1997 Wisconsin Act 27

18. 7992 — Public golf courses.

19. 7993 — Coin-operated amusement devices.

20. 7996 — Amusement parks.

21. 7999 — Amusement and recreational services, not elsewhere classified.

(2) Premier resort area creation. (a) The governing body of a political subdivision, by a two-thirds vote of the members of the governing body who are present when the vote is taken, may enact an ordinance or adopt a resolution declaring itself to be a premier resort area if at least 40% of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property within such political subdivision is used by tourism-related retailers.

(b) A political subdivision that is a premier resort area may impose the tax under s. 77.994.

(c) If 2 or more contiguous political subdivisions that are premier resort areas each impose the tax under s. 77.994, they may enter into a contract under s. 66.30 to cooperate in paying for infrastructure expenses, in addition to any other authority they have to act under s. 66.30.

(d) The proceeds from a tax that is imposed under s. 77.994 and this subsection may be used only to pay for infrastructure expenses within the jurisdiction of a premier resort area.

(3) Jurisdiction. The jurisdiction of a premier resort area is coterminous with the boundaries of a political subdivision whose governing body enacts an ordinance or adopts a resolution under sub. (2) (a) or with the boundaries of 2 or more political subdivisions that enter into a contract under sub. (2) (c).

27,2214 Section 2214 . 66.36 (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

66.36 (title) Municipal financing; clean water fund project program costs. (intro.) Subject to the terms and conditions of its financial assistance agreement, a municipality may repay financial assistance costs received from under the clean water fund program under ss. 281.58 and 281.59 by any lawful method, including any one of the following methods or any combination thereof:

27,2214b Section 2214b. 66.46 (2) (f) 2. a. of the statutes is amended to read:

66.46 (2) (f) 2. a. The cost of constructing or expanding administrative buildings, police and fire buildings, libraries, community and recreational buildings and school buildings, unless the administrative buildings, police and fire buildings, libraries and community and recreational buildings were damaged or destroyed before January 1, 1997, by a natural disaster.

27,2214h Section 2214h. 66.46 (6) (am) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:

66.46 (6) (am) 1. For a tax incremental district that is created after September 30, 1995, no expenditure may be made later than 7 years after the tax incremental district is created, and for a tax incremental district that is created before October 1, 1995, no expenditure may be made later than 10 years after the tax incremental district is created, except that, for a tax incremental district that is created before October 1, 1995, and which receives tax increments under par. (d), no expenditure may be made later than 12 years after the tax incremental district is created.

27,2214k Section 2214k. 66.46 (6) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

66.46 (6) (c) Except for tax increments allocated under par. (d), (dm) or (e), all tax increments received with respect to a tax incremental district shall, upon receipt by the city treasurer, be deposited into a special fund for that district. The city treasurer may deposit additional moneys into such fund pursuant to an appropriation by the common council. No moneys may be paid out of such fund except to pay project costs with respect to that district, to reimburse the city for such payments, to pay project costs of a district under par. (d), (dm) or (e) or to satisfy claims of holders of bonds or notes issued with respect to such district. Subject to par. (d), (dm) or (e), moneys paid out of the fund to pay project costs with respect to a district may be paid out before or after the district is terminated under sub. (7). Subject to any agreement with bondholders, moneys in the fund may be temporarily invested in the same manner as other city funds if any investment earnings are applied to reduce project costs. After all project costs and all bonds and notes with respect to the district have been paid or the payment thereof provided for, subject to any agreement with bondholders, if there remain in the fund any moneys that are not allocated under par. (d), (dm) or (e), they shall be paid over to the treasurer of each county, school district or other tax levying municipality or to the general fund of the city in the amounts that belong to each respectively, having due regard for that portion of the moneys, if any, that represents tax increments not allocated to the city and that portion, if any, that represents voluntary deposits of the city into the fund.

27,2214n Section 2214n. 66.46 (6) (d) 2m. of the statutes is amended to read:

66.46 (6) (d) 2m. No tax increments may be allocated under this paragraph later than 20 30 years after the last expenditure identified in the project plan of the tax incremental district, the positive tax increments of which are to be allocated, is made if the district is created before October 1, 1995, except that in no case may the total number of years during which expenditures are made under par. (am) 1. plus the total number of years during which tax increments are allocated under this paragraph exceed 27 37 years.

