SB491: Bill Text

LRB-4946/2

MES/PG/GMM:skg:md

1995 - 1996 LEGISLATURE

1995 Senate BILL 491

January 18, 1996 - Introduced by Joint Legislative Council. Referred to Committee on Government Effectiveness.

SB491,1,10 An Act to repeal 116.06; to amend 38.08 (1) (a) 1., 38.08 (2m), 38.10 (1) (intro.), 43.53 (1), 62.09 (8) (d), 62.09 (13) (a), 62.13 (1), 116.01, 116.02 (1) (a), 116.02 (2) (d), 116.03 (4), 116.065 (3) and 116.07 (2); and to create 38.10 (3), 43.15 (2) (e), 43.15 (4) (e), 62.13 (2m), 66.028 and 116.02 (1) (cm) of the statutes; relating to: municipal revenue sharing agreements, authorizing cities to create joint police departments, eliminating the requirement that municipalities be contiguous in order to form a joint library, public library system eligibility requirements, making cooperative educational service agencies coterminous with technical college districts and increasing the membership of technical college district boards and cooperative educational service agency boards of control.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

This bill is explained in the Notes provided by the joint legislative council in the bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

Prefatory note: This bill was developed by the joint legislative council's special committee on shared governmental services. The special committee on shared governmental services found that intergovernmental cooperation in the provision of services has great potential to improve the delivery of services to the residents of this state and to reduce the costs of providing services. During the course of the special committee's deliberations, it became clear that the most significant impediments to intergovernmental cooperation in service delivery are: (1) lack of awareness by local government officials and the public of the opportunities that exist to provide better services at lower costs through cooperative efforts; and (2) attitudes on the part of local officials and the citizenry that do not foster cooperative efforts.

Opportunities for cooperative service delivery exist and are being taken advantage of by local governments in this state in the areas of education, joint purchasing, law enforcement, health and social services, libraries, sewer and water, transportation and many other areas. The special committee urges all local governments in Wisconsin to creatively explore means of improving service delivery at lower costs through intergovernmental cooperation and encourages local governments that are successfully doing so to inform other local governments and the public of their success.

The existing statutory framework for intergovernmental cooperation permits a broad range of cooperation and generally is sufficiently flexible to meet individual circumstances and allow innovation. The recommendations in this bill address the enhancement of intergovernmental cooperation in specific areas that were identified by the special committee as needing further legislative attention. The provisions of the bill are as follows:

Municipal Revenue Sharing Agreements [Section 12]

The bill provides explicit statutory authority to cities, villages and towns (municipalities) to enter into agreements to share revenues from taxes and special charges with other municipalities and with federally recognized Indian tribes or bands. No municipality may enter into an agreement with one or more municipalities unless the municipality is contiguous to at least one other municipality that enters into the agreement. It is anticipated, for example, that these agreements will be made in conjunction with other agreements concerning municipal boundaries and the provision of services.

Under the bill, an agreement must: (1) be for a minimum term of 10 years; (2) describe the boundaries of the area within which the revenues are to be shared in the agreement; (3) describe the formula or other means of determining the amount of revenues to be shared under the agreement; (4) specify the date or dates upon which revenues agreed to be shared are to be paid to the appropriate municipality; and (5) specify how the agreement may be invalidated after the expiration of the minimum 10-year term. In addition, the agreement may contain any other necessary and proper matters, including any agreements with respect to services or agreements with respect to municipal boundaries.

The bill requires that, at least 30 days before entering an agreement, the participating municipality must hold a public hearing on the proposed agreement (public hearing notice requirements are specified). In addition, the bill provides that an advisory referendum on a proposed agreement may be called either by the governing body of the participating municipality or by the qualified electors of a participating municipality. In the latter case, a petition, signed by a number of qualified electors equal to at least 10% of the votes cast for governor in a municipality at the last gubernatorial election must be timely filed. Time limits and notice requirements are provided for the advisory referendum.

