Chapter 66

66.0213(1) (1) Village or city powers. A village or city incorporated under ss. 66.0201 to 66.0213 is a body corporate and politic, with powers and privileges of a municipal corporation at common law and conferred by these statutes.

66.0213(2) (2) Existing ordinances. Ordinances in force in the territory incorporated or any part of the territory, to the extent not inconsistent with chs. 61 and 62, continue in force until altered or repealed.

66.0213(3) (3) Interim officers. All officers of the village or town embracing the territory that is incorporated as a village or city continue in their powers and duties until the first meeting of the board of trustees or common council at which a quorum is present. Until a village or city clerk is chosen and qualified all oaths of office and other papers shall be filed with the circuit court with which the petition was filed. The court shall deliver the oaths and other papers with the petition to the village or city clerk when that clerk qualifies.

66.0213(4) (4) First village or city election.

66.0213(4)(a) (a) Within 10 days after incorporation of the village or city, the county clerk of the county in which the petition was filed shall fix a time for the first election, and where appropriate designate the polling place or places, and name 3 inspectors of election for each place. The time for the election shall be fixed no less than 40 nor more than 50 days after the date of the certificate of incorporation issued by the secretary of administration, irrespective of any other provision in the statutes. Nomination papers shall conform to ch. 8 to the extent applicable. Nomination papers shall be signed by not less than 5 percent nor more than 10 percent of the total votes cast at the referendum election, and be filed no later than 15 days before the time fixed for the election. Ten days’ previous notice of the election shall be given by the county clerk by publication in the newspapers selected under s. 66.0211 (2) and by posting notices in 3 public places in the village or city, but failure to give notice does not invalidate the election.

66.0213(4)(b) (b) The election shall be conducted as prescribed by ch. 6. The inspectors shall make returns to the county clerk who shall, within 14 days after the election, canvass the returns and declare the result. The clerk shall notify the officers-elect and issue certificates of election. If the first election is on the first Tuesday in April the officers elected and their appointees shall commence and hold their offices as for a regular term. Otherwise they shall commence within 14 days and hold their offices until the regular village or city election and the qualification of their successors and the terms of their appointees expire as soon as successors qualify.

66.0213(5) (5) Taxes levied before incorporation; how collected and divided. If a village or city is incorporated after the assessment of taxes in any year and before the collection of the taxes, the tax assessed shall be collected by the town treasurer of the town or the town treasurers of the different towns of which the village or city formerly constituted a part, and all moneys collected from the tax levied for town purposes shall be divided between the village or city and the town or the towns, as provided by s. 66.0235 (13) (a) 1., for the division of property owned jointly by towns and villages.

66.0213(6) (6) Reorganization of city as village. If the population of any city falls below 1,000 as determined by the United States census, the council may upon filing of a petition conforming to the requirements of s. 8.40 containing the signatures of at least 15 percent of the electors submit at any general or city election the question whether the city shall reorganize as a village. If three-fifths of the votes cast on the question are for reorganization the mayor and council shall record the return in the office of the register of deeds, file a certified copy with the clerk of the circuit court, and immediately call an election, to be conducted as are village elections, for the election of village officers. Upon the qualification of the officers, the board of trustees shall declare the city reorganized as a village, and the reorganization is effective. The clerk shall certify a copy of the declaration to the secretary of administration who shall file the declaration and endorse a memorandum of the declaration on the record of the certificate of incorporation of the city. Rights and liabilities of the city continue in favor of or against the village. Ordinances, so far as within the power of the village, remain in force until changed.

66.0213 History History: 1977 c. 203 s. 106, 1989 a. 192; 1991 a. 32, 316; 1993 a. 301, 329; 1995 a. 16 s. 2; 1995 a. 201, 216; 1999 a. 150 s. 41; Stats. 1999 s. 66.0213; 2011 a. 115, 130; 2013 a. 80, 165; 2015 a. 55.