27,2214p Section 2214p. 66.46 (6) (d) 4. of the statutes is amended to read:

66.46 (6) (d) 4. This paragraph does not apply after January August 1, 2002 2016.

27,2214r Section 2214r. 66.46 (6) (dm) of the statutes is created to read:

66.46 (6) (dm) 1. After the date on which a tax incremental district pays off the aggregate of all of its project costs under its project plan, but not later than the date on which a tax incremental district terminates under sub. (7) (am), a planning commission may amend under sub. (4) (h) 1. the project plan of such a tax incremental district to allocate positive tax increments generated by that tax incremental district to another tax incremental district created by that planning commission in which soil affected by environmental pollution exists to the extent that development has not been able to proceed according to the project plan because of the environmental pollution.

2. Except as provided in subd. 2m., no tax increments may be allocated under this paragraph later than 16 years after the last expenditure identified in the project plan of the tax incremental district, the positive tax increments of which are to be allocated, is made.

2m. No tax increments may be allocated under this paragraph later than 20 years after the last expenditure identified in the project plan of the tax incremental district, the positive tax increments of which are to be allocated, is made if the district is created before October 1, 1995, except that in no case may the total number of years during which expenditures are made under par. (am) 1. plus the total number of years during which tax increments are allocated under this paragraph exceed 27 years.

3. This paragraph applies only to the following cities:

a. A city with a population of at least 10,000 that was incorporated in 1950 and that is in a county with a population of more than 500,000 which is adjacent to one of the Great Lakes.

b. A city with a population of at least 55,000 that was incorporated in 1853 and that is in a county that was incorporated in 1840.

4. This paragraph does not apply after January 1, 2002.

27,2214u Section 2214u. 66.46 (7) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

66.46 (7) (a) That time when the city has received aggregate tax increments with respect to such district in an amount equal to the aggregate of all project costs under the project plan and any amendments to the project plan for such district, except that this paragraph does not apply to a district whose positive tax increments have been allocated under sub. (6) (d), (dm) or (e) until the district to which the allocation is made has paid off the aggregate of all of its project costs under its project plan.

27,2216 Section 2216 . 66.462 of the statutes is created to read:

66.462 Environmental remediation tax incremental financing. (1) Definitions. In this section:

(a) “Chief executive officer" means the mayor or city manager of a city, the village president of a village, the town board chairperson of a town or the county executive of a county or, if the county does not have a county executive, the chairperson of the county board of supervisors.

(b) “Department" means the department of revenue.

(c) “Eligible costs" means capital costs, financing costs and administrative and professional service costs for the investigation, removal, containment or monitoring of, or the restoration of soil or groundwater affected by, environmental pollution, including monitoring costs incurred within 2 years after the date on which the department of natural resources certifies that environmental pollution on the property has been remediated, except that for any parcel of land “eligible costs" shall be reduced by any amounts received from persons responsible for the discharge, as defined in s. 292.01 (3), of a hazardous substance on the property to pay for the costs of remediating environmental pollution on the property and the amount of net gain from the sale of the property by the political subdivision.

(d) “Environmental pollution" has the meaning given in s. 292.01 (4), except that “environmental pollution" does not include any damage caused by runoff from land under agricultural use.

(e) “Environmental remediation tax increment" means that amount obtained by multiplying the total city, county, school and other local general property taxes levied on a parcel of real property that is certified under this section in a year by a fraction having as a numerator the environmental remediation value increment for that year for that parcel and as a denominator that year's equalized value of that parcel. In any year, an environmental remediation tax increment is “positive" if the environmental remediation value increment is positive; it is “negative" if the environmental remediation value increment is negative.

(f) “Environmental remediation tax incremental base" means the aggregate value, as equalized by the department, of a parcel of real property that is certified under this section as of the January 1 preceding the date on which the department of natural resources issues a certificate certifying that environmental pollution on the property has been remediated in accordance with rules promulgated by the department of natural resources.

