AB510: Bill Text

LRB-0216/3

MS/JTK/JK/RC/AG/rt/ml/:cs:jf

2003 - 2004 LEGISLATURE

2003 Assembly BILL 510

September 11, 2003 - Introduced by Representatives Huber, M. Lehman, Plouff, Gunderson, Ziegelbauer, Ladwig, Schooff, Musser, Sinicki, Olsen, Zepnick, Nass, Berceau, Ott, Miller, Grothman, J. Lehman, Kestell, Molepske, Albers, Pocan, Seratti, Balow, Jeskewitz, Travis and Hahn, cosponsored by Senators Roessler, Decker, Brown, Lassa, Erpenbach and Risser. Referred to Committee on Urban and Local Affairs.

AB510,2,17 An Act to renumber 66.0617 (2) (am); to renumber and amend 83.001; to amend 5.02 (21), 5.58 (3), 5.68 (2), 5.68 (3), 7.51 (3) (b), 7.51 (3) (d), 7.51 (4) (b), 7.51 (5), 9.10 (1) (a), 9.10 (1) (b), 9.10 (2) (d), 9.10 (3) (a), 9.10 (4) (a), 9.10 (4) (d), 9.10 (7), 10.05, 10.07 (1), 11.31 (1) (h) (intro.), 17.13 (intro.), 17.13 (3), 23.09 (19) (a) 2., 23.09 (20) (ab) 1., 23.09 (20m) (a) 1., 23.0917 (4m) (a) 3., 23.094 (1), 25.50 (1) (d), 27.01 (3), 27.075 (1), 27.075 (2), 27.075 (3), 27.075 (4), 27.08 (1), 27.08 (3), 30.277 (1b) (a), 43.18 (1) (ag), 59.69 (5) (c), 59.69 (7), 60.62 (1), 61.65 (1) (a) 2., 61.65 (2) (a) 2., 62.13 (1), 62.13 (8), 66.0217 (2), 66.0217 (3) (a) (intro.), 66.0217 (3) (b) (intro.), 66.0219 (intro.), 66.0221 (1), 66.0223, 66.0301 (1) (a), 66.0615 (1m) (a), 66.0615 (2) (intro.), 66.0615 (2) (a), 66.0615 (2) (d), 66.0615 (3), 66.0617 (1) (a), 66.0617 (1) (c), 66.0617 (1) (d), 66.0617 (1) (g), 66.0617 (1) (h), 66.0617 (2) (a), 66.0617 (3), 66.0617 (4) (a) (intro.), 66.0617 (4) (b), 66.0617 (5), 66.0617 (6) (intro.), 66.0617 (6) (b), 66.0617 (7), 66.0617 (8), 66.0617 (9), 66.0617 (10), 66.1021 (11) (a), 66.1341, 67.01 (5), 71.26 (1) (bm), 83.018, 84.07 (1), 84.07 (2), 84.07 (4), 85.20 (1) (d), 85.22 (2) (c), 85.243 (1) (b), 85.52 (1) (ag), 86.105, 287.09 (1) (a), 287.09 (1) (e), 341.26 (2m) (a), 343.38 (1) (c) 2. b., 344.14 (2) (j), 344.25 (1), 345.05 (2), (4) and (5) and 348.18; to create 5.58 (1u), 5.60 (6u), 7.53 (3m), 8.10 (6) (e), 8.11 (2f), 11.02 (8), 17.01 (11m), 17.27 (1f), 43.01 (1m), 43.52 (1r), 43.53 (4), 59.69 (2) (g), 60.61 (3) (d), 60.62 (3m), 61.65 (1) (a) 4., 61.65 (2) (a) 5., 62.13 (2s), 66.0309 (8) (c), 66.0615 (1) (bs), 66.0615 (1m) (em), 66.0617 (1) (dg), 66.0617 (2) (am) 2., 66.0617 (6) (h), 66.0617 (11), 70.11 (37m), 77.25 (18m), 77.54 (9a) (i), 79.05 (1) (bm), 81.001, 81.19, 83.001 (2), 84.001 (1s), 84.001 (1t), 85.01 (2g), 86.001 (2g), subchapter VI of chapter 229 [precedes 229.86], 287.09 (1) (dm) and 340.01 (28t) of the statutes; and to affect Laws of 1975, chapter 105, section 1 (1) and (2); relating to: authorizing the creation of a metropolitan service district, authorizing a metropolitan service district to levy a property tax, authorizing a metropolitan service district to apply for funding from certain programs that receive funding from the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship 2000 Program, authorizing certain towns to use tax incremental financing, and authorizing a metropolitan service district to impose impact fees and issue debt.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

