66.295
66.295
Authority to pay for public work done in good faith. 66.295(1)(1) If any city, village, town or county has received and enjoyed or is enjoying any benefits or improvements furnished prior to March 1, 1973, under any contract which was no legal obligation on such city, village, town or county and which contract was entered into in good faith and has been fully performed and the work has been accepted by the proper officials, so as to impose a moral obligation upon such city, village, town or county to pay therefor, such city, village, town or county, by resolution of its governing body and in consideration of such moral obligation, may pay to the person furnishing such benefits or improvements the fair and reasonable value of such benefits and improvements.
66.295(2)
(2) The fair and reasonable value of such benefits and improvements and the funds out of which payment therefor shall be made shall be determined by the governing body of the city, village, town or county. Such payments may be made out of any available funds, and the governing body has authority, if necessary, to levy and collect taxes in sufficient amount to meet such payments.
66.295(3)
(3) Where payment for any benefits or improvements under
subs. (1) and
(2) is authorized by the governing body of the city, village or town and where special assessments shall have been levied for any portion of the benefits or improvements prior to the authorization of such payment, the local authorities shall proceed to make a new assessment of benefits and damages in the manner provided for the original assessment, except that steps required in the laws relating to the original assessment to be taken prior to the ordering or doing of such benefits or improvements may be taken after the authorization of such payment with the same effect as if taken prior to the ordering or doing of such benefits or improvements. The owner of any property affected by a reassessment may appeal in the same manner as from an original assessment. On a reassessment, full credit shall be given for all money collected under an original assessment for the benefits and improvements.
66.295 History
History: 1973 c. 97;
1993 a. 246.
66.295 Annotation
When work has been performed for a municipality under a contract which is void or unenforceable, a cause of action for unjust enrichment can be maintained with damages limited to the actual cost to the plaintiff and not exceeding the unit cost of the original contract; any recovery being limited to the value of the actual benefit conferred. Blum v. Hillsboro, 49 W (2d) 667, 183 NW (2d) 47 (1971).
66.296
66.296
Discontinuance of streets and alleys. 66.296(1)
(1) The whole or any part of any road, street, slip, pier, lane or paved alley, in any 2nd, 3rd or 4th class city or in any village or town, may be discontinued by the common council or village or town board upon the written petition of the owners of all the frontage of the lots and lands abutting upon the portion thereof sought to be discontinued, and of the owners of more than one-third of the frontage of the lots and lands abutting on that portion of the remainder thereof which lies within 2,650 feet of the ends of the portion to be discontinued, or lies within so much of that 2,650 feet as shall be within the corporate limits of the city, village or town. The beginning and ending of an alley shall be considered to be within the block in which it is located. This subsection does not apply to a highway upon the line between 2 towns that is subject to
s. 80.11.
66.296(1m)
(1m) The whole or any part of any unpaved alley in any 2nd, 3rd or 4th class city or in any village or town may be discontinued by the common council or village or town board upon the written petition of the owners of more than 50% of the frontage of the lots and lands abutting upon the portion thereof sought to be discontinued. The beginning and ending of an alley shall be considered to be within the block in which it is located. This subsection does not apply to a highway upon the line between 2 towns that is subject to
s. 80.11.
66.296(2)(a)(a) As an alternative, proceedings covered by this section may be initiated by the common council or village or town board by the introduction of a resolution declaring that since the public interest requires it, the whole or any part of any road, street, slip, pier, lane or alley in the city, village or town is thereby vacated and discontinued.
66.296(2)(b)
(b) A hearing on the passage of such resolution shall be set by the common council or village or town board on a date which shall not be less than 40 days thereafter. Notice of the hearing shall be given as provided in
sub. (5), except that in addition notice of such hearing shall be served on the owners of all of the frontage of the lots and lands abutting upon the portion thereof sought to be discontinued in a manner provided for the service of summons in circuit court at least 30 days before such hearing. When such service cannot be made within the city, village or town, a copy of the notice shall be mailed to the owner's last-known address at least 30 days before the hearing.
