66.0316(1)(f)
(f) "Political subdivision" means any city, village, town, or county with a population greater than 2,500.
66.0316(2)
(2) Pilot program. The department shall establish a pilot program to study governmental services delivered by and to political subdivisions. The department shall solicit political subdivisions to participate in the program. Based on the department's solicitation, the department shall select 5 political subdivisions to form councils as provided under
sub. (3) and shall include in that selection at least one county and at least one city, village, or town.
66.0316(3)(a)(a) No later than January 1, 2002, each political subdivision selected under
sub. (2) shall create a council consisting of 5 members, as follows:
66.0316(3)(a)1.
1. The chief executive officer of the political subdivision, or his or her designee.
66.0316(3)(a)2.
2. A member who is an employee of the political subdivision.
66.0316(3)(a)3.
3. A member with cost accounting experience who is a resident of the political subdivision and who is not a political subdivision officer or employee.
66.0316(3)(a)4.
4. Two members, not including the member under
subd. 3., who are residents of the political subdivision and who are not political subdivision officers or employees.
66.0316(3)(b)
(b) The political subdivision's chief executive officer shall appoint the council members under
par. (a) 2. to
4. The chief executive officer shall appoint 2 members to initial terms of 2 years and the remaining 2 members to initial terms of 4 years. The chief executive officer shall appoint the respective successors of the members under
par. (a) 2. to
4. to terms of 4 years. All members under
par. (a) 2. to
4. shall serve until their successors are appointed and qualified.
66.0316(3)(c)
(c) The council shall organize annually at its first meeting to elect a chairperson. Four members of the council shall constitute a quorum.
66.0316(4)
(4) Duties of council. The council shall conduct an analysis of governmental services provided by the political subdivision with which the council is affiliated. In conducting such an analysis, the council shall do all of the following:
66.0316(4)(a)
(a) Establish specific benchmarks for performance, including goals related to intergovernmental cooperation to provide governmental services.
66.0316(4)(b)
(b) Conduct research and establish new methods to promote efficiency in the delivery of governmental services.
66.0316(4)(c)
(c) Identify and recommend collaborative agreements to be developed with other political subdivisions to deliver governmental services.
66.0316(5)(a)(a) A council may conduct an analysis of a governmental service provided by the political subdivision with which the council is affiliated on its own or after receiving any of the following:
66.0316(5)(a)1.
1. A written suggestion regarding delegating a governmental service to a private person.
66.0316(5)(a)2.
2. A written complaint that a governmental service provided by the political subdivision is competing with the same or a similar service provided by a private person.
66.0316(5)(a)3.
3. A written suggestion by a political subdivision employee or political subdivision employee labor organization to review a governmental service delegated to a private person.
66.0316(5)(b)
(b) After receiving a suggestion or complaint under
par. (a), the council shall meet to decide whether an analysis of the governmental service indicated in the suggestion or complaint is necessary. The council may hold hearings, conduct inquiries, and gather data to make its decision. If the council decides to analyze a governmental service under this paragraph, the council shall do all of the following:
66.0316(5)(b)1.
1. Determine the costs of providing the governmental service, including the cost of personnel and capital assets used in providing the service.
66.0316(5)(b)2.
2. Determine how often and to what extent the governmental service is provided and the quality of the governmental service provided.
66.0316(5)(b)3.
3. Make a cost-benefit determination based on the findings under
subds. 1. and
2.
66.0316(5)(b)4.
4. Determine whether a private person can provide the governmental service at a cost savings to the political subdivision providing the service and at a quality at least equal to the quality of the service provided by the political subdivision.
66.0316(5)(b)5.
5. If the council decides that a governmental service is not suitable for delegating to a private person, determine whether the governmental service should be retained in its present form, modified, or eliminated.
66.0316(5)(c)
(c) After completing an analysis under
par. (b), the council shall make a recommendation to the political subdivision providing the governmental service analyzed under
par. (b) and publish the council's recommendation. The recommendation shall specify the recommendation's impact on the political subdivision and the political subdivision's employees.
66.0316(6)
(6) Training and assistance. The board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System shall direct the extension to assist councils created under this section in performing their duties under
subs. (4) and
(5). The board of regents shall ensure that council members are trained in how to do all of the following:
66.0316(6)(b)
(b) Determine ways to improve the efficiency of delivering a governmental service.
66.0316(6)(c)
(c) Establish, quantify, and monitor performance standards.