This bill authorizes certain municipalities (any city, village, or town or portion of a town, that is located in an urbanized area, as designated by a regional planning commission or county zoning agency) to jointly create a metropolitan service district (district). A district is a local unit of government that is a body corporate and politic and that is separate and distinct from, and independent of, the state and the municipalities within its jurisdiction. Subject to a number of conditions, a district's jurisdiction consists of two or more municipalities, that are located within a single urbanized area, if the municipalities adopt similar enabling resolutions within a 30-day period. The resolution declares a municipality's intent to create a district and declares which two or more governmental services the district will provide.

Upon the adoption of such resolutions by at least two municipalities, every municipality within the urbanized area becomes a part of the district unless a municipality's governing body opts out of the district within 60 days after the adoption of the second enabling resolution.

A municipality that opts out of a district may later join if its request to join is approved by the commission, which is the district's governing body, and by all of the municipalities that are part of the district. A city or village that is not in the district's urbanized area may also join with approval from at least 50% of the municipalities that are part of the district. The territory of a municipality may be in only one district. A district may be in more than one county, although a county may not be a part of a district.

Before a district may be created, the governing bodies of each of the municipalities that have not opted out of the district must reach an agreement that addresses a number of issues, including the number of members of the commission, which may not be greater than nine; a method of appointing temporary members of the commission to serve until the initial election and qualification of members; an apportionment plan for the election of commissioners, or an agreement to not have an apportionment plan; and a list of issues and actions of the commission that are subject to review by a veto panel (see below). The agreement may also address any other issue. Before such an agreement may be entered into, the participating municipalities must select an arbitrator who will decide by November 1 any of the issues that are not resolved by the municipalities by September 1, except the issue of whether to elect members of the commission pursuant to an apportionment plan (see below).

A district is governed by its commission. The members of the commission must choose from among themselves a chairperson, vice chairperson, secretary, and treasurer. A district may take action based on the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the members of the commission. The members of the commission are elected for three-year terms, except that the terms of the nearest whole number to one-third of the initial commissioners shall be one year and the terms of the nearest whole number to one-third of the initial commissioners shall be two years.

The first election of members of the commission occurs in the April following creation of the district. Unless unanimously agreed to by the governing bodies of all municipalities that lie within the district, the commissioners are elected at large pursuant to a plan of apportionment under which each commissioner resides in a separate geographic area. If unanimously agreed to by the respective governing bodies, the commissioners may be elected at large without a plan of apportionment.

Upon its creation, a commission and each municipality that is part of the district must determine which property, facilities, and other assets of the municipality shall be transferred from the municipality to the district. Real property and attachments that relate to a service provided by the district, and associated debts of such property and attachments, must be transferred to a district, as well as vehicles and specialized equipment with a value of at least $50,000. Unused property, equipment, or other assets must be returned by the district from the municipality from which it came. If the commission and a municipality are unable to reach an agreement on the transfer of property, equipment, and other assets within 90 days after the municipality becomes a part of a district, the parties must agree on the selection of an arbitrator who shall decide on the terms of settlement.

A district must provide at least two governmental services, which shall include at least one of the following: economic development; land use planning; fire and emergency medical; parks and recreation; zoning; mass transit; highway maintenance; police; recycling; yard waste and garbage collection; and municipal or joint libraries. If a district provides a service to only some of the municipalities in the district, only the municipalities that receive the service may be charged a fee for that service.

