DOR Bill Changes Timing of CPI for ERP Purposes and Board of Review Training

February 15, 2021 | Number 7

DOR Bill Changes Timing of Calculating CPI for ERP Purposes

Both the Senate and the Assembly are meeting on the floor tomorrow. One of the bills of interest to municipalities that both houses are scheduled to take up is AB 2/SB 2, a package of changes to laws and programs administered by the Department of Revenue (DOR). The League supports the bill because it changes the date DOR must calculate CPI for the Expenditure Restraint Program from September to August, which better aligns with the timing of local budgeting.

The bill also requires all members of boards of review to complete DOR sanctioned training each year, except that only one member needs to attend training in-person each year. 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.

It is uncertain whether Governor Evers will sign this bill into law once it reaches his desk. That is because last week the Republican controlled Joint Finance Committee amended the bill to allow businesses to deduct from their state income taxes the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds they received in 2020 from the federal COVID relief legislation. Congress made the PPP loans tax deductible at the federal level late last year. Eliminating state taxes on PPP loans would cost the state $540 million over three years.

Read a LFB memo explaining the amendment to AB 2/SB 2 here.

Governor Introducing 2021-2023 State Budget Tomorrow

Governor Evers is set to deliver his state budget address tomorrow at 7:00. The details of his 2021-2023 state budget proposal will be released shortly before his speech. League staff will publish a Capitol Buzz tomorrow night summarizing features of the budget affecting municipalities. Over the last several weeks, the Governor has announced various policy highlights from his recommended state budget, including a provision allowing municipalities over 30,000 in population and counties to seek permission from the voters in a referendum to impose a .5 percent local sales tax. Read more about the local sales tax proposal here.

Reforming Wisconsin's Mental Health Emergency Detention Process

Last week, a coalition of municipal law enforcement, hospitals, medical professionals, county and state health services, mental health advocates, and legal professionals announced recommendations to reform Wisconsin’s emergency detention process and increase the availability of behavioral health services.

Read the media release from the coalition here.

Read the recommendations here .

RECENTLY INTRODUCED LEGISLATION

SB 99, Throwing or Expelling a Bodily Substance at a Public Safety Worker or Prosecutor. Under current law, if a prisoner throws or expels bodily substances at or toward an officer or other person in the prison or facility, a court may order the prisoner to undergo testing for communicable diseases if there is probable cause to believe that there was potential for transmitting a communicable disease to the victim. This bill allows a court to require such testing for any criminal defendant who throws or a bodily substance at or toward a public safety worker or a prosecutor. Senator Bernier (R-Chippewa Falls) and Representative James (R-Altoona). The League supports this bill.

PUBLIC HEARINGS THIS WEEK

No public hearings on municipal bills of interest scheduled this week.

Senate Floor Session - Tuesday, February 16th at 11:00 am

Assembly Floor Session - Tuesday, February 16th at 1:00 pm

Watch both live on Wisconsin Eye.

Governor's Budget Address - The Governor will deliver his 2021-2023 budget message virtually 7 p.m. on Tuesday, February 16, 2021

IN THE NEWS

Gov. Evers proposes allowing communities to raise sales tax

"Wisconsin is way behind the times on how it funds local governments," said Jerry Deschane, executive director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities. "To have this discussion is tremendous progress." Watch the interview.

Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce Encourages Support for Evers Sales Tax Proposal

“For more than a decade, MMAC has been working to find ways to restructure our state and local tax systems in a way that encourages economic growth.” said Sheehy. “Allowing referenda asking local voters for permission to raise additional sales tax revenue increases local taxpayer control of their own communities’ financial destiny and diversifies the revenue options available to local governments.” Read the article. Click here to comment on this article on the League's LinkedIn page or click here to access it on the League's Facebook page.

COVID-19 pandemic takes toll on Wisconsin transportation fund revenues

The top two revenue sources for the state’s transportation fund — fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees — fell short of projections by more than $116 million combined in fiscal year 2020, which ended June 30, the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum reported Friday. The transportation fund is Wisconsin’s primary source for road and infrastructure projects. Read the article. Read the Wisconsin Policy Forum Report "Transportation Revenues Sputter Amid Pandemic."

Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association asks for clerks, poll works to be in 1B vaccine group

The Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association (WMCA) Board of Directors voted Monday to request all clerks, their staff and poll workers be included in Covid-19 Vaccine Group 1B. Read the article. Read the letter that the League sent urging municipal employees be added to the 1B vaccine group.

Wisconsin sees slow but significant shift in state and local spending

This report, which looks at state and local spending in Wisconsin and nationally through 2017, was commissioned by the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, the Wisconsin Realtors Association, and the Greater Milwaukee Committee.

While the state accounted for only 37% of combined state and local spending in 1977, it was responsible for nearly half (47.5%) by 2017. This trend likely reflects a variety of factors, including lagging state aid to local governments; state limits on local property tax levies and school district revenues; growth in state revenues such as the income tax; and upward pressure on state spending in areas such as Medicaid health care for the needy. Read the article. Click here to comment, like or share the article on the League's LinkedIn page.