(g) “Environmental remediation value increment" means the equalized value of a parcel of real property that is certified under this section minus the environmental remediation tax incremental base. In any year, the environmental remediation value increment is “positive" if the environmental remediation tax incremental base of the parcel of property is less than the aggregate value of the parcel of property as equalized by the department; it is “negative" if that base exceeds that aggregate value.

(h) “Hazardous substance" has the meaning given in s. 292.01 (5).

(i) “Period of certification" means a period of not more than 16 years beginning after the department certifies the environmental remediation tax incremental base of a parcel of property under sub. (4) or a period before all eligible costs have been paid, whichever occurs first.

(j) “Political subdivision" means a city, village, town or county.

(k) “Taxable property" means all real and personal taxable property.

(2) Use of environmental remediation tax increments. A political subdivision that develops, and whose governing body approves, a written proposal to remediate environmental pollution on property owned by the political subdivision may use an environmental remediation tax increment to pay the eligible costs of remediating environmental pollution on property that is not part of a tax incremental district created under s. 66.46 and that is owned by the political subdivision at the time of the remediation and then transferred to another person after the property is remediated, as provided in this section. No political subdivision may submit an application to the department under sub. (4) until the joint review board approves the political subdivision's written proposal under sub. (3).

(3) Joint review board. (a) Any political subdivision that seeks to use an environmental remediation tax increment under sub. (2) shall convene a joint review board to review the proposal. The board shall consist of one representative chosen by the school district that has power to levy taxes on the property that is remediated, one representative chosen by the technical college district that has power to levy taxes on the property, one representative chosen by the county that has power to levy taxes on the property that is remediated, one representative chosen by the political subdivision and one public member. If more than one school district, more than one technical college district or more than one county has the power to levy taxes on the property that is remediated, the unit in which is located property that has the greatest value shall choose that representative to the board. The public member and the board's chairperson shall be selected by a majority of the other board members at the board's first meeting. All board members shall be appointed and the first board meeting held within 14 days after the political subdivision's governing body approves the written proposal under sub. (2). Additional meetings of the board shall be held upon the call of any member. The political subdivision that seeks to act under sub. (2) shall provide administrative support for the board. By majority vote, the board may disband following approval or rejection of the proposal.

(b) 1. The board shall review the written proposal and the statement described under sub. (4) (a). As part of its deliberations the board may hold additional hearings on the proposal.

2. No written application may be submitted under sub. (4) unless the board approves the written proposal under sub. (2) by a majority vote not less than 10 days nor more than 30 days after receiving the proposal.

3. The board shall submit its decision to the political subdivision no later than 7 days after the board acts on and reviews the written proposal.

(c) 1. The board shall base its decision to approve or deny a proposal on the following criteria:

a. Whether the development expected in the remediated property would occur without the use of environmental remediation tax incremental financing.

b. Whether the economic benefits of the remediated property, as measured by increased employment, business and personal income and property value, are insufficient to compensate for the cost of the improvements.

c. Whether the benefits of the proposal outweigh the anticipated environmental remediation tax increments to be paid by the owners of property in the overlying taxing districts.

2. The board shall issue a written explanation describing why any proposal it rejects fails to meet one or more of the criteria specified in subd. 1.

(d) If a joint review board convened by a city or village under s. 66.46 (4m) is in existence when a city or village seeks to act under this section, the city or village may require the joint review board convened under s. 66.46 (4m) to exercise the functions of a joint review board that could be convened under this subsection.

(4) Certification. Upon written application to the department of revenue by the clerk of a political subdivision on or before April 1 of the year following the year in which the certification described in par. (a) is received from the department of natural resources, the department of revenue shall certify to the clerk of the political subdivision the environmental remediation tax incremental base of a parcel of real property if all of the following apply:

(a) The political subdivision submits a statement that it has incurred eligible costs with respect to the parcel of property and the statement details the purpose and amount of the expenditures and includes a dated certificate issued by the department of natural resources that certifies that environmental pollution on the parcel of property has been remediated in accordance with rules promulgated by the department of natural resources.

(b) The political subdivision submits a statement that all taxing jurisdictions with the authority to levy general property taxes on the parcel of property have been notified that the political subdivision intends to recover the costs of remediating environmental pollution on the property and have been provided a statement of the estimated costs to be recovered.

