SB205,9,99 3. A railroad subject to ch. 195, as described in s. 195.02 (1) and (3).
SB205,9,1010 4. A water carrier, as defined in s. 195.02 (5).
SB205,9,1411 (d) "Comprehensive unified local transit system" means a transit system that
12is comprised of motor bus lines and any other local public transit facilities, the major
13portion of which is located within, or the major portion of the service of which is
14supplied to the inhabitants of, the jurisdictional area of the authority.
SB205,9,1615 (e) "County jurisdictional area" means the geographical area designated by a
16county under sub. (3) (a).
SB205,9,1917 (f) 1. Except as provided in subd. 2., "jurisdictional area" means the geographic
18area formed by the combined territorial boundaries of all participating political
19subdivisions.
SB205,9,2120 2. For a participating political subdivision that is a county, "jurisdictional area"
21includes the county jurisdictional area.
SB205,9,2322 (g) "Municipality" means any city, village, or town except any portion of a city,
23village, or town within a county jurisdictional area under sub. (3) (a) 2. or 3.
SB205,10,3
1(h) "Participating political subdivision" means a political subdivision that has
2adopted a resolution creating an authority or joining an established authority under
3this section.
SB205,10,44 (i) "Political subdivision" means a municipality or county.
SB205,10,145 (j) "Transit system" means all land, shops, structures, equipment, property,
6franchises, and rights of whatever nature required for transit of passengers within
7the jurisdictional area of the authority and outside the jurisdictional area of the
8authority. "Transit system" includes motor buses, fixed guideway transit,
9ridesharing, specialized transportation, motor vehicles, elevated railroads,
10subways, underground railroads, and any combination thereof, and any other form
11of mass transit, but does not include transportation excluded from the definition of
12"common motor carrier" under s. 194.01 (1), charter or contract operations to, from,
13or between points that are outside the jurisdictional area of the authority, or travel
14by aircraft flight.
SB205,10,22 15(2) Creation of transit authorities. (a) Subject to pars. (g), (i), and (j), the
16governing body of a political subdivision may, by resolution, declare the need for an
17authority to function in the political subdivision and may join together with one or
18more other political subdivisions to jointly create, by adopting identical resolutions,
19a public body corporate and politic in these political subdivisions. This public body
20shall be a separate governmental entity and shall be known as a "regional transit
21authority." The authority may transact business and exercise any powers granted
22to it under this section.
SB205,11,223 (b) Subject to pars. (g) and (i), if an authority has been created under par. (a),
24a political subdivision may join this authority if the governing body of this political
25subdivision adopts a resolution identical to the existing identical resolutions of the

1participating political subdivisions of the authority and the authority adopts a
2resolution allowing this political subdivision to join the authority.
SB205,11,43 (c) Any resolution under pars. (a) and (b) creating or joining an authority shall
4specify all of the following:
SB205,11,55 1. The name of the authority and a description or map of its jurisdictional area.
SB205,11,76 2. The purpose of the authority and the functions or services to be provided by
7the authority.
SB205,11,88 3. The powers, duties, and limitations of the authority.
SB205,11,139 4. The establishment and organization of a board of directors, in which all
10powers of the authority shall be vested. The resolution may permit the board of
11directors to create an executive committee of the board of directors to assist the board
12of directors in exercising its powers and duties, but these powers and duties may be
13carried out only by action of the board in compliance with subd. 7.
SB205,11,1814 5. The number of directors, the manner of their appointment, the required
15representation, if any, for each participating political subdivision and city, village, or
16town within a county jurisdictional area designated under sub. (3) (a) 2. or 3., the
17terms of their office, their compensation, if any, and the procedure for filling
18vacancies on the board of directors.
SB205,11,2019 6. The manner of selection of the officers of the authority and their powers,
20duties, and limitations.
SB205,11,2321 7. The voting requirements for action by the board of directors. At least a
22majority vote of the authorized directors is necessary for any action to be taken by
23the board of directors.
SB205,12,3
18. The duties of the board of directors, including the obligation to comply with
2this section and the laws of this state and with the terms of the resolutions adopted
3under this section.