Joint City Police Departments [Section 11]

The bill explicitly authorizes one or more cities to create a joint police department. The bill is modeled after provisions of ss. 61.65 and 62.13, which authorize villages to form joint police departments with cities. Under the bill, a city that creates a joint police department is not required to create a separate board of police commissioners but, rather, is required to create a joint board of police commissioners to govern the joint police department. The number of police commissioners to be appointed to the joint board and the length of each commissioner's term are decided by the cities which create the joint police department. The members of the board of police commissioners are appointed by the mayor. The provisions of current law pertaining to the board of police and fire commissioners and to appointments, promotions, suspensions, removals, dismissals, reemployment, compensation, rest days, exemptions, organization and supervision of departments, contracts and audits apply to a joint board of police commissioners created under this bill. Under current law, the mayor is the head of the police department except in cities that have adopted s. 62.13 (6) [s. 62.09 (8) (d)]. Under s. 62.13 (6), the board of police and fire commissioners is given broad authority to manage the police and fire departments if approved by the electors of the city in a referendum at a regular city election. Under the bill, the mayors of the cities may exercise their authority over the police chief only by issuing joint orders. Likewise, the governing bodies of the cities may exercise their authority over the police chief only by issuing joint orders. In addition, the provisions of s. 62.13 (6) are applicable to a joint police department formed by one or more cities.

Libraries

Joint Libraries [Section 7]

Current law allows a joint library to be created by (1) any 2 or more contiguous municipalities or (2) a county and one or more municipalities located in whole or part in the county [s. 43.53 (1)]. "Municipality" is defined as "a city, village, town, tribal government or tribal association, or a school district that maintained and operated a public library facility prior to December 17, 1971" [s. 43.01 (3)].

This bill removes the requirement that 2 or more municipalities be contiguous in order to form a joint library.

Maintenance of Support Requirement [Sections 5 and 6 ]

Current law provides for the establishment of public library systems, organized on a single-county or multicounty basis, that coordinate library development and resource sharing among libraries in a specific geographic region. There are 17 public library systems in the state, serving all 72 counties. Benefits of library system participation include resource sharing and the availability of resources from state library aid given to public library systems.

Current law allows a county to participate in a public library system if, among other things, the county maintains its support for library services at a level not lower than the average support for the 3 previous years [s. 43.15 (2) (b)]. Similarly, a municipal library, county library or joint public library may participate in a public library system if, among other things, the library receives funding from the municipal or county governing body at a level not lower than the average received for the previous 3 years [s. 43.15 (4) (c) 5.].

This bill requires the division for libraries and community services in the department of public instruction (DPI) to adjust the 3-year average minimum funding requirement in any year, as necessary, to reflect cost savings that result from the consolidation or sharing of library services if the county or the municipality: (1) demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the division, that the funding provided by the county or municipality for library services will be lower than otherwise required for public library system status because library services have been or will be consolidated or shared; and (2) the county or municipality submits a plan demonstrating, to the satisfaction of the division, that services to library patrons following the consolidation or sharing of services will be at least substantially equivalent to the services available to patrons before the consolidation or sharing.

The bill is in response to concerns that if library services are shared or consolidated and cost savings result, meeting the current 3-year average funding requirement may not be possible even when there has been no loss of service to library patrons.

CESA and Technical College Districts [Sections 1 to 4 and 13 to 22]

Currently, the stated statutory purpose of cooperative educational service agencies (CESAs) is to serve as a link between school districts and between school districts and the state. The bill expands the statutory purpose of CESAs to include serving as a link between school districts and technical college districts.

The bill directs the department of education (DOE) to reorganize the 12 CESAs into 15 CESAs, effective July 1, 1997. Each reorganized CESA is coterminous with a technical college district, except that reorganized CESA no. 5 is coterminous with the territory of 2 technical college districts. The school board of a school district that is located in more than one technical college district must select the reorganized CESA in which the school district will participate. The current provision which allows a school district by petition to DOE to transfer from one CESA to another is repealed.

Under the bill, the reorganized CESAs and their coterminous technical college districts (with location of main campus) are: CESA no. 1-Gateway (Kenosha); CESA no. 2-Blackhawk (Janesville); CESA no. 3-Southwest (Fennimore); CESA no. 4-Madison; CESA no. 5-Waukesha and Milwaukee; CESA no. 6-Moraine Park (Fond du Lac); CESA no. 7-Lakeshore (Cleveland); CESA no. 8-Fox Valley (Appleton); CESA no. 9-Mid-state (Wisconsin Rapids); CESA no. 10-Western (La Crosse); CESA no. 11-Chippewa Valley (Eau Claire); CESA no. 12-North Central (Wausau); CESA no. 13-Northeast (Green Bay); CESA no. 14-Nicolet (Rhinelander); and CESA no. 15-Indianhead (Shell Lake).

