Attorney general and litigation
Powers of the attorney general
The bill repeals changes made to the powers of the attorney general in 2017 Wisconsin Act 369 relating to the power to compromise or discontinue civil actions prosecuted by DOJ and the power to compromise and settle actions in cases where DOJ is defending the state. The bill reestablishes these settlement powers as they existed under the law before 2017 Wisconsin Act 369 was enacted. The bill allows the attorney general to compromise or discontinue actions prosecuted by DOJ 1) when directed by the officer, department, board, or commission that directed the prosecution or 2) with the approval of the governor when the action is prosecuted by DOJ on the initiative of the attorney general or at the request of any individual. The bill eliminates the requirement for approval of a compromise or discontinuance from a legislative intervenor or JCF. It also eliminates the requirement for the attorney general to obtain approval of a compromise or discontinuance by the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization in certain circumstances before submitting a proposed plan to JCF.
Under the bill, when DOJ is defending the state, the attorney general may compromise and settle the action as the attorney general determines to be in the best interest of the state. The bill eliminates the requirement under current law that, in actions for injunctive relief or if there is a proposed consent decree, the attorney general must 1) obtain the approval of any legislative intervenor or 2) if there is no intervenor, submit a proposed plan to JCF and, in certain circumstances, obtain approval of JCF. The bill also eliminates the requirement for the attorney general to obtain approval from JCLO in certain circumstances before submitting a proposed plan of settlement or compromise to JCF.
Gifts and grants and disposition of settlement funds
The bill repeals certain changes made by 2017 Wisconsin Act 369 relating to gifts and grants and certain proceeds received by DOJ, specifically reversing provisions that changed a DOJ gifts and grants appropriation and a DOJ gifts, grants, and proceeds appropriation from continuing appropriations to annual appropriations. Second, the bill repeals the requirement that the attorney general must deposit all settlement funds into the general fund. The bill restores procedures relating to discretionary settlement funds under which the attorney general could expend certain settlement funds not committed under the terms of a settlement after submitting a plan to JCF for passive review only if either 1) the cochairpersons of JCF do not schedule a meeting or 2) a meeting is scheduled and JCF approves a plan for expenditure.
Certain legal expenses related to the tobacco settlement agreement
The bill establishes an appropriation from which DOJ may expend moneys for its legal expenses related to participation in arbitration or other alternative dispute resolution processes arising from payments under the Attorneys General Master Tobacco Settlement Agreement of November 23, 1998. In 1998, numerous states and territories including Wisconsin agreed to a settlement with the major U.S. tobacco companies regarding dozens of state lawsuits brought to recover health care costs associated with treating smoking-related illnesses. Under the agreement, the state receives annual payments from U.S. tobacco product manufacturers in perpetuity.
General justice
Background checks on all transfers of firearms
Current law provides that a federally licensed firearms dealer may not transfer a handgun after a sale until the dealer has performed a background check on the prospective transferee to determine if he or she is prohibited from possessing a firearm under state or federal law. The bill generally prohibits any person from transferring any firearm, including the frame or receiver of a firearm, unless the transfer occurs through a federally licensed firearms dealer and involves a background check of the prospective transferee. Under the bill, the prohibition does not apply to 1) a transfer to a firearms dealer or to a law enforcement or armed services agency; 2) a transfer of a firearm classified as antique; 3) a transfer for no more than 14 days for the purpose of hunting or target shooting that involves no more than nominal consideration; or 4) a transfer that is by gift, bequest, or inheritance to a family member. A person who is convicted of violating the prohibition is guilty of a misdemeanor and must be fined not less than $500 nor more than $10,000, may be imprisoned for not more than nine months, and may not possess a firearm for a period of two years.
Creating the Office of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
The bill creates within DOJ the Office of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, which is tasked with providing certain services to crime victims, their families, witnesses, and others who are members of a tribe; providing training relating to missing and murdered indigenous women, including search, rescue, and response training; and establishing a grant program related to missing and murdered indigenous women.
Hate crimes reporting portal
The bill requires DOJ to develop an Internet-based reporting system and a telephone hotline for the reporting of hate crimes. Under the bill, DOJ must conduct a public education campaign on hate crimes and where to report them and must collect data relating to the reporting of hate crimes.
Relator appropriation
The bill creates a continuing appropriation to hold all money received by DOJ that is owed to a relator, to provide payments to relators. A relator is a type of party in a legal action in whose name an action is brought by a state.
