Amended Version of Transfer of Services Levy Limit Bill Problematic
Last week, the Assembly passed an amended version of AB 490, which would make a change to the levy limit law that is problematic. While the League supported AB 490 as introduced and its goal of promoting intergovernmental cooperation, we are opposed to the amended version of the bill.

The substitute amendment repeals sec. 66.0602(3)(b) in its entirety, which would prevent a community from being able to increase its levy to pay for the cost of providing a service that had previously been performed by another local government. 

Currently, when a local government (such as a county) transfers a service (e.g., discontinues or gives it up) requiring another local government (such as a city, village or town) to take it over, the “Transfer of Service” provision in the levy limit law allows the municipality taking over the service to exceed its levy limit to cover the cost of the new service while the jurisdiction giving up the service must reduce its allowable levy by the amount of the cost of the service it is no longer providing. See sec. 66.0602(3)(a) & (b). 

AB 490, as originally introduced, allowed the jurisdiction discontinuing the service to not have to reduce its allowable levy. The bill was designed to create an incentive for communities to take advantage of efficiencies gained when one jurisdiction takes on services previously provided by many jurisdictions (e.g., individual communities discontinue dispatch centers and go with county dispatch).

The substitute amendment deletes both levy limit provisions (allowing an increase and requiring a decrease in levy limits). Under the substitute amendment, a municipality giving up a service keeps
their levy limit the same and so does the municipality taking it over.

We are concerned that under the substitute amendment, if a county were to unilaterally discontinue a service and force a city, village or town to pick it up - the city, village or town would need to either shift revenue away from other services to provide the new service or go to the voters and ask permission to exceed levy limits to take on the new service without cutting other services. The substitute
amendment will create an incentive for local governments to transfer costly services over to other local governments - to free up spending. The receiving community and their local taxpayers will
have no recourse but to forgo the service, pick up the service by dropping other services, or go to a referendum seeking permission to exceed levy limits.

The League continues to discuss a possible compromise with legislators and other stakeholders. A compromise we have proposed would allow local governments to be exempt from making levy limit adjustments when services are transferred from one jurisdiction to another only when the local governments involved in the transfer have entered into an agreement.
Assembly Passes Municipal Court Bill
Last week, the Assembly passed SB 214, making numerous changes to municipal ordinance enforcement and municipal court procedures. The Senate passed the bill in November. The League supports the bill, which has been forwarded to Governor Evers for his signature.
Both the Assembly and Senate are on the Floor this Week
The following bills affecting municipalities are on today's Assembly calendar:

AB 310, Timing of Levy Limit Referendums. Enabling municipalities to conduct referendums to exceed levy limits earlier in the year than November, which is the only time such referendums may be conducted under current law. The League helped initiate this bill with the Wisconsin Counties Association.

AB 323, Fire Fighting Foam. Regulating the use of fire fighting foam containing PFAS. The League supports this bill.

AB 544, Workforce Housing Grant Program. Requiring WHEDA to establish a workforce housing pilot program and allocate $10,000,000 of its surplus fund to make awards under the pilot program. Under the pilot program, WHEDA may award grants, loans, loan guarantees, or other financial assistance to encourage the creation of single- and multi-family workforce housing. An eligible project must be located in a county in which more than 25 percent of the residents live in a rural area. (According to information WHEDA supplied to the Legislature, the following counties would not meet the rural standard: Brown, Dane, Eau Claire, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Outagamie, Racine, Waukesha, and Winnebago.) The League supports the amended version of this bill.

The Senate is taking up the following bills affecting municipalities today:

SB 96, Appealing Excessive Assessments. Modifying the process for filing actions for excessive property tax assessments, which is one of the three bills introduced by the Legislative Council Study Committee on Property Tax Assessment Practices (aka, the Dark Store Study Committee). The League supports this bill.

SB 310, Fire Fighting Foam. Regulating the use of fire fighting foam containing PFAS. The League supports this bill.

SB 511  PTSD Workers Comp Claims. Changing the standard for making claims for compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder by police officers and fire fighters under the worker's compensation law. The League is neutral on this bill.
IN THE NEWS

Wind, waves cause more than $10 million in damage along Lake Michigan coastline, Milwaukee Co. says
Emergency managers estimate it will cost $1.5 million to fix issues at the Port of Milwaukee alone. Altogether, the county believes it's more than enough to qualify for state disaster relief and federal funding. Read the story...

Mayor outlines major city projects for 2020 and beyond
The Kenosha native immediately shifted the city’s focus to infrastructure — road reconstruction, shoreline protection, underground lead piping and drainage — to rebuild a foundation capable of accommodating Kenosha’s rapid growth and evolving future.

This year, local residents should witness the early stages of a massive downtown redevelopment. The mayor’s $400 million Downtown Vision Project is an eight-square block (25 acres) undertaking proposed to include a new city hall, performing arts center, public park and hundreds of private residences. Read the story...

Refugee Resettlement In Wisconsin Leveled Off In 2019
In 2019, the refugees who arrived in Wisconsin hailed from more than a half-dozen nations, including Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine. However, a vast majority of arrivals were fleeing violence and persecution in two nations: Burma and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. More than 200 refugees originally from each nation arrived in Wisconsin in 2019. And, for the first time, more refugees arrived in Wisconsin from an African nation than from any other, as the growing ranks of refugees from the Congo eclipsed those from Burma. Read the story...