66.296(2)(c)
(c) No discontinuance of the whole or any part of any road, street, slip, pier, lane or paved alley shall be ordered if a written objection to the proposed discontinuance is filed with the city, village or town clerk by any of the owners abutting on the portion sought to be discontinued or by the owners of more than one-third of the frontage of the lots and lands abutting on that portion of the remainder thereof which lies within 2,650 feet from the ends of the portion proposed to be discontinued; or which lies within so much of said 2,650 feet as shall be within the corporate limits of the city, village or town. The beginning and ending of an alley shall be considered to be within the block in which it is located.
66.296(2)(d)
(d) No discontinuance of an unpaved alley shall be ordered if a written objection to a proposed discontinuance is filed with the city, village or town clerk by the owner of one parcel of land that abuts the portion of the alley to be discontinued and if the alley provides the only access to off-street parking for the parcel of land owned by the objector.
66.296(2m)
(2m) For the purpose of this section, the narrowing, widening, extending or other alteration of any road, street, lane or alley does not constitute a discontinuance of any part of the former road, street, lane or alley, including any right-of-way, which is included within the right-of-way for the new road, street, lane or alley.
66.296(3)
(3) Whenever any of the lots or lands subject to this section is owned by the state, county, city, village or town, or by a minor or incompetent person, or the title thereof is held in trust, as to all lots and lands so owned or held, petitions for discontinuance or objections to discontinuance may be signed by the governor, chairperson of the board of supervisors of the county, mayor of the city, president of the village, chairperson of the town board, guardian of the minor or incompetent person, or the trustee, respectively, and the signature of any private corporation may be made by its president, secretary or other principal officer or managing agent.
66.296(4)
(4) The city council or village or town board may by resolution discontinue any alley or any portion thereof which has been abandoned, at any time after the expiration of 5 years from the date of the recording of the plat by which it was dedicated. Failure or neglect to work or use any alley or any portion thereof for a period of 5 years next preceding the date of notice provided for in
sub. (5) shall be considered an abandonment for the purpose of this section.
66.296(5)
(5) Notice stating when and where the petition or resolution will be acted upon and stating what road, street, slip, pier, lane or alley, or part thereof, is proposed to be discontinued, shall be published as a class 3 notice, under
ch. 985.
66.296(6)
(6) In proceedings under this section,
s. 840.11 shall be considered as a part of the proceedings.
66.296 History
History: 1973 c. 189 s.
20; Sup. Ct. Order, 67 W (2d) 585, 774 (1975);
1975 c. 46;
1993 a. 184,
246,
491;
1995 a. 239.
66.296 Cross-reference
Cross-reference: See s.
236.43 for other provisions for vacating streets.
66.296 Annotation
The enactment of sub. (2m) did not eliminate any vested rights of abutting property owners. Miller v. City of Wauwatosa, 87 W (2d) 676, 275 NW (2d) 876 (1979).
66.296 Annotation
Discussion of who is a property owner with veto rights under sub. (2) (c). Voss v. City of Middleton, 162 W (2d) 737, 470 NW (2d) 625 (1991).
66.297
66.297
Discontinuance of public grounds. 66.297(1)
(1) In every city of the 1st class, the common council may vacate in whole or in part such highways, streets, alleys, grounds, waterways, public walks and other public grounds within the corporate limits of the city as in its opinion the public interest requires to be vacated or are of no public utility, subject to
s. 80.32 (4). Such proceedings shall be commenced either by a petition presented to the common council signed by the owners of all property which abuts upon the portion of the public facilities proposed to be vacated, or by a resolution adopted by the common council. The requirements of
s. 840.11 shall apply to proceedings under this section.
66.297(2)
(2) All petitions or resolutions shall be referred to a committee of the common council for a public hearing on such proposed discontinuance and at least 7 days shall elapse between the date of the last service and the date of such hearing. A notice of such hearing shall be served on the owners of record of all property which abuts upon the portion of the public facilities proposed to be vacated, in the manner provided for service of a summons.
66.297(3)
(3) If the common council initiates a discontinuance proceeding by resolution without a petition signed by all of the owners of the property which abuts the public facility proposed to be discontinued, any owner of property abutting such public facility whose property is damaged thereby may recover such damages as provided in
ch. 32.