The bill adds 2 members, increasing membership from 9 to 11, to each technical college district board: one member of the board of control of the CESA that is located in the district and one employe of a school district or CESA who represents a school-to-work program. Both are appointed by the board of control.

The bill also adds members to each CESA board of control: one member of the board of each technical college district located in the CESA and a representative of each University of Wisconsin System institution and center that is located in the CESA. Under current law, an annual convention of representatives of school boards within the CESA region determines the number of members on the CESA board of control.

The bill contains several transition provisions relating to the reorganized CESAs. The assets and liabilities (including employment contracts but excluding real property and regional data processing equipment) of the existing CESAs are to be distributed among the reorganized CESAs based on agreements made among the existing boards of control. The agreements are to be based upon the use made of agency services by the school districts within each agency. If no agreement is reached by March 15, 1997, the secretary of education distributes the assets and liabilities. The transfer of assets and liabilities associated with real property and with regional data processing equipment is to be based on a contract assigning ownership shares to each school board that was a party to such purchases. The secretary of education approves the real property ownership contracts and resolves any disagreements related to the data processing equipment ownership contracts.

The bill provides further that no employment contract entered into or extended by a CESA board of control between the effective date of the bill and July 1, 1997 may extend beyond July 1, 1997. The CESA reorganization's impact on the wages, hours and conditions of employment of CESA employes is made a mandatory subject of collective bargaining. DOE is directed to submit a report by March 31, 1997, to the governor and the legislature on the progress made in reorganizing the CESAs.

SB491, s. 1 Section 1 . 38.08 (1) (a) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:

SB491,5,7 38.08 (1) (a) 1. A district board shall administer the district and shall be composed of 9 11 members who are residents of the district, including 2 employers, 2 employes, 3 additional members, a school district administrator, as defined under s. 115.001 (8), and one elected official who holds a state or local office, as defined in s. 5.02, except for the office of party committeeman or party committeewoman, a member of the board of control of the cooperative educational service agency that is located in the district and one employe of a school district or cooperative educational service agency, located in the district, who represents a school-to-work program. The board shall by rule define "employer" and "employe" for the purpose of this subdivision.

SB491, s. 2 Section 2 . 38.08 (2m) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB491,5,13 38.08 (2m) Any member of a district board serving as an elected official under sub. (1) (a) 1. shall cease to be a member upon vacating his or her office as an elected official. Any member of a district board serving as a member of a board of control of a cooperative educational service agency shall cease to be a member of the district board upon vacating his or her position as a member of the board of control.

SB491, s. 3 Section 3. 38.10 (1) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB491,5,16 38.10 (1) (intro.) District Except as provided in sub. (3), district board members shall be appointed by an appointment committee constituted as follows:

SB491, s. 4 Section 4 . 38.10 (3) of the statutes is created to read:

SB491,5,20 38.10 (3) (a) The board of control of the cooperative educational service agency in which the district is located shall appoint one of its members to the district board whenever a vacancy in that position on the district board occurs.

SB491,5,24 (b) The board of control of the cooperative educational service agency in which the district is located shall appoint the school district or agency employe who represents a school-to-work program whenever a vacancy in that position on the district board occurs.

SB491, s. 5 Section 5 . 43.15 (2) (e) of the statutes is created to read:

SB491,6,3 43.15 (2) (e) The division shall adjust the 3-year average requirement under par. (b) in any year, as necessary, to reflect the cost savings resulting from the consolidation or sharing of library services if the county does all of the following:

SB491,6,6 1. Demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the division, that the county's support for library services is or will be lower than otherwise required by par. (b) because library services supported by the county have been or will be consolidated or shared.

SB491,6,10 2. Submits a plan demonstrating, to the satisfaction of the division, that services to library patrons following the consolidation or sharing of services will be at least substantially equivalent to the services available to patrons before the consolidation or sharing.

SB491, s. 6 Section 6 . 43.15 (4) (e) of the statutes is created to read: