Chapter 66

66.0617(5)(b) (b) An ordinance enacted under this section may delineate geographically defined zones within the municipality and may impose impact fees on land development in a zone that differ from impact fees imposed on land development in other zones within the municipality. The public facilities needs assessment that is required under sub. (4) shall explicitly identify the differences, such as land development or the need for those public facilities, which justify the differences between zones in the amount of impact fees imposed.

66.0617(6) (6) Standards for impact fees. Impact fees imposed by an ordinance enacted under this section:

66.0617(6)(a) (a) Shall bear a rational relationship to the need for new, expanded or improved public facilities that are required to serve land development.

66.0617(6)(am) (am) May not include amounts for an increase in service capacity greater than the capacity necessary to serve the development for which the fee is imposed.

66.0617(6)(b) (b) May not exceed the proportionate share of the capital costs that are required to serve land development, as compared to existing uses of land within the municipality.

66.0617(6)(c) (c) Shall be based upon actual capital costs or reasonable estimates of capital costs for new, expanded or improved public facilities.

66.0617(6)(d) (d) Shall be reduced to compensate for other capital costs imposed by the municipality with respect to land development to provide or pay for public facilities, including special assessments, special charges, land dedications or fees in lieu of land dedications under ch. 236 or any other items of value.

66.0617(6)(e) (e) Shall be reduced to compensate for moneys received from the federal or state government specifically to provide or pay for the public facilities for which the impact fees are imposed.

66.0617(6)(f) (f) May not include amounts necessary to address existing deficiencies in public facilities.

66.0617(6)(fm) (fm) May not include expenses for operation or maintenance of a public facility.

66.0617(6)(g) (g) Except as provided under this paragraph, shall be payable by the developer or the property owner to the municipality in full upon the issuance of a building permit by the municipality. Except as provided in this paragraph, if the total amount of impact fees due for a development will be more than $75,000, a developer may defer payment of the impact fees for a period of 4 years from the date of the issuance of the building permit or until 6 months before the municipality incurs the costs to construct, expand, or improve the public facilities related to the development for which the fee was imposed, whichever is earlier. If the developer elects to defer payment under this paragraph, the developer shall maintain in force a bond or irrevocable letter of credit in the amount of the unpaid fees executed in the name of the municipality. A developer may not defer payment of impact fees for projects that have been previously approved.

66.0617(7) (7) Low-cost housing. An ordinance enacted under this section may provide for an exemption from, or a reduction in the amount of, impact fees on land development that provides low-cost housing, except that no amount of an impact fee for which an exemption or reduction is provided under this subsection may be shifted to any other development in the land development in which the low-cost housing is located or to any other land development in the municipality.

66.0617(7r) (7r) Impact fee reports. At the time that the municipality collects an impact fee, it shall provide to the developer from which it received the fee an accounting of how the fee will be spent.

66.0617(8) (8) Requirements for impact fee revenues. Revenues from each impact fee that is imposed shall be placed in a separate segregated interest-bearing account and shall be accounted for separately from the other funds of the municipality. Impact fee revenues and interest earned on impact fee revenues may be expended only for the particular capital costs for which the impact fee was imposed, unless the fee is refunded under sub. (9).

66.0617(9) (9) Refund of impact fees. Except as provided in this subsection, impact fees that are not used within 8 years after they are collected to pay the capital costs for which they were imposed shall be refunded to the payer of fees for the property with respect to which the impact fees were imposed, along with any interest that has accumulated, as described in sub. (8). Impact fees that are collected for capital costs related to lift stations or collecting and treating sewage that are not used within 10 years after they are collected to pay the capital costs for which they were imposed, shall be refunded to the payer of fees for the property with respect to which the impact fees were imposed, along with any interest that has accumulated, as described in sub. (8). The 10-year time limit for using impact fees that is specified under this subsection may be extended for 3 years if the municipality adopts a resolution stating that, due to extenuating circumstances or hardship in meeting the 10-year limit, it needs an additional 3 years to use the impact fees that were collected. The resolution shall include detailed written findings that specify the extenuating circumstances or hardship that led to the need to adopt a resolution under this subsection. For purposes of the time limits in this subsection, an impact fee is paid on the date a developer obtains a bond or irrevocable letter of credit in the amount of the unpaid fees executed in the name of the municipality under sub. (6) (g).