66.0215 66.0215 Incorporation of certain towns adjacent to 1st class cities.

66.0215(1) (1) Petition. If the resident population of a town exceeds 5,000 as shown by the last federal census or by a census under sub. (2), if the town is adjacent to a 1st class city and contains an equalized valuation in excess of $20,000,000 and if a petition signed by 100 or more persons, each an elector and taxpayer of the town, containing the signatures of at least 50 percent of the owners of real estate in the town and requesting submission of the question to the electors of the town, is filed with the clerk of the town, the procedure for becoming a 4th class city is initiated.

66.0215(2) (2) Referendum. At the next regular meeting of the town board following the filing of the petition under sub. (1), the board by resolution shall provide for a referendum by the electors of the town. The resolution shall conform to the requirements of s. 5.15 (1) and (2) and shall determine the numbers and boundaries of each ward of the proposed city and the time of voting, which may not be earlier than 6 weeks after the adoption of the resolution. The resolution may direct that a census be taken of the resident population of the territory on a day not more than 10 weeks previous to the date of the election, exhibiting the name of every head of a family and the name of every person who is a resident in good faith of the territory on that day, and the lot or quarter section of land on which that person resides, which shall be verified by the affixed affidavit of the person taking the census.

66.0215(3) (3) Notice of referendum. Notice of the referendum shall be given by publication of the resolution in a newspaper published in the town, if there is one, otherwise in a newspaper designated in the resolution, once a week for 4 successive weeks, the first publication to be not more than 4 weeks before the referendum.

66.0215(4) (4) Voting procedure. The referendum shall be conducted in the same manner as elections for supervisors of the town board. The question appearing on the ballot shall be “Shall the town of .... become a 4th class city?”. Below the question shall appear 2 squares. To the left of one square shall appear the words “For a city” and to the left of the other square shall appear the words “Against a city”. The inspectors shall make a return to the clerk of the town.

66.0215(5) (5) Certificate of incorporation. If a majority of the votes are cast in favor of a city the clerk shall certify the fact to the secretary of administration, together with the result of the census, if any, and 4 copies of a description of the legal boundaries of the town and 4 copies of a plat of the town. The secretary of administration shall then issue a certificate of incorporation, and record the certificate in a book kept for that purpose. Two copies of the description and plat shall be forwarded by the secretary of administration to the department of transportation and one copy to the department of revenue.

66.0215(6) (6) City powers. A city incorporated under this section is a body corporate and politic, with the powers and privileges of a municipal corporation at common law and conferred by ch. 62.

66.0215(7) (7) Existing ordinances. Ordinances in force in the territory or any part of the territory, to the extent not inconsistent with ch. 62, continue in force until altered or repealed.

66.0215(8) (8) Interim officers. All officers of the town embracing the territory incorporated as a city continue in their powers and duties until the first meeting of the common council at which a quorum is present. Until a city clerk is chosen and qualified all oaths of office and other papers shall be filed with the town clerk, with whom the petition was filed, who shall deliver them with the petition to the city clerk when the city clerk is qualified.

66.0215(9) (9) First city election. Within 10 days after incorporation of the city, the town board and the town clerk who received the petition shall fix a time for the first city election, designate the polling place or places, and name 3 inspectors of election for each place. Ten days’ previous notice of the election shall be given by the clerk by publication in the newspapers selected under sub. (3) and by posting notices in 3 public places in the city. Failure to give notice does not invalidate the election. The election shall be conducted as is prescribed by chs. 5 to 12. The inspectors shall make returns to the board which shall, within 14 days after the election, canvass the returns and declare the result. The clerk shall notify the officers-elect and issue certificates of election. If the first election is on the first Tuesday in April the officers elected and their appointees commence and hold their offices as for a regular term. Otherwise they commence within 14 days and hold until the regular city election and the qualification of their successors, and the term of their appointees expires as soon as successors qualify.

66.0215 History History: 1971 c. 304; 1977 c. 29 s. 1654 (8) (c); 1979 c. 89; 1981 c. 4 s. 19; 1981 c. 377; 1983 a. 532 s. 11; Stats. 1983 s. 66.012; 1991 a. 316; 1993 a. 329; 1995 a. 16 s. 2; 1995 a. 201; 1999 a. 150 s. 31; Stats. 1999 s. 66.0215; 2011 a. 115; 2013 a. 80; 2015 a. 55.

66.0215 Annotation “Adjacent” under sub. (1) means “contiguous,” not “near.” City of Waukesha v. Salbashian, 128 Wis. 2d 334, 382 N.W.2d 52 (1986).

66.02162 66.02162 Incorporation of certain towns contiguous to 3rd class cities or villages.

66.02162(1) (1) Conditions. A town board may initiate the procedure for incorporating its town as a village under this section by adopting a resolution providing for a referendum by the electors of the town on the question of whether the town should become a village if on the date of the adoption of the resolution any of the following is satisfied:

66.02162(1)(a) (a) All of the following conditions apply:

66.02162(1)(a)1. 1. The most recent federal decennial census shows that the resident population of the town exceeds 6,300.

66.02162(1)(a)2. 2. The town is contiguous to a 3rd class city.

66.02162(1)(a)3. 3. The most recent data available from the department of revenue show that the equalized value for the town exceeds $600,000,000.

66.02162(1)(a)4. 4. In one of the 5 years before the year in which the town board adopts the resolution, the town’s equalized value increased more than 7 percent, compared to the town’s equalized value for the prior year.

66.02162(1)(a)5. 5. The town board of the town is authorized to exercise village powers.

66.02162(1)(a)6. 6. The town has entered into, and is bound by, at least 2 separate cooperative boundary agreements under s. 66.0307 with at least 2 municipalities.

66.02162(1)(a)7. 7. The town has created at least one tax incremental financing district as authorized under s. 60.23 (32).

66.02162(1)(a)8. 8. The town has established at least one town sanitary district under subch. IX of ch. 60.

66.02162(1)(b) (b) All of the following conditions apply:

66.02162(1)(b)1. 1. The most recent federal decennial census shows that the resident population of the town exceeds 2,300.

66.02162(1)(b)2. 2. The most recent data available from the department of revenue show that the equalized value for the town exceeds $190,000,000.

66.02162(1)(b)3. 3. The area of the town exceeds 40 square miles.

66.02162(1)(b)4. 4. The town is contiguous to a village to which all of the following conditions apply:

66.02162(1)(b)4.a. a. The most recent federal decennial census shows that the resident population of the village is less than 300.

66.02162(1)(b)4.b. b. The area of the village is less than 2 square miles.

66.02162(1)(b)4.c. c. The aggregate net tax rate of the village, as determined by the department of revenue under s. 70.114 (3), is greater than 36 mills.

66.02162(1)(b)5. 5. The village under subd. 4. and the town are located in a county for which the most recent federal decennial census shows that the resident population is less than 150,000.

66.02162(2) (2) Referendum resolution. The resolution of the town board required under sub. (1) shall do all of the following:

66.02162(2)(a) (a) Certify that the requirements under sub. (1) are satisfied.

66.02162(2)(b) (b) Contain a description of the territory to be incorporated sufficiently accurate to determine its location and a statement that a scale map reasonably showing the boundaries of the territory is on file with the town clerk.

66.02162(2)(c) (c) Determine the numbers and boundaries of each ward of the proposed village, conforming to the requirements of s. 5.15 (1) and (2).

66.02162(2)(d) (d) Determine the date of the referendum, which may not be earlier than 6 weeks after the adoption of the resolution.

66.02162(3) (3) Notice of referendum. The town clerk shall publish the resolution adopted under sub. (1) in a newspaper published in the town. If no newspaper is published in the town, the town clerk shall publish the resolution in a newspaper designated in the resolution. The town clerk shall publish the resolution once a week for 4 successive weeks, the first publication to be not more than 4 weeks before the referendum.

66.02162(4) (4) Voting procedure. The referendum shall be conducted in the same manner as elections for town board supervisors. The question appearing on the ballot shall be: “Shall the town of .... become a village?” Below the question shall appear 2 squares. To the left of one square shall appear the words “For a village,” and to the left of the other square shall appear the words “Against a village.” The inspectors shall make a return to the town clerk.

66.02162(5) (5) Certificate of incorporation. If a majority of the votes are cast in favor of a village, the town clerk shall certify that fact to the secretary, together with 4 copies of a description of the legal boundaries of the town, and 4 copies of a plat of the town. The town clerk shall also send the secretary an incorporation fee of $1,000. Upon receipt of the town clerk’s certification, the incorporation fee, and other required documents, the secretary shall issue a certificate of incorporation and record the certificate in a book kept for that purpose. The secretary shall provide 2 copies of the description and plat to the department of transportation and one copy to the department of revenue. The town clerk shall also transmit a copy of the certification and the resolution under sub. (1) to the county clerk.

66.02162(6) (6) Action. No action to contest the validity of an incorporation under this section on any grounds, whether procedural or jurisdictional, may be commenced after 60 days from the date of issuance of the certificate of incorporation by the secretary. In any such action, the burden of proof as to all issues is upon the person bringing the action to show that the incorporation is not valid. An action contesting an incorporation shall be given preference in the circuit court.

66.02162(7) (7) Village powers. A village incorporated under this section is a body corporate and politic, with the powers and privileges of a municipal corporation at common law and conferred by ch. 61.

66.02162(8) (8) Existing ordinances. Ordinances in force in the territory or any part of the territory, to the extent not inconsistent with this section or ch. 61, continue in force until altered or repealed.

66.02162(9) (9) Existing intergovernmental and cooperative boundary agreements. Intergovernmental cooperation agreements entered into under s. 66.0301 and cooperative boundary agreements approved under s. 66.0307, to which a town incorporating under this section is a party, that are still in effect on the effective date of the incorporation, shall continue in force until altered or repealed, to the extent allowed under the agreements. When incorporated under this section, a village shall be considered the town’s successor with respect to such agreements.

66.02162(10) (10) Interim officers, first village election. Section 66.0215 (8) and (9), as it applies to a town that is incorporated as a city under s. 66.0215, applies to a town that is incorporated as a village under this section.

66.02162(11) (11) Sunset. This section does not apply after June 30, 2020.

66.02162 History History: 2015 a. 55.

66.02165 66.02165 Limitations on newly created incorporated village or city. For a 5-year period after incorporation under this subchapter, a newly incorporated city or village may not add or contract to add any remaining town territory of the town from which the newly incorporated city or village was created by use of consolidation, a boundary agreement, or annexation other than annexation by unanimous approval under s. 66.0217 (2), except that the city or village and town territory remaining after incorporation may consolidate as permitted under s. 66.0230.

66.02165 History History: 2021 a. 198.

66.0217 66.0217 Annexation initiated by electors and property owners.

66.0217(1) (1) Definitions. In this section, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

66.0217(1)(a) (a) “Assessed value” means the value for general tax purposes as shown on the tax roll for the year next preceding the filing of any petition for annexation.

66.0217(1)(b) (b) “Department” means the department of administration.

66.0217(1)(c) (c) “Legal description” means a complete description of land to be annexed without internal references to any other document, and shall be described in one of the following ways:

66.0217(1)(c)1. 1. By metes and bounds commencing at a monument at the section or quarter section corner or at the end of a boundary line of a recorded private claim or federal reservation in which the annexed land is located and in one of the following ways:

66.0217(1)(c)1.a. a. By government lot.

66.0217(1)(c)1.b. b. By recorded private claim.

66.0217(1)(c)1.c. c. By quarter section, section, township and range.

