Last week, the Senate Committee on Local Government voted unanimously to recommend passage of AB 141 , clarifying that property tax payments mailed to the proper official are considered to be received on time if postmarked on or before the due date, regardless of when received. The italicized wording is new. The bill also clarifies that if the due date is a Saturday or Sunday, the current five-day “grace” period ends on the following Friday. The League supports this bill, which the Assembly passed in June. The full Senate will likely take it up in October or November.

Many communities have reached out to the League the last couple of weeks asking if we have any preliminary numbers for the Expenditure Restraint Program (ERP) CPI. The final official CPI number for ERP won’t be available from DOR for a couple of weeks. However, Legislative Fiscal Bureau staff kindly shared with me on September 17 an unofficial preliminary estimate of the CPI change from September 30, 2018 to September is 30, 2019, which is 1.85%. 

That estimate assumes the September, 2019 index will be 1.7% higher than last September. (Note: The actual September change could be higher than that given the trade war, the Saudi-Iran-Yemen situation, and domestic political uncertainties. If we substitute 2.5% for 1.7%, the annual change equals 1.92%, instead of 1.85%. That said, the calculation does not move much under the two above calculations.)

 

Just a reminder, these are preliminary, unofficial estimates. DOR will publish the official number in a few weeks. The statutes provide that CPI for ERP is defined as follows: “Inflation factor” means 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 of the year before.

In July, the Department of Trade and Consumer Protection notified affected Local Program Operators of the possibility that it would cease to regulate flammable and combustible liquid aboveground storage tanks less than 5,000-gallons, i.e. the same regulatory capacity limit that currently applies to hazardous liquid aboveground tanks would apply to all regulated liquids. This notification was the result of a newly mandated report that required DATCP to identify to the Legislature any rules that conflict with state statute. In this report, DATCP indicated that certain portions of chapter ATCP 93 conflict with state statute. Specifically, DATCP reported that ATCP § 93’s regulation of flammable and combustible liquid aboveground storage tanks greater than 110 gallons conflict with Wis. Stat. § 168’s mandate that the law apply only to flammable, combustible and hazardous liquid aboveground tanks 5,000 gallons or greater. In its report to the Legislature, the DATCP recommended a statutory change to align the rule with statute. Accordingly, effective October 1, 2019, DATCP will no longer enforce those portions of ATCP 93 that conflict with the statute. As a result, inspections of tanks within your community for compliance with NFPA standards that DATCP has conducted since the inception of the tanks program will no longer occur. 

DATCP continues to work with legislative officials and affected industry members to address this conflict in our law, and we are hopeful there will be a legislative change to align the statute with the administrative code. DATCP is aware that, in the absence of our program, local fire officials may decide to inspect these tanks for compliance with NFPA standards in order to ensure public safety, and we will keep you apprised of any developments with legislative changes.

To stay in compliance with fire code, local regulations and federal law, as well as protect Wisconsin’s environment and public safety, DATCP is encouraging tank owners to continue to register aboveground storage tanks less than 5,000 gallons with the Department, use qualified technicians when servicing them, and continue to have them inspected by DATCP. DATCP has also developed an FAQ to assist the regulated community in understanding how these changes affect them. 

If you have questions about this program, please contact Greg Bareta at (608) 224-5150 or via email at [email protected].

If you have questions about the change in the law, please contact DATCP’s legislative liaison, Bradford Steine at (608) 224-5024 or via email at [email protected]