66.0617(10) (10) Appeal. A municipality that enacts an impact fee ordinance under this section shall, by ordinance, specify a procedure under which a developer upon whom an impact fee is imposed has the right to contest the amount, collection or use of the impact fee to the governing body of the municipality.

66.0617 History History: 1993 a. 305; 1997 a. 27; 1999 a. 150 s. 524; Stats. 1999 s. 66.0617; 2005 a. 203, 477; 2007 a. 44, 96; 2009 a. 180; 2017 a. 243.

66.0617 Annotation An association of developers had standing to challenge the use of impact fees. As long as individual developers had a personal stake in the controversy, the association could contest the use of impact fees on their behalf. Further, individual developers subject to the impact fees do have the right to bring their own separate challenges. Metropolitan Builders Ass’n of Greater Milwaukee v. Village of Germantown, 2005 WI App 103, 282 Wis. 2d 458, 698 N.W.2d 301, 04-1433.

66.0617 Annotation Sub. (6) allows a municipality to impose impact fees for a general type of facility without committing itself to any particular proposal before charging the fees. The needs assessment must simply contain a good-faith and informed estimate of the sort of costs the municipality expects to incur for the kind of facility it plans to provide. Sub. (9) requires impact fees ordinances to specify only the type of facility for which fees are imposed. A municipality must be allowed flexibility to deal with the contingencies inherent in planning. Metropolitan Builders Ass’n of Greater Milwaukee v. Village of Germantown, 2005 WI App 103, 282 Wis. 2d 458, 698 N.W.2d 301, 04-1433.

66.0617 Annotation Subs. (2) and (6) (b) authorize municipalities to hold developers responsible only for the portion of capital costs whose necessity is attributable to their developments. A municipality cannot expect developers’ money to subsidize the existing residents’ proportionate share of the costs. If impact fees revenues exceed the developers’ proportionate share of the capital costs of a project, the municipality must return those fees to the current owners of the properties for which developers paid the fees. Metropolitan Builders Ass’n of Greater Milwaukee v. Village of Germantown, 2005 WI App 103, 282 Wis. 2d 458, 698 N.W.2d 301, 04-1433.

66.0617 Annotation When the plaintiff home builders association alleged a town enacted an impact fee ordinance that disproportionately imposed the town’s costs on development and the ordinance contained a mechanism for appealing these issues, but the association did not use it, the circuit court did not erroneously exercise its discretion when it concluded the association should have used the ordinance’s appeal process before bringing its claims to court. St. Croix Valley Home Builders Ass’n v. Township of Oak Grove, 2010 WI App 96, 327 Wis. 2d 510, 787 N.W.2d 454, 09-2166.

66.0617 Annotation The primary purpose of a tax is to obtain revenue for the government as opposed to covering the expense of providing certain services or regulation. A “fee” imposed purely for revenue purposes is invalid absent permission from the state to the municipality to exact such a fee. A “fee in lieu of room tax” that did not help the city recoup its investment in a development but rather was a revenue generator for the city that was collected from the owners of condominiums in a specific development who chose not rent their units to the public was imposed without legislative permission and was therefore an illegal tax. Bentivenga v. City of Delavan, 2014 WI App 118, 358 Wis. 2d 610, 856 N.W.2d 546, 14-0137.

66.0617 Annotation Rough Proportionality and Wisconsin’s New Impact Fee Act. Ishikawa. Wis. Law. Mar. 1995.

66.0619 66.0619 Public improvement bonds: issuance.

66.0619(1) (1) A municipality, in addition to any other authority to borrow money and issue its municipal obligations, may borrow money and issue its public improvement bonds to finance the cost of construction or acquisition, including site acquisition, of any revenue-producing public improvement of the municipality. In this section, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires:

66.0619(1)(a) (a) “Debt service” means the amount of principal, interest and premium due and payable with respect to public improvement bonds.