Repeal of report on field prosecutor positions
2017 Wisconsin Act 261 created two field prosecutor attorney positions in DOJ to assist the Division of Criminal Investigation and district attorneys. Act 261 also required DOJ to submit annual reports to JCF on the activities and effectiveness of the attorneys. The project positions terminate on April 11, 2023. The bill repeals the requirement that DOJ submit the corresponding annual report. Name of Shot Spotter Program
Under current law, DOJ provides money to the Shot Spotter Program in the city of Milwaukee. The bill changes the name of the program to the “Gunfire Detection Program.”
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Levy limits
Local levy overview
Generally, under current law, local levy increase limits are applied to the property tax levies that are imposed by political subdivisions in December of each year. Current law prohibits a political subdivision from increasing its levy by a percentage that exceeds its valuation factor, which is defined as the greater of either 0 percent or the percentage change in the political subdivision’s equalized value due to new construction, less improvements removed.
Current law contains a number of exceptions to these levy increase limits, such as amounts a county levies for a countywide emergency medical system, for a county children with disabilities education board, and for certain bridge and culvert construction and repair. In addition, a political subdivision may exceed the levy increase limit that is otherwise applicable if its governing body adopts a resolution to do so and if that resolution is approved by the voters in a referendum.
Alternative minimum valuation factor increase
The bill increases the alternative minimum valuation factor used to calculate local levy limits from 0 percent to 2 percent, beginning with levies imposed in December 2023.
Reduction for certain service revenues
Under current law, a political subdivision must reduce its allowable levy by the estimated amount of any revenue from fees or payments in lieu of taxes if the revenue is received for providing certain covered services that were funded with property tax revenues in calendar year 2013. The covered services are certain garbage collection, fire protection, snow plowing, street sweeping, and storm water management.
The bill repeals the requirement that a political subdivision must reduce its allowable levy by the estimated amount of revenues received for providing covered services that were funded with property tax revenues in calendar year 2013.
Reduction for service transfers
Under current law, if a political subdivision transfers to another governmental unit the responsibility to provide a service that it provided in the previous year, the levy increase limit otherwise applicable in the current year is decreased to reflect the cost that the political subdivision would have incurred to provide that service. The bill repeals that provision.
Approval of use of unused capacity
Current law provides two exceptions allowing a political subdivision to use previously unused levy capacity. Under these exceptions, if a political subdivision’s allowable levy in prior years was greater than its actual levy in those years, the otherwise applicable levy increase limit for the next succeeding year may be increased by the difference between the allowable levy and the actual levy, up to a specified maximum increase. These increases, in some cases, must be authorized by a supermajority vote of the political subdivision’s governing body. The bill eliminates the supermajority requirements and, instead, requires only a simple majority vote of the political subdivision’s governing body for use of either of these unused levy capacity exceptions.
Joint emergency services levy limit exception modification
Among the current law exceptions to local levy limits is an exception for the amount that a municipality levies to pay for charges assessed by a joint fire department or joint emergency medical services district organized by any combination of two or more municipalities. This exception applies only to the extent that the amount levied to pay for such charges would cause the municipality to exceed the otherwise applicable levy limit and only if the charges assessed by the department or district increase in the current year by an amount not greater than the rate of inflation over the preceding year, plus 2 percent, and if the municipality’s governing body adopts a resolution in favor of exceeding the otherwise applicable levy limit.
Under the bill, the exception is expanded to include joint fire services or joint emergency medical services provided by a combination of two or more municipalities through a joint district, joint ownership, joint purchase of services from a nonprofit corporation, or joint contracting with a public or private services provider. The exception is also expanded to cover all fees charged to a municipality by the joint fire services or joint emergency medical services.
Exception for cross-municipality transit routes
The bill creates an exception to local levy limits for certain transit services. Under the bill, amounts levied by a political subdivision for costs related to new or enhanced transit services that cross adjacent county or municipal borders do not apply to the limit if the political subdivisions between which the routes operate have entered into an agreement to provide for the services and if the agreement is approved in a referendum.
Exception for regional planning commission contributions
The bill creates a local levy increase limit exception for the amount a political subdivision levies to pay for the political subdivision’s share of the budget of a regional planning commission (RPC). An RPC’s budget is determined annually by the RPC. The RPC then charges all political subdivisions within its jurisdiction a proportional amount to fund the budget based on the equalized value of property in the political subdivision and the total amount of equalized value of property within the RPC’s jurisdiction.
