaration and its consequences may be waived, and as to the consequences of default and the remedies of bondholders.

SB205,22,8 (e) Covenant as to the mortgage or pledge of, or the grant of a security interest in, any real or personal property and all or any part of the revenues of the authority to secure the payment of bonds, subject to any agreements with the bondholders.