66.297(4)
(4) The common council may also order that an assessment of benefits be made and when so ordered the assessment shall be made as provided in
s. 66.60.
66.297 History
History: 1973 c. 189 s.
20; Sup. Ct. Order, 67 W (2d) 585, 774 (1975).
66.298
66.298
Pedestrian malls. After referring the matter to the plan commission for report under
s. 62.23 (5), or the town zoning committee under
s. 60.61 (4), and after holding a public hearing on the matter with publication of a Class 1 notice of the hearing, the governing body of any city or village, or any town board acting under
s. 60.61 or
60.62, may by ordinance designate any street, road or public way or any part thereof wholly within its jurisdiction as a pedestrian mall and prohibit or limit the use thereof by vehicular traffic. Creation of such pedestrian malls shall not constitute a discontinuance or vacation of such street, road or public way under
s. 66.296 or
236.43.
66.298 History
History: 1993 a. 246.
66.299
66.299
Local governmental purchasing. 66.299(1)(a)
(a) "Local governmental unit" means a political subdivision of this state, a special purpose district in this state, an agency or corporation of such a political subdivision or special purpose district, or a combination or subunit of any of the foregoing.
66.299(2)
(2) Intergovernmental purchases without bids. Notwithstanding any statute requiring bids for public purchases, any local governmental unit may make purchases from another unit of government, including the state or federal government, without the intervention of bids.
66.299(3)
(3) Purchase of recycled materials. 66.299(3)(a)1.1. A local governmental unit shall, to the extent practicable, make purchasing selections using specifications developed under
s. 16.72 (2) (e) to maximize the purchase of products utilizing recycled or recovered materials.
66.299(3)(a)2.
2. Each local governmental unit shall ensure that the average recycled or recovered content of all paper purchased by the local governmental unit measured as a proportion, by weight, of the fiber content of all paper products purchased in a year, is not less than the following:
66.299(4)
(4) Purchase of recyclable materials. A local governmental unit shall, to the extent practicable, make purchasing selections using specifications prepared under
s. 16.72 (2) (f).
66.299(5)
(5) Life cycle cost estimate. A local governmental unit shall award each order or contract for materials, supplies or equipment on the basis of life cycle cost estimates whenever that action is appropriate. The terms, conditions and evaluation criteria to be applied shall be incorporated into the solicitation of bids or proposals. The life cycle cost formula may include, but is not limited to, the applicable costs of energy efficiency, acquisition and conversion, money, transportation, warehousing and distribution, training, operation and maintenance, and disposition or resale.
66.299 History
History: 1979 c. 122;
1989 a. 335.
66.30
66.30
Intergovernmental cooperation. 66.30(1)(a)(a) In this section "municipality" means the state or any department or agency thereof, or any city, village, town, county, school district, public library system, public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district, sanitary district, farm drainage district, metropolitan sewerage district, sewer utility district, solid waste management system created under
s. 59.70 (2), local exposition district created under
subch. II of ch. 229, local professional baseball park district created under
subch. III of ch. 229, water utility district, mosquito control district, municipal electric company, county or city transit commission, commission created by contract under this section, taxation district or regional planning commission.
66.30(1)(b)
(b) If the purpose of the intergovernmental cooperation is the establishment of a joint transit commission, "municipality" means any city, village, town or county.
66.30(2)
(2) In addition to the provisions of any other statutes specifically authorizing cooperation between municipalities, unless such statutes specifically exclude action under this section, any municipality may contract with other municipalities and with federally recognized Indian tribes and bands in this state, for the receipt or furnishing of services or the joint exercise of any power or duty required or authorized by law. If municipal or tribal parties to a contract have varying powers or duties under the law, each may act under the contract to the extent of its lawful powers and duties. This section shall be interpreted liberally in favor of cooperative action between municipalities and between municipalities and Indian tribes and bands in this state.