Tax incremental financing
Tax incremental financing overview
Under current law, cities and villages may use tax incremental financing (TIF) to encourage development in the city or village. In general, under TIF, a city or village pays for improvements in a tax incremental district (TID) and then collects tax moneys attributable to all taxing jurisdictions on the increased property value in the TID for a certain period of time to pay for the improvements. Ideally, after the period of time, the city or village will have been repaid for its initial investment and the property tax base in the TID will have permanently increased in value.
In general and in brief, a city or village makes use of TIF using the following procedure:
1. The city or village designates an area as a TID and creates a project plan laying out the expenditures that the city or village will make within the TID.
2. DOR establishes the base value of the TID. This value is the equalized value of all taxable property within the TID at the time of its creation.
3. Each year thereafter, the value increment of the property within the TID is determined by subtracting the base value from the current value of property within the TID. The portion of taxes collected on any positive value increment is collected by the city or village for use solely for the project costs of the TID. The taxes collected by the city or village on positive value increments include taxes that would have been collected by other taxing jurisdictions, such as counties or school districts, were the TID not created.
4. Tax increments are collected until the city or village has recovered all of its project costs or until the TID reaches its statutory termination date.
Workforce housing initiatives
The bill authorizes workforce housing initiatives and makes changes that affect TIDs and state housing grants. The bill creates a definition for “workforce housing,” changes the definition of a “mixed-use development” TID, increases the maximum number of years a city or village may extend the life of a TID to improve its affordable and workforce housing, requires a TID’s project plan to contain alternative economic projections, and changes the method of imposing certain impact fees.
Under the bill, a political subdivision may put into effect a workforce housing initiative by taking one of several specified actions and posting on its website an explanation of the initiative. Workforce housing initiatives include the following: reducing permit processing times or impact fees for workforce housing; increasing zoning density for a workforce housing development; rehabilitating existing uninhabitable housing stock into habitable workforce housing; or implementing any other initiative to address workforce housing needs. Once an initiative takes effect, it remains in effect for five years. After June 30, 2024, if a political subdivision has in effect at least three initiatives at the same time, DOA must give priority to housing grant applications from, or related to a project in, the political subdivision.
The bill defines “workforce housing” to mean the following, subject to the five-year average median costs as determined by the U.S. Bureau of the Census:
1. Housing that costs a household no more than 30 percent of the household’s gross median income.
2. Housing that is comprised of residential units for initial occupancy by individuals whose household median income is no more than 120 percent of the county’s gross median income.
Under current law, a mixed-use development TID contains a combination of industrial, commercial, or residential uses, although newly platted residential areas may not exceed more than 35 percent of the real property within the TID. Under the bill, newly platted residential areas may not exceed either the 35 percent limit or 60 percent of the real property within the TID if the newly platted residential use that exceeds 35 percent is used solely for workforce housing.
The bill also requires a TID’s project plan to include alternative projections of the TID’s finances and feasibility under different economic situations, including a slower pace of development and lower rate of property value growth than expected in the TID.
Currently, a city or village may extend the life of a TID for up to one year for housing stock improvement if all of the following occurs:
1. The city or village pays off all of the TID’s project costs.
2. The city or village adopts a resolution stating that it intends to extend the life of the TID, the number of months it intends to do so, and how it intends to improve housing stock.
3. The city or village notifies DOR.
Current law requires the city or village to use 75 percent of the tax increments received during the period specified in the resolution to benefit affordable housing in the city or village and 25 percent to improve the city’s or village’s housing stock.
Under the bill, a city or village may extend the life of a TID for up to three years to improve its housing stock or increase the number of affordable and workforce housing improvements, with at least 50 percent of the funds supporting units for families with incomes of up to 60 percent of the county’s median income. Also, for any extension of more than one year, the other taxing jurisdictions must approve of the extension.
Under current law, if a city, village, or town imposes an impact fee on a developer to pay for certain capital costs to accommodate land development, the city, village, or town may provide in the ordinance an exemption from, or a reduction in the amount of, impact fees on land development that provides low-cost housing. Under the bill, the impact fee exemption or reduction provisions also apply to workforce housing. Current law prevents the shifting of an exemption from or reduction in impact fees to any other development in the land development in which the low-cost housing is located. The bill applies this provision to workforce housing as well.
TIF 12 percent rule exception
Under current law, when creating a new TID or amending a TID, a city or village must make a finding that the equalized value of taxable property of the new or amended TID plus the value increment of all existing TIDs in the city or village does not exceed 12 percent of the total equalized value of taxable property in the city or village. Under the bill, in lieu of making the 12 percent finding, a city or village may certify to DOR that 1) TIDs with sufficient value increments will close within one year after certification so that the municipality will no longer exceed the 12 percent limit and 2) the city or village will not take any actions that would extend the life of any TID under item 1.
