66.0209(1) (1) The order of the circuit court made under s. 66.0203 (8) or (9) (f) may be appealed to the court of appeals.

66.0209(2) (2) The decision of the board made under s. 66.0203 (9) is subject to judicial review under ch. 227.

66.0209(3) (3) Where a proceeding for judicial review is commenced under sub. (2), appeal under sub. (1) may not be taken and the time in which the appeal may be taken does not commence to run until judgment is entered in the proceeding for judicial review.

66.0209(4) (4) An incorporation referendum ordered by the circuit court under s. 66.0203 (9) (f) may not be stayed pending the outcome of further litigation, unless the court of appeals or the supreme court, upon an appeal or upon the filing of an original action in the supreme court, concludes that a strong probability exists that the order of the circuit court or the decision of the board will be set aside.

66.0209 History History: 1977 c. 29, 187; Sup. Ct. Order, 146 Wis. 2d xiii (1988); 1999 a. 150 s. 39; Stats. 1999 s. 66.0209; 2001 a. 103; 2003 a. 171.

66.0209 Annotation When a petition to incorporate is dismissed due to the Department of Administration’s disapproval, sub. (2) prevents appellate court review prior to judicial review under ch. 227. Walag v. Town of Bloomfield, 171 Wis. 2d 659, 492 N.W.2d 342 (Ct. App. 1992).

66.0211 66.0211 Incorporation referendum procedure.

66.0211(1) (1) Order. The circuit court’s order for an incorporation referendum shall specify the voting place and the date of the referendum, which shall be not less than 6 weeks from the date of the order, and name 3 inspectors of election. If the order is for a city incorporation referendum the order shall further specify that 7 alderpersons shall be elected at large from the proposed city. The city council at its first meeting shall determine the number and boundaries of wards in compliance with s. 5.15 (1) and (2), and the combination of wards into aldermanic districts. The number of alderpersons per aldermanic district shall be determined by charter ordinance.

66.0211(2) (2) Notice of referendum. Notice of the referendum shall be given by publication of the order of the circuit court in a newspaper having general circulation in the territory. Publication shall be once a week for 4 successive weeks. The first publication may not be more than 4 weeks before the referendum.

66.0211(3) (3) Return. An incorporation referendum shall be conducted in the same manner as an annexation referendum under s. 66.0217 (7) to the extent applicable except that the ballot shall contain the words “For a city [village]” and “Against a city [village]”. The inspectors shall make a return to the circuit court.

66.0211(4) (4) Costs. If the referendum is against incorporation, the costs of the election shall be borne by the towns involved in the proportion that the number of electors of each town within the territory proposed to be incorporated, voting in the referendum, bears to the total number of electors in the territory voting in the referendum. If the referendum is for a village or city, the costs shall be charged against the municipality in the apportionment of town assets.

66.0211(5) (5) Certification of incorporation. If a majority of the votes in an incorporation referendum are cast in favor of a village or city, the clerk of the circuit court shall certify the fact to the secretary of administration and supply the secretary of administration with a copy of a description of the legal boundaries of the village or city and the associated population and a copy of a plat of the village or city. Within 10 days of receipt of the description and plat, the secretary of administration shall forward 2 copies to the department of transportation and one copy each to the department of administration and the department of revenue. The secretary of administration shall issue a certificate of incorporation and record the certificate.

66.0211 History History: 1971 c. 304; 1973 c. 37, 90; 1977 c. 29 s. 1654 (8) (c); 1977 c. 273; 1979 c. 361 s. 112; 1981 c. 4 s. 19; 1981 c. 377; 1993 a. 184; 1995 a. 27, s. 9116 (5); 1999 a. 150 s. 40; Stats. 1999 s. 66.0211; 2011 a. 32; 2015 a. 55.

66.0211 Annotation A referendum is effective immediately if the majority of votes are for incorporation. 70 Atty. Gen. 128.

66.0213 66.0213 Powers of new village or city: elections; adjustment of taxes; reorganization as village.

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.