SB205,12,44 9. The method of financing the formation and operation of the authority.
SB205,12,135 10. If taxes may be imposed by the authority under sub. (4) (s), the maximum
6rate of the taxes that may be imposed by the authority under sub. (4) (s), including
7the initial limit on the rate of taxes that may be imposed by the authority, if any, not
8to exceed the maximum rate specified in s. 77.708 (1). The rate of the taxes that may
9be imposed by the authority under sub. (4) (s) shall be uniform among all cities,
10villages, and towns within the authority's jurisdictional area that are within the
11same county. For purposes of this subdivision, an authority may declare a
12participating political subdivision with territory in the jurisdictional area of the
13authority and in more than one county to be wholly within one of those counties.
SB205,12,1714 11. A transit plan or previously approved transit plan for the authority or
15reference to a transit plan or previously approved transit plan set forth in detail
16elsewhere. A transit plan under this subdivision shall provide opportunity for public
17involvement in the transit plan development process.
SB205,12,2118 12. Subject to sub. (13), a procedure by which a participating political
19subdivision may withdraw from the authority and provisions for the disposition,
20division, or distribution of any property, assets, and obligations of the authority on
21withdrawal of a participating political subdivision or on dissolution of the authority.
SB205,13,222 (d) Subject to par. (e), a resolution under par. (a) or (b) shall be approved by at
23least a majority vote of the members of the governing body of the political
24subdivision. The governing body of the political subdivision may also require that
25the resolution be ratified by the electors at a referendum held in the area of the

1political subdivision that would be within the jurisdictional area of the authority
2under the resolution.
SB205,13,83 (e) At least 30 days before approving a resolution under par. (a) or (b), the
4governing body of a political subdivision shall hold a public hearing on the resolution.
5Notice of the hearing shall be published as a class 3 notice under ch. 985. At the
6public hearing, the governing body of the political subdivision shall solicit comments
7and recommendations on the preferred method under par. (d) for approving the
8resolution.
SB205,13,129 (f) 1. A county may not be a participating political subdivision in an authority
10under this section if it is a participating political subdivision of an authority
11authorized under any other statute, except an authority created under s. 59.58 (6)
12(a) 1.
SB205,13,1413 2. Subject to subd. 3., a county may be a participating political subdivision in
14more than one authority under this section.
SB205,13,1615 3. No portion of a city, village, or town may be included in the jurisdictional area
16of more than one authority.
SB205,13,1917 (g) If an authority created under par. (a) includes as a participating political
18subdivision a county that has designated a county jurisdictional area under sub. (3)
19(a) 1., the authority shall also include at least one municipality within that county.
SB205,14,420 (h) If an authority has been created under this subsection, the participating
21political subdivisions of the authority may amend or modify their original
22resolutions creating or joining the authority if, after any amendment or modification,
23the resolutions of all participating political subdivisions of the authority remain
24identical and continue to satisfy the requirements under this section for the creation
25of an authority, except the requirement under par. (e). Any such amendment or

1modification of the original resolutions creating or joining the authority does not
2create a new authority unless specifically provided otherwise in the amendment or
3modification, even if the amendment or modification is undertaken for the purpose
4of including additional participating political subdivisions in the authority.
SB205,14,125 (i) 1. Subject to subd. 2., an identical resolution under par. (a) or (b) that is
6approved by a municipality under par. (d) is not effective unless approved by the
7county that contains the geographical area of the municipality to be included in the
8authority within 45 days of submission of the resolution to that county for approval.
9For a county to withhold its approval under this paragraph, the county must adopt
10a resolution by which the county declares its intention to create an authority that will
11include the municipality in the authority's jurisdictional area, and declares that it
12will commence, or has commenced, a study relating to the creation of the authority.
SB205,14,1413 2. An identical resolution that is not approved by a county under subd. 1. may
14go into effect, without county approval, unless each of the following occurs:
SB205,14,1715 a. The county that withheld approval completes its study relating to the
16creation of the authority under subd. 1. within 18 months after the county first
17withheld its approval of the resolution.