If a municipality becomes a part of a district, the district must employ all municipal employees who provided the service to be provided by the district, and pay them wages and benefits at least comparable to their former wages and benefits, until the expiration of the of the applicable collective bargaining agreements. Upon the expiration of the agreements, the district may offer continued employment to those employees, who shall retain as district employees the seniority they accumulated with their municipal employers. If, in any collective bargaining unit that is initially created at a district, a majority of the former municipal employees were represented by the same representative when they were employed by a municipality, that representative becomes the initial representative of the employees in the collective bargaining unit without the necessity of filing a petition or conducting an election that otherwise applies under current law. If a municipality becomes a part of a district, it must accept all of the services then provided by the district, and must discontinue its collection of a room tax, if any, if the district collects a room tax.

In connection with property or facilities used or needed by a district to perform the services it provides, the powers of a district include: the authority to acquire, develop, maintain, improve, operate, and manage the property or facilities; the authority to operate recreational facilities or programs; the authority to enter into contracts; the authority to employ personnel; the authority to impose an impact fee on developers; the authority to impose a room tax; the authority to issue debt for capital improvements to property or facilities; and the authority to levy a property tax to carry out the district's functions.

Under the bill, a district is considered to be a municipality for purposes of determining eligibility for and receiving a payment under the expenditure restraint program. Under current law, generally, a municipality that imposes a property tax levy rate of more than five mills receives an expenditure restraint program payment, if any increase in the municipality's budget for the year is no more than the allowable increase under the program. The allowable increase is based, generally, on the property value in the municipality and the inflation rate.

No municipality that is part of the jurisdiction of a district may expend any funds to support property or facilities that are owned by the district, or impose an impact fee for property or facilities that are related to providing a service that the district provides to that municipality. No city or village may annex town territory of a town that is part of the same district to which the annexing city or village belongs, other than under a boundary agreement or at the request of the property owner and with the consent of the town board. In addition, a town that is located in whole or part within a district that provides the town with planning and zoning services may exercise tax incremental financing powers if the town enters into a revenue sharing agreement with every other municipality in the district.

Upon the creation of a district, there is also created a veto panel, consisting of the chief executive officer of each municipality that is part of the district. The veto panel exists, generally, for ten years after its creation. The commission must notify the veto panel, and each municipality's clerk, whenever it takes action on an item that is subject to veto panel review. Each member of the panel may notify the commission's clerk within ten business days of being notified of such commission action that the member objects to the commission's action. If at least 50% of the members of the panel object to the commission's action, the action of the commission is vetoed and may not take effect. The commission may override a veto, however, by a two-thirds vote of all of the members of the commission.

A municipality may withdraw from a district if it adopts a resolution stating its intention to withdraw and if all of the other municipalities that are a part of the district adopt resolutions of approval.

Disputes between municipalities and the commission involving the creation, governance, functions, or services provided by a district, or the transfer of property and facilities from a district to a municipality upon a district's dissolution, must be submitted to arbitration.

Subject to providing for the payment of its debts, and the performance of other contractual obligations, a district may be dissolved by its commission. Upon dissolution, the property of the district shall be transferred to the municipalities that are a part of the district, based on a number of factors, such as the current value of the property and facilities transferred by the municipality to the district and the amount of money or other contributions made to the district by the municipality during the district's existence.

A district may operate (as well as improve and promote) an existing mass transit system. A mass transit system means public transportation on a regular and continuing basis by bus, shared-ride taxicab, rail, or other conveyance, whether publicly or privately owned.