66.30(2g)
(2g) Any municipality, housing authority, development authority or redevelopment authority authorized under
ss. 66.40 to
66.435:
66.30(2g)(a)
(a) To issue bonds or obtain other types of financing in furtherance of its statutory purposes may cooperate with any other municipality, housing authority, development authority or redevelopment authority similarly authorized under
ss. 66.40 to
66.435 for the purpose of jointly issuing bonds or obtaining other types of financing.
66.30(2g)(b)
(b) To plan, undertake, own, construct, operate and contract with respect to any housing project in accordance with its statutory purposes under
ss. 66.40 to
66.435, may cooperate for the joint exercise of such functions with any other municipality, housing authority, development authority or redevelopment authority so authorized.
66.30(2m)(a)(a) The university of Wisconsin may furnish, and school districts may accept, services for educational study and research projects and they may enter into contracts under this section for that purpose.
66.30(2m)(b)
(b) A group of school districts, if authorized by each school board, may form a nonprofit-sharing corporation to contract with the state or the university of Wisconsin system for the furnishing of the services specified in
par. (a).
66.30(2m)(c)
(c) The corporation shall be organized under
ch. 181 and shall have the powers there applicable. Members of the boards specified in
par. (b) may serve as incorporators, directors and officers of the corporation.
66.30(2m)(d)
(d) The property of the corporation shall be exempt from taxation.
66.30(2m)(e)
(e) The corporation may receive gifts and grants and be subject to their use, control and investment as provided in
s. 118.27, and the transfer of the property to the corporation shall be exempt from income, franchise and death taxes.
66.30(3)
(3) Any such contract may provide a plan for administration of the function or project, which may include, without limitation because of enumeration, provisions as to proration of the expenses involved, deposit and disbursement of funds appropriated, submission and approval of budgets, creation of a commission, selection and removal of commissioners, formation and letting of contracts.
66.30(3m)
(3m) A commission created by contract under
sub. (2) may finance the acquisition, development, remodeling, construction and equipment of land, buildings and facilities for regional projects under
s. 66.066. Participating municipalities acting jointly or separately may finance such projects, or an agreed share of the cost thereof, under
ch. 67.
66.30(3n)
(3n) No commission created by contract under this section is authorized, directly or indirectly, to acquire, construct or lease facilities used or useful in the business of a public utility engaged in production, transmission, delivery or furnishing of heat, light, power, natural gas or communications service, by any method except those set forth under this chapter or
ch. 196,
197 or
198.
66.30(3p)
(3p) The authority now or hereafter conferred by law on commissions created by contract under this section shall not include the right, power or authority to establish, lay out, construct, improve, discontinue, relocate, widen or maintain any road or highway outside the corporate limits of a village or city or to acquire lands for such purposes except upon approval of the department of transportation and the county board of the county and the town board of the town in which the road is to be located.
66.30(4)
(4) Any such contract may bind the contracting parties for the length of time specified therein.
66.30(5)
(5) Any municipality may contract with municipalities of another state for the receipt or furnishing of services or the joint exercise of any power or duty required or authorized by statute to the extent that laws of such other state or of the United States permit such joint exercise.
66.30(5)(a)
(a) Every agreement made under this subsection shall, prior to and as a condition precedent to taking effect, be submitted to the attorney general who shall determine whether the agreement is in proper form and compatible with the laws of this state. The attorney general shall approve any agreement submitted hereunder unless the attorney general finds that it does not meet the conditions set forth herein and details in writing addressed to the concerned municipal governing bodies the specific respects in which the proposed agreement fails to meet the requirements of law. Failure to disapprove an agreement submitted hereunder within 90 days of its submission shall constitute approval thereof. The attorney general, upon submission of an agreement hereunder, shall transmit a copy of the agreement to the governor who shall consult with any state department or agency affected by the agreement. The governor shall forward to the attorney general any comments the governor may have concerning the agreement.
66.30(5)(b)
(b) An agreement entered into under this subsection shall have the status of an interstate compact, but in any case or controversy involving performance or interpretation thereof or liability thereunder, the municipalities party thereto shall be real parties in interest and the state may commence an action to recoup or otherwise make itself whole for any damages or liability which it may incur by reason of being joined as a party therein. Such action may be maintained against any municipality whose act or omission caused or contributed to the incurring of damage or liability by the state.