66.0619(1)(b) (b) “Deficiency” means the amount by which debt service required to be paid in a calendar year exceeds the amount of revenues estimated to be derived from the ownership and operation of the public improvement for the calendar year, after first subtracting from the estimated revenues the estimated cost of paying the expenses of operating and maintaining the public improvement for the calendar year.

66.0619(1)(c) (c) “Municipality” means a county, sanitary district, public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district, town, city or village.

66.0619(1)(d) (d) “Public improvement” means any public improvement which a municipality may lawfully own and operate from which the municipality expects to derive revenues.

66.0619(2) (2) The governing body of the municipality proposing to issue public improvement bonds shall adopt a resolution authorizing their issuance. The resolution shall set forth the amount of bonds authorized, or a sum not to exceed a stated amount, and the purpose for which the bonds are to be issued. The resolution shall prescribe the terms, form and contents of the bonds and other matters that the governing body considers necessary or advisable. The bonds may be in any denomination of not less than $1,000, shall bear interest payable annually or semiannually, shall be payable not later than 20 years from the date of the bonds, at times and places that the governing body determines, and may be subject to redemption prior to maturity on terms and conditions that the governing body determines. The bonds may be issued either payable to bearer with interest coupons attached to the bonds or may be registered under s. 67.09. The bonds may be sold at public competitive sale or by private negotiation. Sections 67.08 and 67.10 apply to public improvement bonds, except insofar as they are in conflict with this section, in which case this section controls.

66.0619(2m) (2m) 

66.0619(2m)(a) (a) A resolution, adopted under sub. (2) by the governing body of a municipality, need not be submitted to the electors of the municipality for approval, unless within 30 days after the resolution is adopted there is filed with the clerk of the municipality a petition, conforming to the requirements of s. 8.40 and requesting a referendum on the resolution, signed by electors numbering at least 10 percent of the votes cast in the municipality for governor at the last general election. A resolution, adopted under sub. (2), may be submitted by the governing body of the municipality to the electors without waiting for the filing of a petition.

66.0619(2m)(b) (b) If a referendum is to be held on a resolution, the municipal governing body shall file the resolution as provided in s. 8.37 and shall direct the municipal clerk to call a special election for the purpose of submitting the resolution to the electors for a referendum on approval or rejection. In lieu of a special election, the municipal governing body may specify that the election be held at the next succeeding spring primary or election or partisan primary or general election.

66.0619(2m)(c) (c) The municipal clerk shall publish a class 2 notice, under ch. 985, containing a statement of the purpose of the referendum, giving the amount of the bonds proposed to be issued and the purpose for which they will be issued, and stating the time and places of holding the election and the hours during which the polls will be open.

66.0619(2m)(d) (d) The referendum shall be held and conducted and the votes cast shall be canvassed as at regular municipal elections and the results certified to the municipal clerk. A majority of all votes cast in the municipality decides the question.

66.0619(3) (3) The reasonable cost and value of any services rendered by the public improvement to the municipality shall be charged against the municipality and shall be paid by it in monthly installments.

66.0619(4) (4) 

66.0619(4)(a) (a) Gross revenues derived from the ownership and operation of the public improvement shall be first pledged to debt service on issued public improvement bonds. When in excess of debt service, the revenues are subject to all of the following requirements set by resolution or ordinance of the governing body fixing:

66.0619(4)(a)1. 1. The proportion of revenues of the public improvement necessary for the reasonable and proper operation and maintenance of the public improvement.

66.0619(4)(a)2. 2. The proportion of revenues necessary for the payment of debt service on the public improvement bonds. The revenues shall be paid into a special fund in the treasury of the municipality known as the “Public Improvement Bond Account”.

66.0619(4)(b) (b) At any time after one year’s operation, the governing body may recompute the proportion of revenues assignable under par. (a) based upon experience of operation.

66.0619(4)(c) (c) All funds on deposit in a public improvement bond account, which are not immediately required for the purposes specified in this section, shall be invested in accordance with s. 66.0605.