A district may contract with a municipality for the district to perform all or certain parts of highway maintenance services on highways under the municipality's jurisdiction. These services may include but are not limited to snow removal, highway lighting, and highway surface cleaning. (Current law allows a municipality to contract with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to perform highway maintenance services on highways under DOT's jurisdiction, and the bill also allows a district to contract with DOT to perform such services.) If a municipality and district enter into a highway maintenance contract, the municipality must transfer to the district, within 30 days of receipt, all state transportation aids received by the municipality allocable to the cost of providing those highway maintenance services that are the subject of the contract. The municipality must further provide information to DOT regarding the services that are subject to the highway maintenance contract and the amount of state transportation aids transferred to the district because of the contract. A district providing highway maintenance services may register vehicles with DOT in the same manner as a municipality and is governed by the same civil liability limitations that apply to municipalities with respect to operation of motor vehicles. While the bill does not relieve a municipality from its legal responsibility for highways under its jurisdiction, including limited civil liability for highway defects, the bill allows a municipality to recover from a district for any legal liability imposed upon the municipality based upon a highway defect resulting from a district's highway maintenance work.

For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

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

AB510, s. 1 Section 1. 5.02 (21) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB510,6,5 5.02 (21) "Spring election" means the election held on the first Tuesday in April to elect judicial, educational, and municipal officers, nonpartisan county officers, sewerage commissioners, and commissioners of metropolitan service districts and to express preferences for the person to be the presidential candidate for each party.

AB510, s. 2 Section 2. 5.58 (1u) of the statutes is created to read:

AB510,6,12 5.58 (1u) Metropolitan service district commission. Except as authorized in s. 5.655, there shall be a separate ballot for members of the metropolitan service district commission. Arrangement of the names on the ballot shall be determined by the metropolitan service district clerk in the manner provided under s. 5.60 (1) (b). The ballot shall be entitled "Official Primary Ballot for Member of the Metropolitan Service District Commission."

AB510, s. 3 Section 3. 5.58 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB510,7,17 5.58 (3) Names on spring ballot. Only 2 candidates for state superintendent, for any judicial office, or for any elected seat on a metropolitan sewerage commission or town sanitary district commission,; in counties having a population of 500,000 or more only 2 candidates for member of the board of supervisors within each district,; in counties having a population of less than 500,000 only 2 candidates for each member of the county board of supervisors from each district or numbered seat or only 4 candidates for each 2 members of the county board of supervisors from each district whenever 2 supervisors are elected to unnumbered seats from the same district,; in 1st class cities only 2 candidates for any at-large seat and only 2 candidates from any election district to be elected to the board of school directors,; in school districts electing school board members to numbered seats, or pursuant to an apportionment plan or district representation plan, only 2 school board candidates for each numbered seat or within each district, ; in a metropolitan service district, twice as many candidates as are to be elected members of the metropolitan service district commission, or, if the district elects commissioners from apportioned areas, twice as many candidates as are to be elected members of the commission from each apportioned area; and twice as many candidates as are to be elected members of other school boards or other elective officers receiving the highest number of votes at the primary shall be nominees for the office at the spring election. Only their names shall appear on the official spring ballot.

AB510, s. 4 Section 4. 5.60 (6u) of the statutes is created to read:

AB510,7,24 5.60 (6u) Metropolitan service district commission. Except as authorized in s. 5.655, a separate ballot shall list the names of all candidates for member of the metropolitan service district commission. Arrangement of the names on the ballot shall be determined by the metropolitan service district clerk in the manner provided under sub. (1) (b). The ballot shall be entitled "Official Ballot for Member of the Metropolitan Service District Commission."

AB510, s. 5 Section 5. 5.68 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB510,8,12 5.68 (2) Except as otherwise expressly provided, all costs for ballots, supplies, notices, and any other materials necessary in preparing or conducting any election shall be paid for by the county or municipality whose clerk or board of election commissioners is responsible for providing them. If a ballot is prepared for a school, technical college, sewerage or, sanitary , or metropolitan service district, the district shall pay for the cost of the ballot. If no other level of government is involved in a school, technical college, sewerage or, sanitary, or metropolitan service district election, the district shall pay for all costs of the ballots, supplies, notices, and other materials. If ballots, supplies, notices, or other materials are used for elections within more than one unit of local government, the costs shall be proportionately divided between the units of local government involved in the election. In a 1st class city, all costs otherwise attributable to a school district shall be paid by the city.

