March 4, 2008 - Introduced by Representative Hixson. Referred to Committee on
Natural Resources.
AB909,1,9
1An Act to repeal 33.26 (6) and 33.33 (2);
to renumber and amend 33.25 (3),
233.26 (2) and 33.26 (3);
to amend 33.21, 33.235 (2), 33.24 (2), 33.25 (title), 33.25
3(1) (a), 33.25 (2) (intro.), 33.25 (2) (a), 33.25 (2) (b), 33.25 (2) (c), 33.25 (4), 33.26
4(1), 33.26 (5), 33.26 (7), 33.265, 33.33 (title), 33.35, 33.37 (1) and 33.37 (2);
to
5repeal and recreate 33.25 (1) (title); and
to create 33.25 (2m), 33.25 (3) (b),
633.26 (2) (c), 33.26 (3) (c), 33.26 (8) and 33.37 (1m) of the statutes;
relating to:
7attachment of territory to public inland lake protection and rehabilitation
8districts and changing boundaries of proposed public inland lake protection and
9rehabilitation districts.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, a county may establish public inland lake protection and
rehabilitation districts (lake districts). A city, village, or town may also create a lake
district if all the frontage of the lake is within its boundaries.
Current law requires that certain procedures be followed by a county in
establishing a lake district. These include having a petition signed by 51 percent of
the persons owning land in the proposed lake district or by owners of 51 percent of
the land in the proposed lake district and having the county board conduct a hearing
on the petition. If the county board finds that the establishment of the lake district
will promote a public goal such as public health, convenience, or welfare and that the
land to be included in the lake district will benefit from its establishment, the county
board must approve the establishment of the lake district.
Current law requires that a different procedure be followed to annex territory
to a lake district. Under current law, an owner of land may petition the board of
commissioners for the lake district (district board) to annex the land. If the petition
is approved by a majority vote of the members of the district board, the territory is
annexed. Alternatively, the district board may begin the procedure by notifying the
owners of land that is proposed to be annexed and the county board. Under this
alternative procedure, a procedure similar to the one described above for the
establishment of a lake district applies.
This bill eliminates the procedure under which an owner of land may petition
the district board to annex territory and eliminates the authority of a district board
to begin an annexation proceeding. Under the bill, annexation requires that 51
percent of the owners of the land in the territory to be annexed or the owners of 51
percent of that territory sign the annexation petition. The county board must hold
a hearing on the petition.
Under current law, a county may change the boundaries of a lake district that
is being established. This bill repeals this provision.
For further information see the local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as
an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB909, s. 1
1Section
1. 33.21 of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,2,5
233.21 Public inland lake protection and rehabilitation districts;
3purposes. Districts may be
created established for the purpose of undertaking a
4program of lake protection and rehabilitation of a lake or parts thereof within the
5district.
AB909, s. 2
6Section
2. 33.235 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,3,107
33.235
(2) The commissioners of a town sanitary district that does not
8encompass all the frontage of a lake within its boundaries may, with approval of the
9town board, petition under s. 33.25 for the formation of a restructured district to
10include the territory of the existing sanitary district and any additional frontage on
1the lake that is deemed appropriate by the commissioners. The commissioners may
2sign the petition for the landowners in the sanitary district. If necessary to meet the
3requirements of s. 33.25, signatures of owners of land lying outside the sanitary
4district shall be obtained. Formation of a restructured district that includes such
5additional territory shall not affect any preexisting rights or liabilities of the town
6sanitary district, and all these rights and liabilities shall be assumed automatically
7by the restructured district. The method by which these rights and liabilities are
8apportioned within the restructured district shall be determined by the county
9board, and set out in the order issued under s. 33.26 (3)
(a) forming the restructured
10district.
AB909, s. 3
11Section
3. 33.24 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,3,1712
33.24
(2) The county board of any county may establish districts within the
13county
, and may attach contiguous territory to existing districts in the county, if the
14conditions stated in s. 33.26 are found to exist. Before a district that includes any
15portion of a city or village may be
formed established under authority of this section,
16the city council or village board must have previously approved the inclusion of its
17territory within the boundaries of a proposed district.
AB909, s. 4
18Section
4. 33.25 (title) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,3,19
1933.25 (title)
Petition for establishment or attachment.
AB909, s. 5
20Section
5. 33.25 (1) (title) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:
AB909,3,2121
33.25
(1) (title)
Filing of petition.
AB909, s. 6
22Section
6. 33.25 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,4,1123
33.25
(1) (a) Before a county board may establish a district under s. 33.235 or
2433.24
or before a county board may approve the attachment of contiguous territory
25to an existing district under s. 33.24, a petition requesting
the establishment
or
1attachment shall be filed with the county clerk
, addressed and presented to the
2county board
and. A petition to establish a district shall be signed by persons
3constituting
51% 51 percent of the landowners or the owners of
51% 51 percent of the
4lands within the proposed district.
A petition to attach territory to an existing
5district shall be signed by persons constituting 51 percent of the owners of land in
6the territory or the owners of 51 percent of the lands within the territory. 7Governmental subdivisions, other than the state or federal governments,
owning
8lands within the proposed district are eligible
as landowners to sign
such a petition.
9A city council or village or town board may by resolution represent persons
owning
10lands within the proposed district who are within its jurisdiction
and who are eligible
11to sign a petition, and
may sign for all such landowners.