66.0619(5) (5) Annually, on or before August 1 the officer or department of the municipality responsible for the operation of the public improvement shall file with the governing body, or its designated representative, a detailed statement setting forth the amount of the debt service on the public improvement bonds issued for the public improvement for the succeeding calendar year and an estimate for that year of the total revenues to be derived from the ownership and operation of the public improvement and the total cost of operating and maintaining the public improvement.

66.0619(6) (6) 

66.0619(6)(a) (a) If it is determined that there will be a deficiency for the ensuing calendar year, the municipality shall make up the deficiency, but the obligation to do so is limited to a sum which does not cause the municipality to exceed its municipal debt limits. The deficiency may be made up by the municipality from any available revenues, including a tax levy. The amount contributed by the municipality shall be deposited in the public improvement bond account and applied to the payment of debt service. Taxes levied under this paragraph are not subject to statutory limitations of rate or amount.

66.0619(6)(b) (b) The amount of any deficiency determined under par. (a) for the ensuing calendar year shall be related to the total debt service for that year. The ratio determines the outstanding indebtedness of the issue to be reflected as part of the municipality’s indebtedness for the year.

66.0619(7) (7) If revenue bonds have been issued by a municipality pursuant to law and an ordinance authorizing their issuance without limitation as to amount has been enacted by the governing body of the municipality, public improvement bonds may be issued under the ordinance with the same effect as though they were revenue bonds. The bonds are public improvement bonds and this section applies to the bonds, except that nothing contained in this subsection shall impair the contract between the municipality and the holders of outstanding revenue bonds. Liens created in favor of any outstanding revenue bonds issued under the ordinance apply to public improvement bonds issued under this subsection. The public improvement bonds are payable on a parity with the revenue bonds issued under the ordinance if the public improvement bonds are issued in compliance with the requirements of the ordinance for the issuance of parity bonds under the ordinance.

66.0619 History History: 1971 c. 188; 1975 c. 62, 197; 1983 a. 24, 189; 1983 a. 207 s. 93 (4); 1989 a. 192; 1999 a. 150 s. 162; Stats. 1999 s. 66.0619; 1999 a. 182 s. 203; 2011 a. 75.

66.0621 66.0621 Revenue obligations.

66.0621(1) (1) In this section:

66.0621(1)(a) (a) “Municipality” means a city, village, town, county, commission created by contract under s. 66.0301, public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district established under s. 33.23, 33.235 or 33.24, metropolitan sewerage district created under ss. 200.01 to 200.15 and 200.21 to 200.65, town sanitary district under subch. IX of ch. 60, a local professional baseball park district created under subch. III of ch. 229, a local professional football stadium district created under subch. IV of ch. 229, a local cultural arts district created under subch. V of ch. 229 or a municipal water district or power district under ch. 198 and any other public or quasi-public corporation, officer, board or other public body empowered to borrow money and issue obligations to repay the money and obligations out of revenues. “Municipality” does not include the state or a local exposition district created under subch. II of ch. 229.

66.0621(1)(b) (b) “Public utility” means any revenue producing facility or enterprise owned by a municipality and operated for a public purpose as defined in s. 67.04 (1) (b) including garbage incinerators, toll bridges, swimming pools, tennis courts, parks, playgrounds, golf links, bathing beaches, bathhouses, street lighting, city halls, village halls, town halls, courthouses, jails, schools, cooperative educational service agencies, hospitals, homes for the aged or indigent, child care centers, regional projects, waste collection and disposal operations, sewerage systems, local professional baseball park facilities, local professional football stadium facilities, local cultural arts facilities, and any other necessary public works projects undertaken by a municipality.

66.0621(1)(c) (c) “Revenue” means all moneys received from any source by a public utility and all rentals and fees and, in the case of a local professional baseball park district created under subch. III of ch. 229 includes tax revenues deposited into a special fund under s. 229.685 and payments made into a special debt service reserve fund under s. 229.74 and, in the case of a local professional football stadium district created under subch. IV of ch. 229 includes tax revenues deposited into a special fund under s. 229.825 and payments made into a special debt service reserve fund under s. 229.830.

