A. General Filing Requirements. 1. The following town officials, town employees, and candidates for office shall be required to identify any economic interests specified in this ordinance and under s. 19.44, Wis. stats., in a Statement of Economic Interest filed under this subsection: [list specific officers, employees, or candidates].

2. The town clerk has the authority to withhold salaries or expenses from any town official or town employee who is required to file under this subsection and fails to timely file his or her Statement of Economic Interest as required by this subsection.

1. Any individual who in January of any year is a town official or town employee and is required to file under subsection A shall file with the ethics board no later than February 28 of that year a Statement of Economic Interest. The information on the statement shall be current as of December 31 of the preceding year.

2. Any newly appointed or employed individual required to file under subsection A shall file a Statement of Economic Interest within 21 days following the date he or she assumes office if the individual has not previously filed a Statement of Economic Interest with the ethics board during that year. The information on the statement shall be current as of the date he or she assumes office.

3. Any nominee to a town board, commission, committee, or other body of any type requiring town board confirmation who is required to file under subsection A shall file a Statement of Economic Interest within 21 days of being nominated unless the nominee has previously filed a statement with the ethics board for that year. The information on the statement shall be current as of the date he or she is nominated. Following the receipt of a nominee’s statement, the ethics board shall forward copies of the statement to the members of the town board. The Statement of Economic Interest shall be submitted by the nominee in advance of the meeting of the town board considering the nomination for confirmation. [If the nomination is first referred to a committee of the town board, modify to provide copies to the committee members in advance of their meeting.]

4. Any nominee to a town board, commission, committee, or other body of any type not requiring town board confirmation, who is required to file under subsection A, shall file a Statement of Economic Interest within 21 days of being nominated unless the nominee has previously filed a statement with the ethics board for that year. The information on the statement shall be current as of the date he or she is nominated.

5. A candidate for elective town office required to file under this subsection shall file a Statement of Economic Interest with the town clerk no later than 4:30 p.m. on the third day following the deadline for filing nomination papers for the office the candidate seeks at the time of filing of nomination papers. The information on the statement shall be current as of December 31 of the year preceding the filing deadline. A copy of the Statement of Economic Interest shall also be filed at the same time with the ethics board.

6. On its own motion or at the request of any individual who is required to file a Statement of Economic Interest under subsection A, the ethics board may extend the time for filing or waive any filing requirement if the ethics board determines that the literal application of the filing requirements of this section would work an unreasonable hardship on that individual or that the extension of the time for filing or waiver is in the public interest. The ethics board shall set forth in writing as a matter of public record its reason for the extension or waiver. Extensions and waivers shall not be granted to candidates for public office.

C. Failure to File. 1. If a town official or town employee who is required to file under subsection A has failed to file a Statement of Economic Interest within the required time, no salary, compensation, or reimbursement of expenses may be paid to the town official or town employee until the town official or town employee files the required statement. The ethics board shall officially inform the town treasurer when it has determined that an official’s salary, compensation, and reimbursement expenses shall be withheld. All payments shall be withheld until the ethics board notifies the town treasurer that the official has complied with this ordinance. The ethics board shall also notify the appropriate appointing authority of the failure of the town official or town employee to file a Statement of Economic Interest.

2. If a candidate for elective town office required to file under subsection A has failed to file a Statement of Economic Interest within the required time, the name of the candidate for town office shall be removed from the election ballot. The ethics board shall officially inform the town clerk when it has determined that a candidate’s name shall be removed from a ballot.