66.0217(1)(c)2. 2. If the land is located in a recorded and filed subdivision or in an area subject to a certified survey map, by reference as described in s. 236.28 or s. 236.34 (3).

66.0217(1)(d) (d) “Owner” means the holder of record of an estate in possession in fee simple, or for life, in land or real property, or a vendee of record under a land contract for the sale of an estate in possession in fee simple or for life but does not include the vendor under a land contract. A tenant in common or joint tenant is an owner to the extent of his or her interest.

66.0217(1)(e) (e) “Petition” includes the original petition and any counterpart of the original petition.

66.0217(1)(f) (f) “Real property” means land and the improvements to the land.

66.0217(1)(g) (g) “Scale map” means a map that accurately reflects the legal description of the property to be annexed and the boundary of the annexing city or village, and that includes a graphic scale on the face of the map.

66.0217(2) (2) Direct annexation by unanimous approval. Except as provided in this subsection and sub. (14), and subject to ss. 66.0301 (6) (d) and 66.0307 (7), if a petition for direct annexation signed by all of the electors residing in the territory and the owners of all of the real property in the territory is filed with the city or village clerk, and with the town clerk of the town or towns in which the territory is located, together with a scale map and a legal description of the property to be annexed, an annexation ordinance for the annexation of the territory may be enacted by a two-thirds vote of the elected members of the governing body of the city or village without compliance with the notice requirements of sub. (4). In an annexation under this subsection, subject to sub. (6), the person filing the petition with the city or village clerk and the town clerk shall, within 5 days of the filing, mail a copy of the scale map and a legal description of the territory to be annexed to the department and the governing body shall review the advice of the department, if any, before enacting the annexation ordinance. No territory may be annexed by a city or village under this subsection unless the territory to be annexed is contiguous to the annexing city or village.

66.0217(3) (3) Other methods of annexation. Subject to ss. 66.0301 (6) (d) and 66.0307 (7), and except as provided in sub. (14), territory contiguous to a city or village may be annexed to the city or village in the following ways:

66.0217(3)(a) (a) Direct annexation by one-half approval. A petition for direct annexation may be filed with the city or village clerk if it has been signed by either of the following:

66.0217(3)(a)1. 1. A number of qualified electors residing in the territory subject to the proposed annexation equal to at least the majority of votes cast for governor in the territory at the last gubernatorial election, and either of the following:

66.0217(3)(a)1.a. a. The owners of one-half of the land in area within the territory.

66.0217(3)(a)1.b. b. The owners of one-half of the real property in assessed value within the territory.

66.0217(3)(a)2. 2. If no electors reside in the territory subject to the proposed annexation, by either of the following:

66.0217(3)(a)2.a. a. The owners of one-half of the land in area within the territory.

66.0217(3)(a)2.b. b. The owners of one-half of the real property in assessed value within the territory.

66.0217(3)(b) (b) Annexation by referendum. A petition for a referendum on the question of annexation may be filed with the city or village clerk signed by a number of qualified electors residing in the territory equal to at least 20 percent of the votes cast for governor in the territory at the last gubernatorial election, and the owners of at least 50 percent of the real property either in area or assessed value. The petition shall conform to the requirements of s. 8.40.

66.0217(4) (4) Notice of proposed annexation.

66.0217(4)(a) (a) An annexation under sub. (3) shall be initiated by publishing in the territory proposed for annexation a class 1 notice, under ch. 985, of intention to circulate an annexation petition. The notice shall contain:

66.0217(4)(a)1. 1. A statement of intention to circulate an annexation petition.

66.0217(4)(a)2. 2. A legal description of the territory proposed to be annexed and a copy of a scale map.

66.0217(4)(a)3. 3. The name of the city or village to which the annexation is proposed.

66.0217(4)(a)4. 4. The name of the town or towns from which the territory is proposed to be detached.

66.0217(4)(a)5. 5. The name and post-office address of the person causing the notice to be published who shall be an elector or owner in the area proposed to be annexed.