66.0621(2) (2) This section does not limit the authority of a municipality to acquire, own, operate and finance in the manner provided in this section a source of water and necessary transmission facilities, including all real and personal property, beyond its corporate limits. A source of water 50 miles beyond a municipality’s corporate limits shall be within the municipality’s authority.

66.0621(3) (3) A municipality may, by action of its governing body, provide for purchasing, acquiring, leasing, constructing, extending, adding to, improving, conducting, controlling, operating or managing a public utility, motor bus or other systems of public transportation from the general fund, or from the proceeds of municipal obligations, including revenue bonds. An obligation created under sub. (4) or (5) is not an indebtedness of the municipality, and shall not be included in arriving at the constitutional debt limitation.

66.0621(3m) (3m) A county in which an electronics and information technology manufacturing zone designated under s. 238.396 (1m) exists may issue bonds under this section whose principal and interest are paid only through sales and use tax revenues imposed by the county under s. 77.70. The county shall be and continue without power to repeal such tax or obstruct the collection of the tax until all such payments have been made or provided for.

66.0621(4) (4) If payment of obligations is provided by revenue bonds, the following is the procedure for payment:

66.0621(4)(a) (a)

66.0621(4)(a)1. 1. The governing body of the municipality, by ordinance or resolution, shall order the issuance and sale of bonds, executed as provided in s. 67.08 (1) and payable at times not exceeding 40 years from the date of issuance, and at places, that the governing body of the municipality determines. The bonds shall be payable only out of the special redemption fund. Each bond shall include a statement that it is payable only from the special redemption fund, naming the ordinance or resolution creating it, and that it does not constitute an indebtedness of the municipality. The bonds may be issued either as registered bonds under s. 67.09 or as coupon bonds payable to bearer. Bonds shall be sold in the manner and upon the terms determined by the governing body of the municipality.

66.0621(4)(a)2. 2. Interest, if any, on bonds shall be paid at least annually to bondholders. Payment of principal on the bonds shall commence not later than 3 years after the date of issue or 2 years after the estimated date that construction will be completed, whichever is later. After the commencement of the payment of principal on the bonds, at least annually, the municipality shall make principal payments and, if any, interest payments to bondholders or provide by ordinance or resolution that payments be made into a separate fund for payment to bondholders as specified in the ordinance or resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds. The amount of the annual debt service payments made or provided for shall be reasonable in accordance with prudent municipal utility management practices.

66.0621(4)(a)3. 3. All revenue bonds may contain a provision authorizing redemption of the bonds, in whole or in part, at stipulated prices, at the option of the municipality on any interest payment date. The governing body of a municipality may provide in a contract for purchasing, acquiring, leasing, constructing, extending, adding to, improving, conducting, controlling, operating or managing a public utility, that payment shall be made in bonds at not less than 95 percent of the par value of the bonds.

66.0621(4)(b) (b) All moneys received from bonds issued under this section shall be applied solely for purchasing, acquiring, leasing, constructing, extending, adding to, improving, conducting, controlling, operating or managing a public utility, and in the payment of the cost of subsequent necessary additions, improvements and extensions. Bonds issued under this section shall be secured by a pledge of the revenues of the public utility to the holders of the bonds and to the holders of coupons of the bonds and may be additionally secured by a mortgage lien upon the public utility to the holders of the bonds and to the holders of coupons of the bonds. If a mortgage lien is created by ordinance or resolution, the lien is perfected by publication of the ordinance or resolution or by recording of the ordinance or resolution in the records of the municipality. In addition, the municipality may record the lien by notifying the register of deeds of the county in which the public utility is located concerning its issuance of bonds. If the register of deeds receives notice from the municipality, the register of deeds shall record any mortgage lien created. The public utility remains subject to the pledge and, if created, the mortgage lien until the payment in full of the principal and interest of the bonds. Upon repayment of bonds for which a mortgage lien has been created, the register of deeds shall, upon notice from the municipality, record a satisfaction of the mortgage lien. Any holder of a bond or of coupons attached to a bond may protect and enforce this pledge and, if created, the mortgage lien and compel performance of all duties required of the municipality by this section. A municipality may provide for additions, extensions and improvements to a public utility that it owns by additional issues of bonds under this section. The additional issues of bonds are subordinate to all prior issues of bonds under this section, but a municipality may in the ordinance or resolution authorizing bonds permit the issue of additional bonds on a parity with prior issues. A municipality may issue new bonds under this section to provide funds for refunding any outstanding municipal obligations, including interest, issued for any of the purposes stated in sub. (3). Refunding bonds issued under this section are subject to all of the following provisions:

66.0621(4)(b)1. 1. Refunding bonds may be issued to refinance more than one issue of outstanding municipal obligations notwithstanding that the outstanding municipal obligations may have been issued at different times and may be secured by the revenues of more than one public utility. Public utilities may be operated as a single public utility, subject to contract rights vested in holders of bonds or promissory notes being refinanced. A determination by the governing body of a municipality that any refinancing is advantageous or necessary to the municipality is conclusive.

66.0621(4)(b)4. 4. The refunding bonds are not an indebtedness of a municipality, and shall not be included in arriving at the constitutional debt limitation.

66.0621(4)(b)5. 5. The governing body of a municipality may include a provision in any ordinance or resolution authorizing the issuance of refunding bonds pledging all or part of the revenues of any public utility or utilities originally financed, extended or improved from the proceeds of any of the municipal obligations being refunded, and pledging all or part of the surplus income derived from the investment of a trust created in relation to the refunding.

66.0621(4)(b)6. 6. This subsection constitutes full authority for the authorization and issuance of refunding bonds and for all other acts authorized by this subsection to be done or performed and the refunding bonds may be issued under this subsection without regard to the requirements, restrictions or procedural provisions contained in any other law.

66.0621(4)(c) (c) The governing body of a municipality shall, in the ordinance or resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds, establish a system of funds and accounts and provide for sufficient revenues to operate and maintain the public utility and to provide fully for annual debt service requirements of bonds issued under this section. The governing body of a municipality may establish a fund or account for depreciation of assets of the public utility.

66.0621(4)(d) (d) If a governing body of a municipality creates a depreciation fund under par. (c) it shall use the funds set aside to restore any deficiency in the special redemption fund specified in par. (e) for the payment of the principal and interest due on the bonds and for the creation and maintenance of any reserves established by the bond ordinance or resolution to secure these payments. If the special redemption fund is sufficient for these purposes, moneys in the depreciation fund may be expended for repairs, replacements, new constructions, extensions or additions of the public utility. Accumulations of the depreciation fund may be invested and the income from the investment shall be deposited in the depreciation fund.

66.0621(4)(e) (e) The governing body of a municipality shall by ordinance or resolution create a special fund in the treasury of the municipality to be identified as “the .... special redemption fund” into which shall be paid the amount which is set aside for the payment of the principal and interest due on the bonds and for the creation and maintenance of any reserves established by bond ordinance or resolution to secure these payments.

66.0621(4)(f) (f) At the close of the public utility’s fiscal year, if any surplus has accumulated in any of the funds specified in this subsection, it may be disposed of in the order set forth under s. 66.0811 (2).

66.0621(4)(g) (g) The reasonable cost and value of any service rendered to a municipality by a public utility shall be charged against the municipality and shall be paid by it in installments.

66.0621(4)(h) (h) The rates for all services rendered by a public utility to a municipality or to other consumers shall be reasonable and just, taking into account and consideration the value of the public utility, the cost of maintaining and operating the public utility, the proper and necessary allowance for depreciation of the public utility, and a sufficient and adequate return upon the capital invested.

66.0621(4)(i) (i) The governing body of a municipality may adopt all ordinances and resolutions necessary to carry into effect this subsection. An ordinance or resolution providing for the issuance of bonds may contain such provisions or covenants, without limiting the generality of the power to adopt an ordinance or resolution, as are considered necessary or desirable for the security of bondholders or the marketability of the bonds. The provisions or covenants may include but are not limited to provisions relating to the sufficiency of the rates or charges to be made for service, maintenance and operation, improvements or additions to and sale or alienation of the public utility, insurance against loss, employment of consulting engineers and accountants, records and accounts, operating and construction budgets, establishment of reserve funds, issuance of additional bonds, and deposit of the proceeds of the sale of the bonds or revenues of the public utility in trust, including the appointment of depositories or trustees. An ordinance or resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds or other obligations payable from revenues of a public utility constitutes a contract with the holder of bonds or other obligations issued pursuant to the ordinance or resolution.