66.0316(7)(a)(a) On or before June 30, 2002, each council shall submit a report to the department describing the council's activities.
66.0316(7)(b)
(b) On or before June 30, 2003, each council shall submit a final report to the department describing the council's activities and recommendations and the extent to which its recommendations have been adopted by the political subdivision with which the council is affiliated. A report submitted under this paragraph shall provide a detailed explanation of all analyses conducted under
subs. (4) and
(5).
66.0316(7)(c)
(c) On or before July 31, 2003, the department shall submit a report concerning the activities and recommendations described in the reports submitted under
pars. (a) and
(b) to the legislature under
s. 13.172 (2) and to the governor. The department's report shall describe ways to implement such recommendations statewide.
66.0316 History
History: 2001 a. 16.
66.0317
66.0317
Cooperation region. 66.0317(1)(a)
(a) "Cooperation region" means a federal standard metropolitan statistical area. For purposes of this section, if only a part of a county is located in a federal standard metropolitan statistical area the entire county is considered to be located in the federal standard metropolitan statistical area.
66.0317(1)(c)
(c) "Metropolitan service delivery" means any governmental service provided to a city that is provided by the city or by another city or by a town, village, or county and provided on a multijurisdictional basis.
66.0317(1)(d)
(d) "Municipality" means any city, village, or town.
66.0317(2)(a)1.1. Except as provided in
subd. 3., beginning in 2003, a municipality shall enter into an area cooperation compact with at least 2 municipalities or counties located in the same cooperation region as the municipality, or with any combination of at least 2 such entities, to perform at least 2 governmental services.
66.0317(2)(a)3.
3. A municipality that is not adjacent to at least 2 other municipalities located in the same cooperation region as the municipality may enter into a cooperation compact with any adjacent municipality or with the county in which the municipality is located to perform the number of governmental services as specified under
subd. 1.
66.0317(2)(b)
(b) An area cooperation compact shall provide a plan for any municipalities or counties that enter into the compact to collaborate to provide governmental services. The compact shall provide benchmarks to measure the plan's progress and provide outcome-based performance measures to evaluate the plan's success. Municipalities and counties that enter into the compact shall structure the compact in a way that results in significant tax savings to taxpayers within those municipalities and counties.
66.0317 History
History: 2001 a. 16,
106;
2005 a. 164.
REGULATION
66.0401
66.0401
Regulation relating to solar and wind energy systems. 66.0401(1)(1)
Authority to restrict systems limited. No county, city, town, or village may place any restriction, either directly or in effect, on the installation or use of a solar energy system, as defined in
s. 13.48 (2) (h) 1. g., or a wind energy system, as defined in
s. 66.0403 (1) (m), unless the restriction satisfies one of the following conditions:
66.0401(1)(a)
(a) Serves to preserve or protect the public health or safety.
66.0401(1)(b)
(b) Does not significantly increase the cost of the system or significantly decrease its efficiency.
66.0401(1)(c)
(c) Allows for an alternative system of comparable cost and efficiency.
66.0401(2)
(2) Authority to require trimming of blocking vegetation. A county, city, village, or town may provide by ordinance for the trimming of vegetation that blocks solar energy, as defined in
s. 66.0403 (1) (k), from a collector surface, as defined under
s. 700.41 (2) (b), or that blocks wind from a wind energy system, as defined in
s. 66.0403 (1) (m). The ordinance may include, but is not limited to, a designation of responsibility for the costs of the trimming. The ordinance may not require the trimming of vegetation that was planted by the owner or occupant of the property on which the vegetation is located before the installation of the solar or wind energy system.
66.0401 History
History: 1981 c. 354;
1981 c. 391 s.
210;
1993 a. 414;
1999 a. 150 ss.
78,
79,
84; Stats. 1999 s. 66.0401;
2001 a. 30.
66.0401 Annotation
This section is a legislative restriction on the ability of municipalities to regulate solar and wind energy systems. The statute is not superceded by s. 66.0403 or municipal zoning or conditional use powers. A municipality's consideration of an application for a conditional use permit for a system under this section must be in light of the restrictions placed on local regulation by this section. State ex rel. Numrich v. City of Mequon Board of Zoning Appeals, 2001 WI App 88,
242 Wis. 2d 677,
626 N.W.2d 366,
00-1643.
66.0403
66.0403
Solar and wind access permits. 66.0403(1)(a)
(a) "Agency" means the governing body of a municipality which has provided for granting a permit or the agency which the governing body of a municipality creates or designates under
sub. (2). "Agency" includes an officer or employee of the municipality.