General local government
Regional transit authorities
The bill creates, or authorizes the creation of, a southeast regional transit authority (SE RTA), a Dane County regional transit authority (DC RTA), a Fox Cities regional transit authority (FC RTA), and a regional transit authority in any other metropolitan statistical area in which qualifying political subdivisions agree to create one (statewide RTA). Upon creation, each transit authority is a public body corporate and politic and a separate governmental entity.
The SE RTA is created if the governing body of Milwaukee County or Kenosha County, or of any municipality located within that portion of Racine County east of I 94, adopts a resolution authorizing the county or municipality to become a member of the SE RTA. If any of these counties or municipalities fails to adopt a resolution creating the SE RTA, these counties and municipalities, as well as Racine County, may also join the SE RTA after it has been created by one or more other counties or municipalities. If Milwaukee County or Kenosha County joins the SE RTA, all municipalities located within Milwaukee County or Kenosha County, respectively, become members of the SE RTA. Any of the counties of Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington may join the SE RTA upon adoption of a resolution by the county’s governing body, and any municipality located within the county may join the SE RTA upon adoption of a resolution by the municipality’s governing body and approval of the SE RTA’s board of directors. The jurisdictional area of the SE RTA is the geographic area formed by the combined territorial boundaries of counties and municipalities that are members of the SE RTA.
The DC RTA is created if the governing body of Dane County adopts a resolution authorizing the county to become a member of the DC RTA. Once created, the members of the DC RTA consist of Dane County and all municipalities located within the Madison metropolitan planning area (MMPA). Any municipality located within Dane County but not within the MMPA may join the DC RTA upon adoption of a resolution by the municipality’s governing body and approval of the DC RTA’s board of directors. The jurisdictional area of the DC RTA is the geographic area formed by the MMPA combined with the territorial boundaries of all municipalities outside the MMPA that join the DC RTA.
The members of the FC RTA consist of Outagamie County, Calumet County, and Winnebago County and all municipalities located within the urbanized area of the Fox Cities metropolitan planning area (UFCMPA). Any municipality located within Outagamie County, Calumet County, or Winnebago County but not within the UFCMPA may join the FC RTA upon adoption of a resolution by the municipality’s governing body and approval of the FC RTA’s board of directors. The jurisdictional area of the FC RTA is the geographic area formed by UFCMPA combined with the territorial boundaries of all municipalities outside the UFCMPA that join the FC RTA.
A statewide RTA is created if any two or more political subdivisions located within a metropolitan statistical area adopt resolutions authorizing the political subdivision to become members of the RTA. Once created, the members of a statewide RTA consist of all political subdivisions that adopt resolutions authorizing participation. Any political subdivision located in whole or in part within a metropolitan statistical area located in whole or in part within a statewide RTA’s jurisdiction may join the statewide RTA. The jurisdictional area of an authority created under this paragraph is the geographic area formed by the combined territorial boundaries of all participating political subdivisions.
An RTA’s authority is vested in its board of directors. Directors serve four-year terms. An RTA’s bylaws govern its management, operations, and administration and must include provisions specifying all of the following:
1. The functions or services to be provided by the RTA.
2. The powers, duties, and limitations of the RTA.
3. The maximum rate of the sales and use tax, not exceeding the statutory limit, that may be imposed by the RTA.
An RTA may do all of the following:
1. Establish or acquire a comprehensive unified local transportation system, which is a transportation system comprised of bus lines and other public transportation facilities generally within the jurisdictional area of the RTA. “Transportation system” is defined to include land, structures, equipment, and other property for transportation of passengers, including by bus, rail, or other form of mass transportation. The RTA may operate this transportation system or provide for its operation by another. The RTA may contract with a public or private organization to provide transportation services in lieu of directly providing these services and may purchase and lease transportation facilities to public or private transit companies. With two exceptions, an RTA may not directly or by contract provide services outside the RTA’s jurisdictional area.
2. Coordinate specialized transportation services for persons who are disabled or aged 60 or older.
3. Own or lease real or personal property.
4. Acquire property by condemnation.
5. Enter upon highways to install, maintain, and operate the RTA’s facilities.
6. Impose, by the adoption of a resolution by the RTA’s board of directors, a sales and use tax in the RTA’s jurisdictional area at a rate of not more than 0.5 percent of the sales price.