AB510, s. 6 Section 6. 5.68 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB510,8,21 5.68 (3) If voting machines are used or if an electronic voting system is used in which all candidates and referenda appear on the same ballot, the ballots for all national, state, and county offices and for county and state referenda shall be prepared and paid for by the county wherein they are used. If the voting machine or electronic voting system ballot includes a municipal or school, technical college, sewerage or, sanitary, or metropolitan service district ballot, the cost of that portion of the ballot shall be reimbursed to the county or paid for by the municipality or district, except as provided in a 1st class city school district under sub. (2).

AB510, s. 7 Section 7. 7.51 (3) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB510,9,3 7.51 (3) (b) For ballots which relate only to municipal or, school district, or metropolitan service district offices or referenda, the inspectors, in lieu of par. (a), after counting the ballots shall return them to the proper ballot boxes, lock the boxes, paste paper over the slots, sign their names to the paper, and deliver them and the keys therefor to the municipal or, school district, or metropolitan service district clerk. The clerk shall retain the ballots until destruction is authorized under s. 7.23.

AB510, s. 8 Section 8. 7.51 (3) (d) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB510,9,11 7.51 (3) (d) All absentee certificate envelopes which have been opened shall be returned by the inspectors to the municipal clerk in a securely sealed carrier envelope which is clearly marked "used absentee certificate envelopes". The envelopes shall be signed by the chief inspector and 2 other inspectors. Except when the ballots are used in a municipal or, school district, or metropolitan service district election only, the municipal clerk shall transmit the used envelopes to the county clerk.

AB510, s. 9 Section 9. 7.51 (4) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB510,9,18 7.51 (4) (b) The chief inspector, or one of the inspectors appointed by him or her, immediately after the votes are tabulated or counted at each election, shall report the returns of the election to the municipal clerk or , to the school district clerk for school district elections, except in 1st class cities, or to the metropolitan service district clerk for metropolitan service district elections. The clerk shall then make the returns public.

AB510, s. 10 Section 10. 7.51 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB510,9,25 7.51 (5) Returns. (a) The inspectors shall make full and accurate return of the votes cast for each candidate and proposition on tally sheet forms provided by the municipal clerk for that purpose. Each tally sheet shall record the returns for each office or referendum by ward, unless combined returns are authorized in accordance with s. 5.15 (6) (b) in which case the tally sheet shall record the returns for each group of combined wards. After recording the votes, the inspectors shall seal in a carrier envelope outside the ballot bag or container one inspectors' statement under sub. (4) (a), one tally sheet, and one poll or registration list for delivery to the county clerk, unless the election relates only to municipal or school district offices or referenda or metropolitan service district offices. The inspectors shall also similarly seal one inspectors' statement, one tally sheet, and one poll or registration list for delivery to the municipal clerk. For school district elections, except in 1st class cities, the inspectors shall similarly seal one inspectors' statement, one tally sheet, and one poll or registration list for delivery to the school district clerk. For metropolitan service district elections, the inspectors shall similarly seal one inspectors' statement, one tally sheet, and one poll or registration list for delivery to the metropolitan service district clerk. The inspectors shall immediately deliver all ballots, statements, tally sheets, lists, and envelopes to the municipal clerk.

AB510,10,21 (b) The municipal clerk shall arrange for delivery of all ballots, statements, tally sheets, lists, and envelopes relating to a school district or metropolitan service district election to the school district or metropolitan service district clerk, respectively. The municipal clerk shall deliver the ballots, statements, tally sheets, lists, and envelopes for his or her municipality relating to any county, technical college district, state, or national election to the county clerk by 2 p.m. on the day following each such election. The person delivering the returns shall be paid out of the municipal treasury. Each clerk shall retain ballots, statements, tally sheets, or envelopes received by the clerk until destruction is authorized under s. 7.23 (1).