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Important Updates from the League
ā Commercial Building Code Updates Webinar: Last week, the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) announced that the updated Wisconsin Commercial Building Code will take effect on September 1st. This new code, which largely aligns with the 2021 International Building Code, establishes standards for commercial buildings, including multi-family residential buildings. The new code had been previously suspended from taking effect, but following a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision released in July that limits legislative authority to halt administrative rules, the updated code may now be published.
While the administrative rule with the new Wisconsin Commercial Building Code will take effect on September 1st, DSPS has announced that they will still accept plans submitted under the current commercial building code through the end of September. Starting on October 1st, all plans must comply with the updated code.
Building inspectors and other municipal officials interested in learning more about the changes to the stateās commercial building code and the impact on professionals working in the development space should consider attending one of the two training webinars DSPS will be holding in August. The first webinar will be held this Thursday, August 14th, starting at 9am, with the second webinar scheduled for Thursday, August 28th at 9am. Both webinars are expected to last five to six hours and will be recorded and available for viewing afterwards on DSPSās YouTube channel.
ļ»æā Municipal Funding Highlighted in WPR Interview: League Executive Director Jerry Deschane joined Wisconsin Public Radio's (WPR) Wisconsin Today last week to discuss municipal funding, including the monumental agreement reached in 2023 Wisconsin Act 12. While Act 12's was historic and approved a substantial supplemental shared revenue payment for Wisconsin municipalities, the promise of an additional percentage increase provided by the growth in the state sales tax being reflected in shared revenue payments was put to the test this year. As Jerry says:
"This year was the first big test. Were we going to be able to sustain that commitment? And Iām happy to say that yes, the Legislature and the governor ā¦ absolutely stood up to their word and kept the full penny for local government operations. Specifically, shared revenue went up 2.3% this year. Itāll go up 3.4% next year. As the penny grows, as the economy grows, the partnership with local government grows. So Iām very happy at this stage of the game. Weāve reversed about 20 years of history."
While Act 12's promise was fulfilled in the 2025-2027 State Budget and shared revenue and the new supplement are growing, municipalities are still feeling the pressure of levy limits on their budgets. Jerry described that, due to the old shared revenue formula, municipalities vary widely in the amount of their budget that consists of shared revenue. Jerry continued:
"The challenge for the future is we have to do something about levy limits or we have to think about diversifying local revenue sources so that local governments can get fully plugged into the economy that they helped to create. Wisconsin is an outlier in that local governments really only have the property tax ā itās a one-size-fits-all scheme that, quite frankly, property owners donāt like, businesses donāt like, and local governments donāt like. We think thereās room to talk about mixing up the revenue sources. What that mix would be, weāre wide open to a good conversation on that."
Listen to Jerry's full Wisconsin Today interview on WPR's website.
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