SB205,14,2018 b. All of the geographic area of the municipality that is within the county that
19withheld approval is included within the jurisdictional area of an authority within
2024 months after the county first withheld its approval of the resolution.
SB205,14,2321 (j) A county that has designated a county jurisdictional area under sub. (3) (a)
222. or 3. may create an authority without joining together with one or more other
23political subdivisions to create the authority.
SB205,15,2 24(3) County jurisdictional area. (a) Subject to par. (c), a county that is a
25participating political subdivision in an authority must designate, by resolution, the

1county jurisdictional area of the authority. The county jurisdictional area shall be
2one of the following:
SB205,15,53 1. The portion of the county that is within the combined territorial boundaries
4of each of the cities, villages, and towns in the county that are also participating
5political subdivisions of the authority.
SB205,15,66 2. The territorial boundaries of the county.
SB205,15,107 3. The combined territorial boundaries of each of the cities, villages, and towns
8in the county with at least 75 percent of their populations residing within a
9metropolitan planning area, as defined in 23 USC 134 (b) (1), at the time of
10designation by the county.
SB205,15,1411 (b) Under par. (a) 3., counties that contain all or a part of more than one
12metropolitan planning area may designate a county jurisdictional area for one or
13more of the metropolitan planning areas for inclusion in the same authority or
14different authorities.
SB205,15,1815 (c) A county may not designate a county jurisdictional area under par. (a) 2. or
163. without prior approval, by resolution, by each city, village, town, or tribal
17government wholly or partially within the proposed county jurisdictional area that
18is any of the following:
SB205,15,2219 1. The owner, operator, or controlling authority of a transit system that serves
20at least 10 percent of the passengers, as expressed in unlinked trips, served by all
21transit systems in the county on average over the 3 years preceding creation of the
22authority, as determined by the department of transportation.
SB205,15,2323 2. A participating political subdivision in an authority.
SB205,15,25 24(4) Powers. Notwithstanding s. 59.84 (2) and any other provision of this
25chapter or ch. 59 or 85, an authority may do all of the following:
SB205,16,2
1(a) Establish, maintain, and operate a comprehensive unified local transit
2system primarily for the transportation of persons.
SB205,16,63 (b) Acquire a comprehensive unified local transit system by purchase,
4condemnation under s. 32.05, or otherwise and provide funds for the operation and
5maintenance of the system. Upon the acquisition of a comprehensive unified local
6transit system, the authority may:
SB205,16,87 1. Operate and maintain it or lease it to an operator or contract for its use by
8an operator.
SB205,16,109 2. Contract for superintendence of the system with an organization that has
10personnel with the requisite experience and skill.
SB205,16,1311 3. Delegate responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the system to
12an appropriate administrative officer, board, or commission of a participating
13political subdivision.
SB205,16,1614 4. Work with the department of transportation to maintain and improve
15railroad rights-of-way and improvements on these rights-of-way for future transit
16use.
SB205,16,1817 (c) Contract with a public or private organization to provide transit services in
18lieu of directly providing these services.
SB205,16,2019 (d) Purchase and lease transit facilities to public or private transit companies
20that operate within and outside the jurisdictional area.
SB205,16,2221 (e) Apply for federal or other aids to purchase transit facilities or operate a
22transit system.
SB205,17,623 (f) Coordinate, provide, or assist in providing specialized transportation
24services, as defined in s. 85.21 (2) (g), for individuals who are disabled or aged 60 or
25older, including services funded under 42 USC 3001 to 3057n, 42 USC 5001, and 42

1USC 5011 (b), under ss. 49.43 to 49.499 and 85.21, and under other public funds
2administered by the county. An authority may contract with a county that is a
3participating political subdivision for the authority to provide specialized
4transportation services, but an authority is not an eligible applicant under s. 85.21
5(2) (e) and may not receive payments directly from the department of transportation
6under s. 85.21.
SB205,17,97 (g) Acquire, own, hold, use, lease as lessor or lessee, sell or otherwise dispose
8of, mortgage, pledge, or grant a security interest in any real or personal property or
9service.