66.0621(4)(j) (j) The ordinance or resolution required under par. (c) may set apart bonds equal to the amount of any secured debt or charge subject to which a public utility may be purchased, acquired, leased, constructed, extended, added to or improved. The ordinance or resolution shall set aside for interest and debt service fund from the income and revenues of the public utility a sum sufficient to comply with the requirements of the instrument creating the lien, or, if the instrument does not make any provision for it, the ordinance or resolution shall fix the amount which shall be set aside into a secured debt fund from month to month for interest on the secured debt, and a fixed amount or proportion not exceeding a stated sum, which shall be not less than 1 percent of the principal, to be set aside into the fund to pay the principal of the debt. Any surplus after satisfying the debt may be transferred to the special redemption fund. Public utility bonds set aside for the debt may be issued to an amount sufficient with the amount then in the debt service fund to pay and retire the debt or any portion of it. The bonds may be issued at not less than 95 percent of the par value in exchange for, or satisfaction of, the secured debt, or may be sold in the manner provided in this paragraph, and the proceeds applied in payment of the secured debt at maturity or before maturity by agreement with the holder. The governing body of a municipality and the owners of a public utility acquired, purchased, leased, constructed, extended, added to or improved under this paragraph may contract that public utility bonds providing for the secured debt or for the whole purchase price shall be deposited with a trustee or depository and released from deposit to secure the payment of the debt.

66.0621(4)(k) (k) A municipality purchasing, acquiring, leasing, constructing, extending, adding to or improving, conducting, controlling, operating or managing a public utility subject to a mortgage or deed of trust by the vendor or the vendor’s predecessor in title to secure the payment of outstanding and unpaid bonds made by the vendor or the vendor’s predecessor in title, may readjust, renew, consolidate or extend the obligation evidenced by the outstanding bonds and continue the lien of the mortgage, securing the mortgage by issuing bonds to refund the outstanding mortgage or revenue bonds at or before their maturity. The refunding bonds are payable only out of a special redemption fund created and set aside by ordinance or resolution under par. (e). The refunding bonds shall be secured by a mortgage lien upon the public utility, and the municipality may adopt all ordinances or resolutions and take all proceedings, following the procedure under this subsection. The lien has the same priority on the public utility as the mortgage securing the outstanding bonds, unless otherwise expressly provided in the proceedings of the governing body of the municipality.

66.0621(4)(L) (L)

66.0621(4)(L)1. 1. If the governing body of a municipality, by ordinance or resolution, declares its intentions to authorize the issuance or sale of revenue bonds under this section, the governing body may, prior to issuance of the bonds and in anticipation of their sale, authorize the issuance of bond anticipation notes by the adoption of a resolution or ordinance. The notes shall be named “bond anticipation notes”. Bond anticipation notes may be issued for the purposes for which the municipality has authority to issue revenue bonds. The ordinance or resolution authorizing the bond anticipation notes shall state the purposes for which the bond anticipation notes are to be issued and shall set forth a covenant of the municipality to issue the revenue bonds in an amount sufficient to retire the outstanding bond anticipation notes. The ordinance or resolution may contain other covenants and provisions, including a description of the terms of the revenue bonds to be issued. The municipality may pledge revenues of the public utility to payment of the principal and interest on the bond anticipation notes. Prior to issuance of the bond anticipation notes, the governing body may adopt an ordinance or resolution authorizing the revenue bonds.

66.0621(4)(L)2. 2. Bond anticipation notes may be issued for periods of up to 5 years and may, by ordinance or resolution of the governing body of a municipality, be refunded one or more times, if the refunding bond anticipation notes do not exceed 5 years in term and if they will be paid within 10 years after the date of issuance of the original bond anticipation notes. Bond anticipation notes shall be executed as provided in s. 67.08 (1) and may be registered under s. 67.09. These notes shall state the sources from which they are payable. Bond anticipation notes are not an indebtedness of the municipality issuing them, and no lien may be created or attached with respect to any property of the municipality as a consequence of the issuance of the notes.