D. Form of Statement. Every Statement of Economic Interest required to be filed under subsection A shall be in the form prescribed by the ethics board. Required information shall be provided on the basis of the best knowledge, information, and belief of the person filing the statement. The statement shall contain all of the following information:

1. The identity of every organization with which the individual required to file is associated and the nature of his or her association with the organization, except that no identification need be made of any of the following:

b. An organization organized and operated primarily to influence voting at an election, including support for or opposition to an individual’s present or future candidacy or to a present or future referendum.

d. Any trust not owned, in whole or in part, by the individual or a member or members of the individual’s immediate family or whose assets or principal are not owned by the individual, in whole in part, or a member or members of the individual’s immediate family, or any trust. An individual is the owner of a trust and the trust’s assets and obligations if he or she is the creator of the trust and has the power to revoke the trust without obtaining the consent of all of the beneficiaries of the trust. An individual who is eligible to receive income or other beneficial use of the principal of a trust is the owner of a proportional share of the principal in the proportion that the individual’s beneficial interest in the trust bears to the total beneficial interests vested in all beneficiaries of the trust. A vested beneficial interest in a trust includes a vested reverter interest.

2. The identity of every organization or body politic in which the individual who is required to file, or members of individual’s immediate family, severally or in the aggregate, owns, directly or indirectly, securities having a value of $5,000 or more, the identity of those securities, and their approximate value, except that no identification need be made of a security or issuer of a security when it is issued by any organization not doing business in Wisconsin or by any governmental body, instrumentality or agency of a governmental body, or authority or public corporation created and regulated by an act of a governmental body other than the State of Wisconsin, its instrumentalities, agencies, political subdivisions, or authorities or public corporations created and regulated by an act of the Wisconsin legislature. For purposes of reporting under this paragraph 2, it is sufficient to report whether the amount is not more than $50,000, or more than $50,000.

3. The name of any creditor to whom the individual who is required to file, or members of the individual’s immediate family, severally or in the aggregate, owes $5,000 or more and the approximate amount owed. For purposes of reporting under this paragraph 3, it is sufficient to report whether the amount is not more than $50,000, or more than $50,000.

4. The real property located in the town in which the individual who is required to file, or members of the individual’s immediate family jointly and severally, holds an interest having an equity value of $5,000 or greater, other than the principal residence of the individual or members of his or her immediate family, and the nature of the interest held.

5. The identity of each payer from which the individual who is required to file, or a member of his or her immediate family, received $1,000 or more of his or her income for the preceding taxable year, except that if the individual who is required to file identifies the general nature of the business in which he or she, or his or her immediate family members, is engaged, then no identification need be made of a decedent’s estate or an individual not acting as a representative of an organization. In addition, no identification need be made of payers from which anything of pecuniary value was received as political contributions and reported under ch. 11, Wis. stats.

6. The identity of each giver from which the individual who is required to file received, directly or indirectly, any gift or gifts having an aggregate value of more than $50 within the taxable year preceding the time of filing, except that the source of a gift need not be identified if the donor is the donee’s parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, parent-in-law, grandparent-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, spouse, fiancée or fiancé.

A. Organization, Composition, and Operation of the Ethics Board. 1. There is created an ethics board consisting of 5 members who are residents of the town and who shall serve without compensation unless the town board otherwise provides. Members of the ethics board shall not be elected officials or persons appointed to elective office, full-time appointed town officials, or town employees, nor shall they be currently serving on any other town board, committee, or commission, or any other town body. Ethics board members shall be selected by the town chairperson and submitted to the town board for confirmation by the town board. Terms of office shall be 3 years. The members of the ethics board shall select their own chairperson. A vacancy shall be filled within one month.

2. The town attorney shall furnish the ethics board with whatever legal assistance is necessary to carry out its functions, and the town clerk shall furnish the ethics board with whatever assistance it requires.

3. (Optional) All members of the ethics board shall file a Statement of Economic Interest with the town board and town clerk.

4. Any action by the ethics board, except an action relating to procedure of the ethics board, requires the affirmative vote of its members.

5. No later than February 15 of each year, the ethics board shall submit a report to the town board concerning its actions in the preceding year. The report shall contain a summary of its determinations and advisory opinions. The ethics board shall make sufficient alterations in the summaries to prevent disclosing the identities of individuals or organizations involved in the decision or opinions. The ethics board shall make any additional reports on matters within its jurisdiction and recommendations for further legislation, as it deems desirable.