Thank You Clerks and Poll Workers!

Thank you to all the municipal clerks and other poll workers for your work during today’s elections! While today will be a long day for many of you, we know that your work for each election extends well before election day and continues in the days and weeks after an election while juggling your other responsbilities. Your work does not go unnoticed and it certainly doesn’t go unappreciated! To all municipal officials, we encourage you to take a minute out of your day and express your appreciation for all the amazing work your city or village clerk and clerk’s office staff do for your local government and residents.

Governor Evers Continues His End-of-Session Work

With timing winding down in the 2025-2026 Legislative Session, the Governor has been making his way through the stack of bills the Legislature passed in the final few months of session. After the Governor’s actions on dozens of bills last week and yesterday including several major League initiatives such as PFAS liability and programs, increased bidding thresholds, and some housing bills, there’s still ten bills with League lobbying positions on the Governor’s desk with a deadline for action of this Thursday, April 9th. Learn more about the bills the Governor signed, a bill the Governor vetoed, and the bills remaining on his desk by clicking the button below. 

Municipalities Deliver on Legislature's Call for Innovation

The application period for Round 1 of the Innovation Grant Program closed last Tuesday, March 31st, and municipalities rose to the challenge in this opportunity for consolidation! 56 total applications were filed by the deadline, including 11 from cities and 22 from villages, or 59% of the total applications. Taking a closer look at the submissions, 44 of 56 include cities and villages (regardless of who filed the application), meaning 79% of all applications include League members!

If all 56 applications are approved, $17.4 million would be distributed in this round, totaling $86.8 million over the life of the grants. That equates to approximately 29% of the funds that could be committed after just one round of applications. 28 applications are for public safety with public works and administration (e.g., transferring administrator and clerk, IT, GIS, or assessment services) tied for second most common applications with 9 each.

The largest application was filed by the City of West Allis and City of Wauwatosa for $9,873,433 to create the Milwaukee Metro Fire Rescue. The smallest application was from Jefferson County and City of Watertown for $3,615 for the collection of second installments of property taxes. More information on the first round of Innovation Fund applications may be found here.

After award determinations have been announced, the League plans to utilize approved Innovations Grants as examples to generate second round applications. We’ve already started this process, with The Municipality recently featuring the Village of Kewaskum transferring EMS service to the City of West Bend. You can read that article here. The May edition of The Municipality will also feature the West Allis and Wauwatosa fire merger.

While we saw many innovative ideas submitted in round one and know other ideas throughout the state are in the works, funds are still available. Your opportunity to transfer or consolidate services with your neighboring local governments or a private entity and receive a financial incentive are alive and well! Round 2 of the Innovation Grant Program will open this fall. We hope you’ll be ready to submit! 

Agency Actions

DOR Posts MOE and ERIP Forms Online

The Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) recently posted the 2025 Maintenance of Effort (MOE) Report forms on its website. The MOE requires municipalities to maintain levels of public safety services that are at least equivalent to the service provided in the previous year based on certain metrics. Persons in charge of fire, EMS, and some police departments are required to fill out a certification form and submit it to the municipal clerk by Monday, June 15th.

The clerk must then compile that information and submit the municipality’s MOE Report by Wednesday, July 1st. Failure to maintain an appropriate level of service or failure to submit the report by the deadline will result in a penalty of a 15% reduction in Shared Revenue payments in the following year, so please be certain to get these forms completed on time. MOE Report forms, common questions, and webinar recordings are available on DOR’s website.

DOR has also posted the Expenditure Restraint Incentive Program (ERIP) worksheet on its website. Municipalities with a property tax rate that exceeds five mills may be eligible for these payments if their tax growth rate is within certain statutory limits. Due to 2025 Wisconsin Act 36, a League-supported bill, the growth in the charges for a joint fire and/or EMS departments are no longer calculated in ERIP determinations! ERIP forms are due by Friday, May 1st. Failure to meet the deadline will result in a municipality being ineligible for ERIP payments in 2027. The ERIP worksheet and form instructions may be found on DOR’s website. 