66.0621(4)(L)3. 3. Any funds derived from the issuance and sale of revenue bonds under this section and issued subsequent to the execution and sale of bond anticipation notes constitute a trust fund, and the fund shall be expended first for the payment of principal and interest of the bond anticipation notes, and then may be expended for other purposes set forth in the ordinance or resolution authorizing the revenue bonds. No bond anticipation notes may be issued unless a financial officer of the municipality certifies to the governing body of the municipality that contracts with respect to additions, improvements and extensions are to be let and that the proceeds of the notes are required for the payment of the contracts.

66.0621(4)(L)4. 4. Following the issuance of the bond anticipation notes, revenues of the public utility may be paid into a fund to pay principal and interest on the bond anticipation notes, which moneys or any part of them may, by the ordinance or resolution authorizing the issuance of bond anticipation notes, be pledged for the payment of the principal of and interest on the notes. The ordinance or resolution shall pledge to the payment of the principal of the notes the proceeds of the sale of the revenue bonds in anticipation of the sale of which the notes were authorized to be issued and may provide for use of revenue of the public utility or other available funds for payment of principal on the notes. The notes are negotiable instruments.

66.0621(4)(L)6. 6. A municipality authorized to issue or sell bond anticipation notes under this paragraph may, in addition to the revenue sources or bond proceeds, appropriate funds out of its annual tax levy for the payment of the notes. The payment of the notes out of funds from a tax levy is not an obligation of the municipality to make any other appropriation.

66.0621(4)(L)7. 7. Bond anticipation notes are a legal form of investment for municipal funds under s. 66.0603 (1m).

66.0621(5) (5) A municipality which may own, purchase, acquire, lease, construct, extend, add to, improve, conduct, control, operate or manage any public utility may, by action of its governing body, in lieu of issuing bonds or levying taxes and in addition to any other lawful methods of paying obligations, provide for or secure the payment of the cost of purchasing, acquiring, leasing, constructing, extending, adding to, improving, conducting, controlling, operating or managing a public utility by pledging, assigning or otherwise hypothecating, shares of stock evidencing a controlling interest in a public utility, or the net earnings or profits derived, or to be derived, from the operation of the public utility. The municipality may enter into the contracts and may mortgage the public utility and issue obligations to carry out this subsection. A municipality may issue additional obligations under this section, but those obligations are subordinate to all prior obligations, except that the municipality may in the ordinance or resolution authorizing obligations under this subsection permit the issue of additional obligations on a parity with those previously issued.

66.0621(6) (6) 

66.0621(6)(a) (a) Revenue bonds issued by a local professional baseball park district created under subch. III of ch. 229 are subject to the provisions in ss. 229.72 to 229.81.

66.0621(6)(b) (b) Revenue bonds issued by a local professional football stadium district created under subch. IV of ch. 229 are subject to the provisions in ss. 229.829 to 229.834.

66.0621(6)(c) (c) Revenue bonds issued by a local cultural arts district created under subch. V of ch. 229 are subject to the provisions in ss. 229.849 to 229.853.

66.0621 History History: 1973 c. 172; 1979 c. 268; 1981 c. 282; 1983 a. 24; 1983 a. 207 ss. 9 to 21, 93 (1), (3); 1987 a. 197; 1991 a. 316; 1993 a. 263; 1995 a. 56, 216, 225, 378; 1997 a. 35; 1999 a. 65; 1999 a. 150 ss. 175, 177; Stats. 1999 s. 66.0621; 1999 a. 167 ss. 33 to 36; 1999 a. 186 s. 45; 2001 a. 30, 105; 2005 a. 148; 2011 a. 239; 2017 a. 58.

66.0621 Annotation A village has power to own and operate a home for the aged, finance the same under ss. 66.066 and 66.067 [now this section], and lease the facility to a nonprofit corporation, but probably could not lease to a profit corporation, for operation. 62 Atty. Gen. 226.