(c) The political subdivision submits a statement, signed by its chief executive officer, that the political subdivision has attempted to recover the cost of remediating environmental pollution on the property from responsible parties.

(d) The political subdivision completes and submits all forms required by the department that relate to the determination of the environmental remediation tax incremental base.

(5) Designation on assessment and tax rolls. The assessor of a taxation district shall identify on the assessment roll returned and examined under s. 70.45 those parcels of property that have been certified under sub. (4) during the period of certification. The clerk of a taxation district shall make a similar notation on the tax roll under s. 70.65.

(6) Notice to taxing jurisdictions. During the period of certification, the department shall annually give notice to the designated finance officer of all taxing jurisdictions having the power to levy general taxes on property that is certified under sub. (4) of the equalized value of that property and the environmental remediation tax incremental base of that property. The notice shall explain that the environmental remediation tax increment shall be paid to the political subdivision as provided under sub. (8) from the taxes collected.

(7) Environmental remediation tax increments authorized. (a) Subject to pars. (b) and (c), the department shall annually authorize the positive environmental remediation tax increment with respect to a parcel of property during the period of certification to the political subdivision that incurred the costs to remediate environmental pollution on the property, except that an authorization granted under this paragraph does not apply after the department receives the notice described under sub. (10) (b).

(b) The department may authorize a positive environmental remediation tax increment under par. (a) only if the political subdivision submits to the department all information required by the department on or before the 2nd Monday in June of the year to which the authorization relates.

(c) If the department receives the notice described under sub. (10) (b) during the period from January 1 to May 15, the effective date of the notice is the date on which the notice is received. If the department receives the notice described under sub. (10) (b) during the period from May 16 to December 31, the effective date of the notice is the first January 1 after the date on which the notice is received.

(8) Settlement for environmental remediation tax increments. Every officer charged by law to collect and settle general property taxes shall, on the settlement dates provided by law, pay to the treasurer of a political subdivision from all general property taxes collected by the officer the proportion of the environmental remediation tax increment due the political subdivision that the general property taxes collected bears to the total general property taxes levied, exclusive of levies for state trust fund loans, state taxes and state special charges.

(9) Separate accounting required. An environmental remediation tax increment received with respect to a parcel of land that is subject to this section shall be deposited in a separate fund by the treasurer of the political subdivision. No money may be paid out of the fund except to pay eligible costs for a parcel of land, to reimburse the political subdivision for such costs or to satisfy claims of holders of bonds or notes issued to pay eligible costs. If an environmental remediation tax increment that has been collected with respect to a parcel of land remains in the fund after the period of certification has expired, it shall be paid to the treasurers of the taxing jurisdictions in which the parcel is located in proporation to the relative share of those taxing jurisdictions in the most recent levy of general property taxes on the parcel.

(10) Reporting requirements. A political subdivision that uses an environmental remediation tax increment to pay eligible costs of remediating environmental pollution under this section shall do all of the following:

(a) Prepare and make available to the public updated annual reports describing the status of all projects to remediate environmental pollution funded under this section, including revenues and expenditures. A copy of the report shall be sent to all taxing jurisdictions with authority to levy general property taxes on the parcel of property by May 1 annually.

(b) Notify the department within 10 days after the period of certification for a parcel of property has expired.

27,2217 Section 2217 . 66.521 (9) of the statutes is amended to read:

66.521 (9) Payment of taxes. When any industrial project acquired by a municipality under this section is used by a private person as a lessee, sublessee or in any capacity other than owner, that person shall be subject to taxation in the same amount and to the same extent as though that person were the owner of the property. Taxes shall be assessed to such private person using the real property and collected in the same manner as taxes assessed to owners of real property. When due, the taxes shall constitute a debt due from such private person to the taxing unit and shall be recoverable as provided by law, and such unpaid taxes shall become a lien against the property with respect to which they were assessed, superior to all other liens, except a lien under s. 292.31 (8) (i), 292.41 (6) (d) or 292.81, and shall be placed on their tax roll when there has been a conveyance of the property in the same manner as are other taxes assessed against real property.