SB205,17,1110 (h) Acquire property by condemnation using the procedure under s. 32.05 for
11the purposes set forth in this section.
SB205,17,1812 (i) Enter upon any state, county, or municipal street, road, or alley, or any public
13highway for the purpose of installing, maintaining, and operating the authority's
14facilities. Whenever the work is to be done in a state, county, or municipal highway,
15street, road, or alley, the public authority having control thereof shall be duly
16notified, and the highway, street, road, or alley shall be restored to as good a condition
17as existed before the commencement of the work with all costs incident to the work
18to be borne by the authority.
SB205,17,2019 (j) Fix, maintain, and revise fees, rates, rents, and charges for functions,
20facilities, and services provided by the authority.
SB205,17,2221 (k) Make, and from time to time amend and repeal, bylaws, rules, and
22regulations to carry into effect the powers and purposes of the authority.
SB205,17,2323 (L) Sue and be sued in its own name.
SB205,17,2424 (m) Have and use a corporate seal.
SB205,18,3
1(n) Employ agents, consultants, and employees, engage professional services,
2and purchase such furniture, stationery, and other supplies and materials as are
3reasonably necessary to perform its duties and exercise its powers.
SB205,18,54 (o) Incur debts, liabilities, or obligations including the borrowing of money and
5the issuance of bonds under subs. (7) and (10).
SB205,18,96 (p) Invest any funds held in reserve or sinking funds, or any funds not required
7for immediate disbursement, including the proceeds from the sale of any bonds, in
8such obligations, securities, and other investments as the authority deems proper in
9accordance with s. 66.0603 (1m).
SB205,18,1110 (q) Do and perform any acts and things authorized by this section under,
11through, or by means of an agent or by contracts with any person.
SB205,18,1412 (r) Exercise any other powers that the board of directors considers necessary
13and convenient to effectuate the purposes of the authority, including providing for
14passenger safety.
SB205,18,2115 (s) Impose, by the adoption of a resolution by the board of directors, the taxes
16under subch. V of ch. 77 in the authority's jurisdictional area. If an authority adopts
17a resolution to impose the taxes, it shall deliver a certified copy of the resolution to
18the department of revenue at least 120 days before its effective date. The authority
19may, by adoption of a resolution by the board of directors, repeal the imposition of
20taxes under subch. V of ch. 77 and shall deliver a certified copy of the repeal
21resolution to the department of revenue at least 120 days before its effective date.
SB205,19,5 22(5) Limitations on authority powers. (a) Whenever the proposed operations
23of an authority would be competitive with the operations of a common carrier in
24existence prior to the time the authority commences operations, the authority shall
25coordinate proposed operations with the common carrier to eliminate adverse

1financial impact for the carrier. This coordination may include route overlapping,
2transfers, transfer points, schedule coordination, joint use of facilities, lease of route
3service, and acquisition of route and corollary equipment. If this coordination does
4not result in mutual agreement, the proposals of the authority and the common
5carrier shall be submitted to the department of transportation for arbitration.
SB205,19,86 (b) In exercising its powers under sub. (4), an authority shall consider any plan
7of a metropolitan planning organization under 23 USC 134 that covers any portion
8of the authority's jurisdictional area.
SB205,19,109 (c) An authority must revise its transit plan under sub. (2) (c) 11. at least once
10every 5 years.
SB205,19,14 11(6) Authority obligations to employees of mass transit systems. (a) An
12authority acquiring a comprehensive unified local transit system shall assume all of
13the employer's obligations under any contract between the employees and
14management of the system to the extent allowed by law.
SB205,19,2515 (b) An authority acquiring, constructing, controlling, operating, or contracting
16for the superintendence of or operation of a comprehensive unified local transit
17system shall negotiate an agreement with the representative of the labor
18organization, notwithstanding s. 111.70 (2), (3), and (6), that covers the employees
19affected by the acquisition, construction, control, or operation to protect the interests
20of employees affected. This agreement shall include all of the provisions identified
21in s. 59.58 (4) (b) 1. to 8. and may include provisions identified in s. 59.58 (4) (c). An
22affected employee has all the rights and the same status under subch. IV of ch. 111
23that he or she enjoyed immediately before the acquisition, construction, control, or
24operation and may not be required to serve a probationary period if he or she attained
25permanent status before the acquisition, construction, control, or operation.
SB205,20,2
1(c) In all negotiations under this subsection, a senior executive officer of the
2authority shall be a member of the authority's negotiating body.
SB205,20,7 3(7) Bonds; generally. (a) An authority may issue bonds, the principal and
4interest on which are payable exclusively from all or a portion of any revenues
5received by the authority. The authority may secure its bonds by a pledge of any
6income or revenues from any operations, rent, aids, grants, subsidies, contributions,
7or other source of moneys whatsoever.
SB205,20,98 (b) An authority may issue bonds in such principal amounts as the authority
9deems necessary.
SB205,20,1310 (c) Except with respect to refunding bonds under sub. (10), bond proceeds may
11be used only for capital expenditures related to the acquisition of transit system
12equipment having a useful life of at least 5 years. This paragraph does not apply to
13expenditures made for the acquisition of all or part of an existing transit system.
SB205,20,1614 (d) 1. Neither the members of the board of directors of an authority nor any
15person executing the bonds is personally liable on the bonds by reason of the issuance
16of the bonds.
SB205,20,2117 2. The bonds of an authority are not a debt of the participating political
18subdivisions. Neither the participating political subdivisions nor the state is liable
19for the payment of the bonds. The bonds of any authority shall be payable only out
20of funds or properties of the authority. The bonds of the authority shall state the
21restrictions contained in this paragraph on the face of the bonds.
SB205,21,7 22(8) Issuance of bonds. (a) Bonds of an authority shall be authorized by
23resolution of the board of directors. The bonds may be issued under such a resolution
24or under a trust indenture or other security instrument. The bonds may be issued
25in one or more series and may be in the form of coupon bonds or registered bonds

1under s. 67.09. The bonds shall bear the dates, mature at the times, bear interest
2at the rates, be in the denominations, have the rank or priority, be executed in the
3manner, be payable in the medium of payment and at the places, and be subject to
4the terms of redemption, with or without premium, as the resolution, trust
5indenture, or other security instrument provides. Bonds of an authority are issued
6for an essential public and governmental purpose and are public instrumentalities
7and, together with interest and income, are exempt from taxes.
SB205,21,98 (b) The authority may sell the bonds at public or private sales at the price or
9prices determined by the authority.
SB205,21,1310 (c) If an officer whose signatures appear on any bonds or coupons ceases to be
11an officer of the authority before the delivery of the bonds or coupons, the officer's
12signature shall, nevertheless, be valid for all purposes as if the officer had remained
13in office until delivery of the bonds or coupons.
SB205,21,15 14(9) Covenants. An authority may do all of the following in connection with the
15issuance of bonds:
SB205,21,1616 (a) Covenant as to the use of any or all of its property, real or personal.
SB205,21,1817 (b) Redeem the bonds, or covenant for the redemption of the bonds, and provide
18the terms and conditions of the redemption.
SB205,21,2419 (c) Covenant as to charge fees, rates, rents, and charges sufficient to meet
20operating and maintenance expenses, renewals, and replacements of any transit
21system, principal and debt service on bonds, creation and maintenance of any
22reserves required by a bond resolution, trust indenture, or other security instrument
23and to provide for any margins or coverages over and above debt service on the bonds
24that the board of directors considers desirable for the marketability of the bonds.
SB205,22,5
1(d) Covenant as to the events of default on the bonds and the terms and
2conditions upon which the bonds shall become or may be declared due before
3maturity, as to the terms and conditions upon which this declaration and its
4consequences may be waived, and as to the consequences of default and the remedies
5of bondholders.
SB205,22,86 (e) Covenant as to the mortgage or pledge of, or the grant of a security interest
7in, any real or personal property and all or any part of the revenues of the authority
8to secure the payment of bonds, subject to any agreements with the bondholders.
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