66.0403(1)(b)
(b) "Applicant" means an owner applying for a permit under this section.
66.0403(1)(c)
(c) "Application" means an application for a permit under this section.
66.0403(1)(d)
(d) "Collector surface" means any part of a solar collector that absorbs solar energy for use in the collector's energy transformation process. "Collector surface" does not include frames, supports and mounting hardware.
66.0403(1)(e)
(e) "Collector use period" means 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. standard time daily.
66.0403(1)(f)
(f) "Impermissible interference" means the blockage of wind from a wind energy system or solar energy from a collector surface or proposed collector surface for which a permit has been granted under this section during a collector use period if such blockage is by any structure or vegetation on property, an owner of which was notified under
sub. (3) (b). "Impermissible interference" does not include:
66.0403(1)(f)1.
1. Blockage by a narrow protrusion, including but not limited to a pole or wire, which does not substantially interfere with absorption of solar energy by a solar collector or does not substantially block wind from a wind energy system.
66.0403(1)(f)2.
2. Blockage by any structure constructed, under construction or for which a building permit has been applied for before the date the last notice is mailed or delivered under
sub. (3) (b).
66.0403(1)(f)3.
3. Blockage by any vegetation planted before the date the last notice is mailed or delivered under
sub. (3) (b) unless a municipality by ordinance under
sub. (2) defines impermissible interference to include such vegetation.
66.0403(1)(g)
(g) "Municipality" means any county with a zoning ordinance under
s. 59.69, any town with a zoning ordinance under
s. 60.61, any city with a zoning ordinance under
s. 62.23 (7), any 1st class city or any village with a zoning ordinance under
s. 61.35.
66.0403(1)(h)
(h) "Owner" means at least one owner, as defined under
s. 66.0217 (1) (d), of a property or the personal representative of at least one owner.
66.0403(1)(i)
(i) "Permit" means a solar access permit or a wind access permit issued under this section.
66.0403(1)(j)
(j) "Solar collector" means a device, structure or a part of a device or structure a substantial purpose of which is to transform solar energy into thermal, mechanical, chemical or electrical energy.
66.0403(1)(k)
(k) "Solar energy" means direct radiant energy received from the sun.
66.0403(1)(L)
(L) "Standard time" means the solar time of the ninetieth meridian west of Greenwich.
66.0403(1)(m)
(m) "Wind energy system" means equipment that converts and then stores or transfers energy from the wind into usable forms of energy.
66.0403(2)
(2) Permit procedure. The governing body of every municipality may provide for granting a permit. A permit may not affect any land except land which, at the time the permit is granted, is within the territorial limits of the municipality or is subject to an extraterritorial zoning ordinance adopted under
s. 62.23 (7a), except that a permit issued by a city or village may not affect extraterritorial land subject to a zoning ordinance adopted by a county or a town. The governing body may appoint itself as the agency to process applications or may create or designate another agency to grant permits. The governing body may provide by ordinance that a fee be charged to cover the costs of processing applications. The governing body may adopt an ordinance with any provision it deems necessary for granting a permit under this section, including but not limited to:
66.0403(2)(b)
(b) Defining an impermissible interference to include vegetation planted before the date the last notice is mailed or delivered under
sub. (3) (b), provided that the permit holder shall be responsible for the cost of trimming such vegetation.
66.0403(3)(a)(a) In a municipality which provides for granting a permit under this section, an owner who has installed or intends to install a solar collector or wind energy system may apply to an agency for a permit.
66.0403(3)(b)
(b) An agency shall determine if an application is satisfactorily completed and shall notify the applicant of its determination. If an applicant receives notice that an application has been satisfactorily completed, the applicant shall deliver by certified mail or by hand a notice to the owner of any property which the applicant proposes to be restricted by the permit under
sub. (7). The applicant shall submit to the agency a copy of a signed receipt for every notice delivered under this paragraph. The agency shall supply the notice form. The information on the form may include, without limitation because of enumeration:
66.0403(3)(b)1.
1. The name and address of the applicant, and the address of the land upon which the solar collector or wind energy system is or will be located.
66.0403(3)(b)3.
3. That the permit, if granted, may affect the rights of the notified owner to develop his or her property and to plant vegetation.
66.0403(3)(b)4.
4. The telephone number, address and office hours of the agency.