66.30(6)(a)2.
2. "School district" means a common, union high, unified or 1st class city school district.
66.30(6)(b)
(b) Two or more school boards of school districts may by written contract executed by all participants to the contract, own, construct, lease or otherwise acquire school facilities including real estate located within or outside the boundaries of any participating school district.
66.30(6)(c)
(c) School district boards entering into a contract under this subsection may, without limitation because of enumeration:
66.30(6)(c)1.
1. Provide for acquisition, construction, operation and administration of a facility, and establish the functions, projects and services to be provided in the facility, including, without limitation because of enumeration, proration of all expenses involved, operational and fiscal management including deposit and disbursement of funds appropriated, designation of the municipal employer for purposes of compliance with
s. 111.70, teacher retirement, worker's compensation and unemployment insurance.
66.30(6)(c)2.
2. Purchase real estate and personal property, including a fractional or other interest in the real estate and personal property and enter into leases for sites, building and equipment for a term not exceeding 50 years.
66.30(6)(c)4.
4. Issue municipal obligations subject to the procedures and limitations of
ch. 67.
66.30(6)(c)5.
5. Provide the terms and conditions for accepting additional school districts as participants in the plan and for withdrawal from or termination of the contract including apportionment of assets and liabilities.
66.30(6)(d)
(d) A contract entered into under this subsection shall at all times be limited to a period of 50 years but may, by mutual written consent of all participants, be modified or extended beyond the initial term.
66.30(6)(f)
(f) A contract or any extension of the contract of over 5 years duration which includes a common or union high school district participant shall be approved by the annual or special school district meeting.
66.30(6)(g)
(g) At least 30 days prior to entering into a contract under this subsection or a modification or extension of the contract, the school boards of the districts involved or their designated agent shall file the proposed agreement with the state superintendent of public instruction to enable the state superintendent or state superintendent's designee to assist and advise the school boards involved in regard to the applicable recognized accounting procedure for the administration of the school aid programs. The state superintendent shall review the terms of the proposed contract to ensure that each participating district's interests are protected.
66.30(6)(h)
(h) School district boards entering into a contract under this subsection shall designate for each employe providing services under the contract either a school district entering into the contract or a cooperative educational service agency under
ch. 116 as the employer for purposes of compliance with
s. 111.70, teacher's retirement, worker's compensation and unemployment insurance.
66.30 History
History: 1971 c. 143,
152,
211;
1973 c. 301;
1975 c. 123,
228;
1977 c. 26 s.
75;
1977 c. 29 s.
1654 (8) (c);
1977 c. 418;
1979 c. 122;
1981 c. 20,
190,
247,
282,
390;
1983 a. 189 ss.
55,
329 (17);
1983 a. 207;
1985 a. 29,
225;
1987 a. 27,
403;
1989 a. 335;
1991 a. 39,
316;
1993 a. 246,
263,
406;
1995 a. 27,
56,
201;
1997 a. 27,
39.
66.30 Note
NOTE: 1993 Wis. Act 406, which amends subs. (1) (b) and (2), contains extensive explanatory notes.
66.30 Annotation
Where a municipality's power to contract is improperly or irregularly exercised and the municipality receives a benefit under the contract, it is estopped from asserting the invalidity of contract. Village of McFarland v. Town of Dunn, 82 W (2d) 469, 263 NW (2d) 167.
66.30 Annotation
There is some latitude under this section for counties to contract with municipalities within the county to furnish or supplement certain law enforcement services in the municipality. 58 Atty. Gen. 72.
66.30 Annotation
No legal authority for the creation of a City-County Metropolitan Police Agency exists at present. 60 Atty. Gen. 85.
66.30 Annotation
Cooperative planning among municipalities allowed by s. 66.30 includes only planning collateral to the organization, implementation and administration of specific projects; the authority for general multi-jurisdictional planning is found in s. 66.945. 60 Atty. Gen. 313.
66.30 Annotation
A county may contract to furnish certain law enforcement services to cities, villages and towns within the county but cannot take over all law enforcement functions. A deputy sheriff may not be designated as a city police chief. 65 Atty. Gen. 47.