Evaluation of Overweight Loads on Bridges

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s (WisDOT) Bureau of Structures has updated its policy memo that provides guidance on the evaluation and documentation of overweight loads crossing bridges on local roads. As part of WisDOT’s oversight and annual Quality Assurance reviews, the department may request documentation on single-trip overweight permits issued over the past year. The new policy memo may be found on WisDOT’s website.

The Bureau of Structures will also be hosting a webinar on the evaluation of overweight loads on local bridges. Interested municipal officials may register here to join this webinar taking place on Wednesday, April 22nd from 12pm to 1pm. Slides and a recording will be posted online for those unable to attend the webinar. 

Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has released the Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Safe Streets and Roads for All Program. Almost $1 billion is available to local governments for transportation projects to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries. Wisconsin local governments have made use of this program in past years, and we hope to see more funds delivered to League members in this funding cycle.

Applications are due on Tuesday, May 26th by 4pm Central Time. USDOT will award grants for both planning and demonstration and implementation. The Notice of Funding Opportunity with details on applying may be found online. USDOT will also be hosting a series of webinars outlining key details and requirements of the Safe Streets and Roads for All Program. Dates, topics, and registration links for these webinars may be found below:

• Implementation Grants - Tuesday, April 7th from 12:30pm to 2:00pm CT - Register

• Action Plans - Thursday, April 9th from 12:30pm to 2:00pm CT - Register

• Supplemental Planning and Demonstration Activities - Tuesday, April 14th from 12:30pm to 2:00pm CT - Register

Alcohol and Beverage Licensing Webinars

In partnership with the League, the University of Wisconsin’s (UW) Local Government Education Program is hosting two half-day virtual training sessions to help municipal officials navigate our state’s alcohol beverage licensing laws. These sessions will cover license types and administrative requirements, roles and responsibilities of elected and staff officials, and frequently asked questions. The sessions are on Thursday, April 30th and Friday, May 1st, with both sessions running from 9am to 12pm. Registration for each session costs $20. More information may be found on UW’s website. 

Federal Forecast

Housing affordability and availability isn’t just an issue in Wisconsin – it’s a nationwide concern. While we’ve spent many Legislative Bulletins discussing progress on housing initiatives in the Wisconsin State Legislature and in state agencies, the federal government, in both the executive and legislative branches, have been focusing attention on the housing crisis. We’re passing this along for information only.

This includes the President’s recent actions to sign an Executive Order (EO) titled “Removing Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Home Construction.” Among a host of actions this EO seeks to pursue, the President ordered: 

1. the Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review and revise stormwater, wetland, and waterway permitting requirements,
2. the Department of Commerce and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to eliminate “unduly burdensome rules” and reform programs to expand residential development,
3. the Council on Environmental Quality to provide guidance that exempts or reduces housing developments from National Environmental Policy Act requirements,
4. the HUD agency to promulgate a series of regulatory best practices for state and local governments on residential construction within 60 days, and
5. the Department of Agriculture, HUD, EPA, and Department of Transportation to revise grant requirements to advance best practices for residential developments. 

The full EO may be read on the White House’s website. Additionally, the White House has prepared a fact sheet on the EO that may be read here. Finally, the American Planning Association has an article providing an overview of the EO on its website.

While the President has taken executive action on housing, Congress is also considering legislation related to housing. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is a bipartisan effort to tackle some residential policy issues. As the National League of Cities (NLC) reported following the Senate’s passage in March, “the package does not preempt local land-use or zoning authority and avoids unfunded mandates.”

The legislation instead seeks to provide some regulatory flexibility to local governments tackling housing needs, including increased flexibility with Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding which could be utilized for new housing construction. A portion of CDBG funds would also be prorated based on residential growth in a community, with high growth areas seeing higher allocations and vice versa for low growth communities.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act also tackles some other housing issues, including streamlining environmental review of infill housing projects, removing certain requirements on homeless assistance grants, and incentivizing private capital in certain types of residential developments. Currently, while both chambers of Congress have passed similar bills, they are not identical, so negotiations are ongoing for the final version. NLC’s summary of the Senate’s version is available on their website.

While federal housing action is ongoing, the Wisconsin State Legislature continues to be very active in its approach to residential development. Following the completion of the Governor’s actions on housing, the League will be providing a summary of new housing laws in the 2025-2026 Legislative Session along with educational opportunities later this year.