Jerry Deschane, the League's Executive Director, and Mark O'Connell, the Wisconsin Counties Association Executive Director, discuss politics, rankings and more on the latest LocalGovMatters Podcast. LocalGovMatters is back as a partnership between the League and the Wisconsin Counties Association. Episodes will be available every two weeks beginning with the inaugural episode on January 15. Listen to the podcast on your PC here or subscribe...
RECENTLY INTRODUCED BILLS

AB 740, Certification requirements for emergency medical responders. Prohibits the Department of Health Services from requiring an applicant who is applying for certification as an emergency medical responder to register with or take the examination of the National Registry of Emergency Medical
Technicians (NREMT). An ambulance service provider or another emergency medical services program is allowed to require an emergency medical responder to register with or take the examination of the NREMT. By Rep. Tranel (R-Cuba City) The League has not yet taken a position on this bill. Comment to the League about this bill.

AB 754, Department of Revenue Technical Clean-up Bill. Makes numerous changes to the laws administered and enforced by the
Department of Revenue, including:

Shared Revenue
Under current law, the state reduces the shared revenue payments to counties and municipalities for various purposes, including for the collection of penalties and the reimbursement for other amounts. However, current law is not consistent with regard to which components of shared revenue are reduced for these purposes. This
bill provides that all such reductions are from the payment of all shared revenue components that the counties and municipalities receive on the fourth Monday in July and the third Monday in November.

Expenditure Restraint Program
  • Under current law, counties and municipalities receive 15 percent of their shared revenue payments on the fourth Monday in July and the remainder on the third Monday in November, except that municipalities receive the entire amount of their payment under the expenditure restraint program on the fourth Monday in July. The bill allows municipalities to receive their entire expenditure restraint before the fourth Monday in July, upon certification by DOR.
  • Under current law, the inflation factor used to compute a municipality's expenditure restraint payment is a percentage equal to the average annual percentage change in the U.S. consumer price index for all urban consumers, U.S. city average, as determined by the U.S. Department of Labor, for the 12 months ending on September 30. The bill modifies the consumer price index provision so that it is for the 12 months ending on August 31. (The League requested this change be included in the bill.)

Manufacturing Assessment Objections
Current law requires a person who files an objection to the assessment of the person's manufacturing property to pay a $45 fee. The bill increases the filing fee to $200.

Board of review
Current law requires that at least one member of the board of review attend DOR training within the two-year period beginning on the date of the board's first meeting. The bill requires all members of the board of review to complete the training each year, except that only one member needs to attend training in-person each year.

Assessor certification
Current law requires a person applying for an assessor certification
examination to submit a $20 fee with the application. A person applying for a renewal of an assessor certification pays a $20 recertification fee with the application. The bill allows DOR to determine the amount of the fee for an assessor certification examination on the basis of DOR's estimate of the actual cost to
administer and grade the examination, but the fee may not exceed $75. The bill also allows DOR to determine the recertification fee.

Introduced by Rep. Wittke (R-Racine) at the request of DOR. The League is neutral on this bill.
PUBLIC HEARINGS ON MUNICIPAL BILLS

SB 483,  Authorizing two or more municipalities to create a single multi-jurisdictional Business Improvement District. By Senate Committee on Economic Development, Commerce and Trade, on Wednesday, January 22, at 2:00 p.m. in room 300 Southeast. The League supports this bill, which was initiated by the City of Milwaukee.

AB 48, Extending Repayment Period from 10 to 20 years for promissory notes issued by municipalities. By Assembly Committee on State Affairs, on Wednesday, January 22, at 10:00 a.m. in room 328 Northwest. The League supports this bill, which was recommended by the Legislative Council Study Committee on the Investment and Use of the School Trust Funds.

SB 565, Transport for emergency detention. By Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, on Wednesday, January 22, at 11:00 a.m in room 425 Southwest. The League supports this bill.

SB 665, Emergency medical services funding assistance. By Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, on Thursday, January 23, at 10:00 a.m. in room 411 South. The League supports this bill.

SB 666, Certification Requirements for Emergency medical Responders. By Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, on Thursday, January 23, at 10:00 a.m. in room 411 South. The League has no position on this bill.

AB 380, Federal emergency management assistance payments to municipalities. By Assembly Committee on Federalism and Interstate Relations, Thursday, January 23, at 11:00 a.m. in the North Hearing Room. The League supports this bill.

SB 484, Requiring WHEDA to establish a workforce housing pilot program and allocate $10,000,000 of its surplus fund to make awards under the program. By Senate Committee on Utilities and Housing, Thursday, January 23, at 9:00 a.m. in room 201 Southeast. The League supports this bill.

SB 637, Regulation of nonconforming buildings in a floodplain. By Senate Committee on Utilities and Housing, Thursday, January 23, at 9:00 a.m. in room 201 Southeast. The League supports this bill.

AB 754, Department of Revenue Technical Clean-up Bill. By Assembly Committee on Ways and Means, Thursday, January 23, at 10:00 a.m. in room 328 Northwest. The League is neutral on this bill.