27,2217f Section 2217f. 66.55 (1) (f) of the statutes is amended to read:

66.55 (1) (f) “Public facilities" means highways, as defined in s. 340.01 (22), and other transportation facilities, traffic control devices, facilities for collecting and treating sewage, facilities for collecting and treating storm and surface waters, facilities for pumping, storing and distributing water, parks, playgrounds and other recreational facilities, solid waste and recycling facilities, fire protection facilities, law enforcement facilities, emergency medical facilities and libraries except that, with regard to counties, “public facilities" does not include highways, as defined in s. 340.01 (22), other transportation facilities or traffic control devices. “Public facilities" does not include facilities owned by a school district.

27,2217h Section 2217h. 66.55 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

66.55 (2) (a) A Subject to par. (am), a political subdivision may enact an ordinance under this section that imposes impact fees on developers to pay for the capital costs that are necessary to accommodate land development.

27,2217i Section 2217i. 66.55 (2) (am) of the statutes is created to read:

66.55 (2) (am) No county may impose an impact fee under this section to recover costs related to transportation projects.

27,2218 Section 2218 . 66.73 of the statutes is amended to read:

66.73 Citizenship day. To redirect the attention of the citizens of Wisconsin (particularly those who are about to exercise the franchise for the first time) to the fundamentals of American government and to American traditions, any county, municipal or school board may annually provide for and appropriate funds for a program of citizenship education which stresses, through free and frank discussion of a nonpolitical, nonsectarian and nonpartisan nature, the doctrine of democracy, the duties and responsibilities of elective and appointive officers, the responsibilities of voters in a republic and the organization, functions and operation of government. This program should culminate in a ceremony of induction to citizenship for those who have been enfranchised within the past year. Any county may determine to conduct such ceremony either on or within the octave of the day designated by congress or proclaimed by the president of the United States as Citizenship Day. The board may carry out this function in such manner as it determines. The secretary of state, department of education public instruction and other state officers and departments shall cooperate with the participating units of government by the dissemination of available information which will stimulate interest in the government of Wisconsin and its subdivisions.

27,2220 Section 2220 . 67.03 (1) (b) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:

67.03 (1) (b) For any school district which offers no less than grades 1 to 12 and which at the time of incurring such debt is eligible to receive state aid under s. 121.08, 10% of such equalized value shall be permitted. Any school district about to incur indebtedness may apply to the state superintendent of public instruction for, and the state superintendent may issue, a certificate as to the eligibility of the school district to receive state aid under s. 121.08, which certificate shall be conclusive as to such eligibility for 30 days, but not beyond the next June 30.

27,2222 Section 2222 . 69.03 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:

69.03 (5) Under this subchapter, accept for registration, assign a date of acceptance and index and preserve original certificates of birth and death, original marriage documents and original divorce reports. Notwithstanding s. 69.24 (1) (e), the state registrar may transfer the paper original of a vital record to optical disc or electronic format in accordance with s. 16.61 (5) or to microfilm reproduction in accordance with s. 16.61 (6) and destroy the paper original of any vital record that is so converted. For the purposes of this subchapter, the electronic format version or microfilm reproduction version of the paper original of a vital record that has been transferred under this subsection shall serve as the original vital record.

27,2223 Section 2223 . 69.03 (15) of the statutes is amended to read:

69.03 (15) Periodically provide to each county designee child support agency under s. 59.53 (5) a list of names and, notwithstanding s. 69.20 (2) (a), addresses of registrants who reside in that county for whom no father's name has been inserted on the registrant's birth certificate within 6 months of birth.

27,2224 Section 2224 . 69.14 (1) (cm) of the statutes is amended to read:

69.14 (1) (cm) For a birth which occurs en route to or at a hospital, the filing party shall give the mother a copy of the pamphlet under s. 69.03 (14). If the child's parents are not married at the time of the child's birth, the filing party shall give the mother a copy of the form prescribed by the state registrar under s. 69.15 (3) (b) 3. If the mother provides a completed form to the filing party while she is a patient in the hospital and within 5 days after the birth, the filing party shall send the form directly to the state registrar. From the appropriation under s. 20.445 (3) (mc), the department of workforce development shall pay the filing party a financial incentive for correctly filing a form within 60 days after the child's birth.

27,2225 Section 2225 . 69.15 (3) (b) 3. of the statutes, as affected by 1997 Wisconsin Act 3, is amended to read: