66.01(2)(a)(a) A "charter ordinance" is any ordinance which enacts, amends or repeals the whole or any part of the charter of a city or village, or makes the election mentioned in
sub. (4). Such charter ordinance shall be so designated, shall require a two-thirds vote of the members-elect of the legislative body of such city or village, and shall be subject to referendum as hereinafter prescribed.
66.01(2)(b)
(b) Every charter ordinance which amends or repeals the whole or any part of a city or village charter shall designate specifically the portion of the charter so amended or repealed, and every charter ordinance which makes the election mentioned in
sub. (4) shall designate specifically each enactment of the legislature or portion thereof, made inapplicable to such city or village by the election mentioned in
sub. (4).
66.01(3)
(3) Every enactment, amendment or repeal of the whole or any part of the charter of any city or village shall be published as a class 1 notice, under
ch. 985, shall be recorded by the clerk in a permanent book kept for that purpose, with a statement of the manner of its adoption, and a certified copy thereof shall be filed by said clerk with the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall keep a separate index of all charter ordinances, arranged alphabetically by city and village and summarizing each ordinance, and annually shall issue such a list of charter ordinances filed during the 12 months prior to July 1.
66.01(3a)
(3a) Every charter ordinance enacted under s.
66.01, 1943 stats., which was adopted by the governing body prior to December 31, 1944, and which also was published prior to that date in the official newspaper of the city or village, or, if there was none, in a newspaper having general circulation in the city or village, shall be valid as of the date of the original publication notwithstanding the failure to publish the ordinance under s.
10.43 (5) and
(6), 1943 stats.
66.01(4)
(4) Any city or village may elect in the manner prescribed in this section that the whole or any part of any laws relating to the local affairs and government of such city or village other than such enactments of the legislature of statewide concern as shall with uniformity affect every city or every village shall not apply to such city or village, and thereupon such laws or parts thereof shall cease to be in effect in such city or village.
66.01(5)
(5) Any city or village by charter ordinance may make the election mentioned in
sub. (4) of this section, or enact, amend or repeal the whole or any part of its charter; but such ordinance shall not take effect until 60 days after its passage and publication. If within such 60 days a petition conforming to the requirements of
s. 8.40 signed by a number of electors of the city or village equal to not less than 7% of the votes cast therein for governor at the last general election shall be filed in the office of the clerk of said city or village demanding that such ordinance be submitted to a vote of the electors it shall not take effect until submitted to a referendum and approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon. Said petition and the proceedings for its submission shall be governed by
s. 9.20 (2) to
(6).
66.01(6)
(6) Any charter ordinance may be initiated in the manner provided in
s. 9.20 (1) to
(6), but alternative adoption thereof by the legislative body shall be subject to referendum as provided in
sub. (5) of this section.
66.01(7)
(7) Any charter ordinance may be submitted to a referendum by the legislative body, in the manner prescribed in
s. 9.20 (4) to
(6), without initiative petition, and shall become effective when approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon.
66.01(8)
(8) Every charter, charter amendment or charter ordinance enacted or approved by a vote of the electors shall control and prevail over any prior or subsequent act of the legislative body of the city or village. Whenever the electors of any city or village by a majority vote have adopted or determined to continue to operate under either
ch. 62 or
64, or have determined the method of selection of members of the governing board, the question shall not again be submitted to the electors, nor action taken thereon within a period of 2 years. Any election to change or amend the charter of any city or village, other than a special election as provided in
s. 9.20 (4), shall be held at the time provided by statute for holding the spring election.
66.01(9)
(9) The legislative body of any city or village, by resolution adopted by a two-thirds vote of its members-elect may, and upon petition complying with
s. 9.20 shall, submit to the electors in the manner prescribed in
s. 9.20 (4) to
(6) the question of holding a charter convention under one or more plans proposed in said resolution or petition.
66.01(10)
(10) The ballot shall be in substantially the following form:
Shall a charter convention be held?
YES ⍽ NO ⍽
If a charter convention be held what plan do you favor?
PLAN 1 ⍽ PLAN 2 ⍽
[Repeat for each plan proposed.]
Mark an [X] in the square to the RIGHT of the plan you select.
If a majority of the electors voting thereon vote for a charter convention, such convention shall be held pursuant to the plan favored by a majority of the total votes cast for all plans. If no plan receives a majority, the 2 plans receiving the highest number of votes shall be again submitted to the electors and a convention shall thereupon be held pursuant to the plan favored by a majority of the votes cast.
66.01(11)
(11) Such charter convention shall have power to adopt a charter or amendments to the existing charter. Such charter or charter amendments adopted by such convention shall be certified, as soon as may be, by the presiding officer and secretary thereof to the city or village clerk and shall thereupon be submitted to the electors in the manner prescribed in
s. 9.20 (4) to
(6), without the alternative mentioned therein, and shall take effect only when approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon.
66.01(12)
(12) Nothing in this section shall be construed to impair the right of cities or villages under existing or future authority to enact ordinances or resolutions other than charter ordinances.
66.01(14)
(14) All laws relating to public instruction, under
article X, sections 1 to 5, of the constitution, remain and shall continue in force for the establishment, administration and government of the district schools as heretofore, until amended or repealed by the legislature. The term "district schools" as here used, in addition to common schools includes, among others, any and all public high schools, trade schools, technical colleges, auxiliary departments for instruction of pupils who are deaf or of impaired speech or blind, and truancy or parental schools.
66.01(16)
(16) Any village having a population of 1,000 or more may proceed under this section to organize as a city of the appropriate class. The village may by charter or charter ordinance adopted under this section elect not to be governed by
ch. 62 or this chapter in whole or in part or may create such system of government as is deemed by the village to be most appropriate for its situation. The charter or charter ordinance may include provision for the following, without limitation because of enumeration: method of election of members of the council by districts, at-large or by a combination of methods, procedure for election of the first common council, creation and selection of all administrative officers, departments, boards and commissions, powers and duties of all officers, boards and commissions and terms of office. The charter or charter ordinance shall not alter those provisions of
ch. 62 dealing with police and fire departments or
chs. 115 to
121 dealing with education. Any village incorporated after August 12, 1959, may not become a city under this subsection unless it meets the standards for incorporation in
ss. 66.015 and
66.016.
66.01 Annotation
A charter ordinance must be legislative in character before it can be validly initiated by direct legislation. Save Our Paramedics v. Appleton, 131 W (2d) 366, 389 NW (2d) 43 (Ct. App. 1986).
66.01 Annotation
The city of Milwaukee cannot, by charter ordinance, adopt s. 62.13 (5) (b) since s. 62.13 deals with a subject of state-wide concern; it cannot do so under s. 62.03 since that requires the adoption of whole sections. 58 Atty. Gen. 59.
66.012
66.012
Towns may become cities. 66.012(1)
(1)
Petition. Whenever the resident population of any town exceeds 5,000 as shown by the last federal census or by a census herein provided for and is adjacent to a city of the first class and contains an equalized valuation in excess of $20,000,000 and a petition has been presented and signed by 100 or more persons, each an elector and taxpayer of said town, and, in addition thereto, said petition contains the signatures of at least one-half of the owners of real estate in said town which petition requests submission of the question to the electors of the town and is filed with the clerk of the town, the procedure for becoming a fourth class city is initiated.
66.012(2)
(2) Referendum. At the next regular meeting of the town board, said town board by resolution shall provide for a referendum by the electors of said town. The resolution shall observe the requirements of
s. 5.15 (1) and
(2) and shall determine the numbers and boundaries of each ward of the proposed city, the time of voting, which shall not be earlier than 6 weeks after the adoption of said resolution and said resolution may direct that a census be taken of the resident population of such territory as it may be on some day not more than 10 weeks previous to the date of the election, exhibiting the name of every head of a family and the name of every person a resident in good faith of such territory on such day, and the lot or quarter section of land on which that person resides, which shall be verified by the affidavit of the person taking the same affixed thereto.
66.012(3)
(3) Notice of referendum. Notice of the referendum shall be given by publication of the resolution in a newspaper published in such town, if there be one, otherwise in a newspaper designated in the resolution, once a week for 4 successive weeks, the first publication to be not more than 4 weeks before the referendum.
66.012(4)
(4) Voting procedure. The referendum shall be conducted in the same manner as elections for supervisors of the town board. The question appearing on the ballot shall be "Shall the town of .... become a 4th class city?". Below the question shall appear 2 squares. To the left of one square shall appear the words "For a city" and to the left of the other square shall appear the words "Against a city". The inspectors shall make a return to the clerk of such town.
66.012(5)
(5) Certificate of incorporation. If a majority of the votes are cast in favor of a city the clerk shall certify the fact to the secretary of state, together with the result of the census if any, and 4 copies of a description of the legal boundaries of the town and 4 copies of a plat thereof, whereupon the secretary of state shall issue a certificate of incorporation, and record the same in a book kept for that purpose. Two copies of the description and plat shall be forwarded by the secretary of state to the department of transportation and one copy to the department of revenue.
66.012(6)
(6) City powers. Every city thus incorporated shall thenceforth be a body corporate and politic, with the powers and privileges of a municipal corporation at common law and conferred by
ch. 62.
66.012(7)(a)(a) Ordinances in force in the territory or any part thereof, so far as not inconsistent with
ch. 62, shall continue in force until altered or repealed.
66.012(7)(b)
(b) A county shoreland zoning ordinance enacted under
s. 59.692 that is in force in any part of the territory shall continue in force until altered under
s. 59.692 (7) (ad).
66.012(8)
(8) Interim officers. All officers of the town embracing the territory thus incorporated as a city shall continue in their powers and duties as theretofore until the first meeting of the common council at which a quorum is present. Until a city clerk shall have been chosen and qualified all oaths of office and other papers shall be filed with the clerk, with whom the petition was filed, who shall deliver them with the petition to the city clerk when the city clerk shall have qualified.
66.012(9)
(9) First city election. Within 10 days after incorporation of the city, the board with the clerk of which the petition was filed shall fix a time for the first city election, designate the polling place or places, and name 3 inspectors of election for each place. Ten days' previous notice of the election shall be given by the clerk by publication in the newspapers selected under
sub. (3) and by posting notices in 3 public places in the city. Failure to give such notice does not invalidate the election. The election shall be conducted as is prescribed by
chs. 5 to
12, except that no registration of voters shall be required. The inspectors shall make returns to the board which shall, within one week after the election, canvass the returns and declare the result. The clerk shall notify the officers-elect and issue certificates of election. If the first election is on the first Tuesday in April the officers so elected shall commence and hold their offices as for a regular term, as shall also their appointees. Otherwise they shall commence within 10 days and hold until the regular city election and the qualification of their successors, and the term of their appointees shall expire as soon as successors qualify.
66.012 Annotation
"Adjacent" under sub. (1) means "contiguous", not "near". City of Waukesha v. Salbashian, 128 W (2d) 334, 382 NW (2d) 52 (1986).
66.013
66.013
Incorporation of villages and cities; purpose and definitions. 66.013(1)(1)
Purpose. It is declared to be the policy of this state that the development of territory from town to incorporated status proceed in an orderly and uniform manner and that toward this end each proposed incorporation of territory as a village or city be reviewed as provided in
ss. 66.013 to
66.019 to assure compliance with certain minimum standards which take into account the needs of both urban and rural areas.
66.013(2)(a)
(a) "Department" means the department of administration.
66.013(2)(b)
(b) "Population" means the population of a local unit as shown by the last federal census or by any subsequent population estimate certified as acceptable by the department.
66.013(2)(c)
(c) "Metropolitan community" means the territory consisting of any city having a population of 25,000 or more, or any 2 incorporated municipalities whose boundaries are within 5 miles of each other whose populations aggregate 25,000, plus all the contiguous area which has a population density of 100 persons or more per square mile, or which the department has determined on the basis of population trends and other pertinent facts will have a minimum density of 100 persons per square mile within 3 years.
66.013(2)(d)
(d) "Metropolitan municipality" means any existing or proposed village or city entirely or partly within a metropolitan community.
66.013(2)(e)
(e) "Isolated municipality" means any existing or proposed village or city entirely outside any metropolitan community at the time of its incorporation.
66.014
66.014
Procedure for incorporation of villages and cities. 66.014(1)(1)
Notice of intention. At least 10 days and not more than 20 days before the circulation of an incorporation petition, a notice setting forth that the petition is to be circulated and including an accurate description of the territory involved shall be published within the county in which said territory is located as a class 1 notice, under
ch. 985.
66.014(2)(a)(a) The petition for incorporation of a village or city shall be in writing signed by 50 or more persons who are both electors and freeholders in the territory to be incorporated if the population of the proposed village or city includes 300 or more persons; otherwise by 25 or more such electors and freeholders.
66.014(2)(b)
(b) The petition shall be addressed to and filed with the circuit court of a county in which all or a major part of the territory to be incorporated is located; and the incorporation petition shall be void unless filed within 6 months of the date of publication of the notice of intention to circulate.
66.014(2)(c)
(c) The petition shall designate a representative of the petitioners, and an alternate, who shall be an elector or freeholder in the territory, and state that person's address; describe the territory to be incorporated with sufficient accuracy to determine its location and have attached thereto a scale map reasonably showing the boundaries thereof; specify the current resident population of the territory by number in accordance with the definition given in
s. 66.013 (2) (b); set forth facts substantially establishing the standards for incorporation required herein; and request the circuit court to order a referendum and to certify the incorporation of the village or city when it is found that all requirements have been met.
66.014(2)(e)
(e) No person who has signed a petition shall be permitted to withdraw his or her name therefrom. No additional signatures shall be added after a petition is filed.
66.014(2)(f)
(f) The circulation of the petition shall commence not less than 10 days nor more than 20 days after the date of publication of the notice of intention to circulate.
66.014(3)(a)(a) Upon the filing of the petition the circuit court shall by order fix a time and place for a hearing giving preference to such hearing over other matters on the court calendar.
66.014(3)(b)
(b) The court may in its discretion by order allow costs and disbursements as provided for actions in circuit court in any proceeding under this subsection.
66.014(3)(c)
(c) The court may in its discretion, upon notice to all parties who have appeared in the hearing and after a hearing thereon, order the petitioners or any of the opponents to post bond in such amount as it deems sufficient to cover such disbursements.
66.014(4)(a)(a) Notice of the filing of the petition and of the date of the hearing thereon before the circuit court shall be published in the territory to be incorporated, as a class 2 notice, under
ch. 985, and given by certified or registered mail to the clerk of each town in which the territory is located and to the clerk of each metropolitan municipality of the metropolitan community in which the territory is located. The mailing shall be not less than 10 days prior to the time set for the hearing.
66.014(4)(b)1.
1. A description of the territory sufficiently accurate to determine its location and a statement that a scale map reasonably showing the boundaries of the territory is on file with the circuit court.
66.014(4)(b)2.
2. The name of each town in which the territory is located.
66.014(4)(b)3.
3. The name and post-office address of the representative of the petitioners.
66.014(5)
(5) Parties. Any governmental unit entitled to notice pursuant to
sub. (4), any school district which lies at least partly in the territory or any other person found by the court to be a party in interest may become a party to the proceeding prior to the time set for the hearing.
66.014(6)
(6) Annexation resolution. Any municipality whose boundaries are contiguous to the territory may also file with the circuit court a certified copy of a resolution adopted by a two-thirds vote of the elected members of the governing body indicating a willingness to annex the territory designated in the incorporation petition. The resolution shall be filed at or prior to the hearing on the incorporation petition, or any adjournment granted for this purpose by the court.
66.014(7)(a)(a) No action to contest the validity of an incorporation on any grounds whatsoever, whether procedural or jurisdictional shall be commenced after 60 days from the date of issuance of the charter of incorporation by the secretary of state.
66.014(7)(b)
(b) An action contesting an incorporation shall be given preference in the circuit court.
66.014(8)(a)(a) After the filing of the petition and proof of notice, the circuit court shall conduct a hearing at the time and place specified in the notice, or at a time and place to which the hearing is duly adjourned.
66.014(8)(b)
(b) On the basis of the hearing the circuit court shall find if the standards under
s. 66.015 are met. If the court finds that the standards are not met, the court shall dismiss the petition. If the court finds that the standards are met the court shall refer the petition to the department and thereupon the department shall determine whether or not the standards under
s. 66.016 are met.
66.014(9)(a)(a) Upon receipt of the petition from the circuit court the department shall make such investigation as may be necessary to apply the standards under
s. 66.016.
66.014(9)(b)
(b) Within 20 days after the receipt by the department of the petition from the circuit court, any party in interest may request a hearing. Upon receipt of the request, the department shall schedule a hearing at a place in or convenient to the territory sought to be incorporated.
66.014(9)(c)
(c) Notice of the hearing shall be given in the territory to be incorporated by publishing a class 2 notice, under
ch. 985, and by mailing the notice to the designated representative of the petitioners or any 5 petitioners and to all town and municipal clerks entitled to receive mailed notice of the petition under
sub. (4).
66.014(9)(d)
(d) Unless the court sets a different time limit, the department shall prepare its findings and determination citing the evidence in support thereof within 90 days after receipt of the reference from the court. The findings and determination shall be forwarded by the department to the circuit court. Copies of the findings and determination shall be sent by certified or registered mail to the designated representative of the petitioners, and to all town and municipal clerks entitled to receive mailed notice of the petition under
sub. (4).
66.014(9)(e)2.
2. The petition as submitted shall be granted and an incorporation referendum held;
66.014(9)(e)3.
3. The petition as submitted shall be dismissed with a recommendation that a new petition be submitted to include more or less territory as specified in the department's findings and determination.
66.014(9)(f)
(f) If the department determines that the petition shall be dismissed, the circuit court shall issue an order dismissing the petition. If the department grants the petition the circuit court shall order an incorporation referendum as provided in
s. 66.018.
66.014(9)(g)
(g) The findings of both the court and the department shall be based upon facts as they existed at the time of the filing of the petition.
66.014(9)(h)
(h) Except for an incorporation petition which describes the territory recommended by the department under
s. 66.014 (9) (e) 3., no petition for the incorporation of the same or substantially the same territory may be entertained for one year following the date of the denial of the petition or the date of any election at which incorporation was rejected by the electors.