AB909, s. 7
12Section
7. 33.25 (2) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,4,1413
33.25
(2) Contents of petition to establish. (intro.)
The
A petition
filed under
14sub. (1) to establish a district shall set forth
all of the following:
AB909, s. 8
15Section
8. 33.25 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,4,1616
33.25
(2) (a) The proposed name of the district
;.
AB909, s. 9
17Section
9. 33.25 (2) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,4,1818
33.25
(2) (b) The necessity for the proposed district
;.
AB909, s. 10
19Section
10. 33.25 (2) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,4,2320
33.25
(2) (c)
That A statement that the public health, comfort, convenience,
21necessity
, or
public welfare will be promoted by the establishment of the district and
22that the
lands territory to be included
therein in the district will be benefited by
such 23its establishment
; and.
AB909, s. 11
24Section
11. 33.25 (2m) of the statutes is created to read:
AB909,5,2
133.25
(2m) Contents of petition to attach. A petition filed under sub. (1) to
2attach contiguous territory to an existing district shall set forth all of the following:
AB909,5,33
(a) The necessity for the attachment to the existing district.
AB909,5,64
(b) A statement that the public health, comfort, convenience, necessity, or
5welfare will be promoted by the attachment and that both the lands contained in the
6existing district and the territory to be attached will be benefited by the attachment.
AB909,5,77
(c) The boundaries of the territory to be attached to the existing district.
AB909, s. 12
8Section
12. 33.25 (3) of the statutes is renumbered 33.25 (3) (intro.) and
9amended to read:
AB909,5,1210
33.25
(3) Verification, plat. (intro.)
The petition A petition filed under sub.
11(1) shall be verified by one of the petitioners, and shall be accompanied by
a one of
12the following:
AB909,5,14
13(a) For the establishment of a district, a plat or sketch indicating the
14approximate area and boundaries of the
proposed district.
AB909, s. 13
15Section
13. 33.25 (3) (b) of the statutes is created to read:
AB909,5,1816
33.25
(3) (b) For the attachment of contiguous territory to an existing district,
17a plat or sketch indicating the approximate area and boundaries of the territory to
18be attached.
AB909, s. 14
19Section
14. 33.25 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,5,2220
33.25
(4) Presumption. Every Each petition
filed under sub. (1) is presumed
21to have been signed by the persons whose signatures appear thereon, until proved
22otherwise.
AB909, s. 15
23Section
15. 33.26 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,6,824
33.26
(1) Upon receipt of
the a petition
for establishment of a district or for
25attachment of contiguous territory to an existing district under s. 33.25, the county
1board shall
arrange set a hearing to be held not later than 30 days from the date of
2presentation of the petition, and shall appoint a committee to conduct the hearing.
3At the hearing all interested persons may offer objections, criticisms
, or suggestions
4as to the necessity of the
proposed district establishment or attachment as outlined
5and
as to the question of whether their
property land will be benefited by the
6establishment
of such district or attachment. Any person wishing to object to the
7organization of such district establishment or attachment may, before the date set
8for the hearing, file objections
to the formation of such district with the county clerk.
AB909, s. 16
9Section
16. 33.26 (2) of the statutes is renumbered 33.26 (2) (a) and amended
10to read:
AB909,6,1411
33.26
(2) (a) Notice announcing the hearing
set under sub. (1) and stating the
12boundaries of the proposed district
or of the territory to be attached to an existing
13district shall be published
in a paper of general circulation in the county in which the
14proposed district is located as a class 1 notice
, under ch. 985
, and.
AB909,6,18
15(b) For a petition to establish a district, the notice shall be published in a paper
16of general circulation in each county in which the proposed district is located and 17shall be mailed by the county board to the last-known address of each landowner
18within the proposed district.
AB909, s. 17
19Section
17. 33.26 (2) (c) of the statutes is created to read:
AB909,6,2520
33.26
(2) (c) For a petition to attach contiguous territory to an existing district,
21the notice shall be published in a paper of general circulation in each county in which
22the existing district is located and in which the territory to be attached is located and
23shall be mailed by the county board to the last-known address of each landowner
24within the existing district and to each owner of land located in the area proposed
25for attachment.
AB909, s. 18
1Section
18. 33.26 (3) of the statutes is renumbered 33.26 (3) (a) amended to
2read:
AB909,7,53
33.26
(3) (a)
The A committee
appointed under sub. (1) shall report to the
4county board within 3 months after the date of the hearing. Within 6 months after
5the date of the hearing, the
county board shall issue its order under this subsection.
AB909,7,17
6(b) If the
county board finds, after consideration of the committee's report and
7any other evidence submitted to the
county board, that
the a petition
to establish a
8district is signed by the requisite owners as provided in s. 33.25, that the proposed
9district is necessary, that the public health, comfort, convenience, necessity
, or
public 10welfare will be promoted by the establishment of the district, and that the
property 11territory to be included in the district will be benefited by the establishment of the
12proposed district, the
county board, by order, shall declare its findings, shall
13establish the boundaries and shall declare the district organized and give it a
14corporate name by which it shall be known. Thereupon the district shall be a body
15corporate with the powers of a municipal corporation for the purposes of carrying out
16this chapter. If the
county board does not so find, the
county board, by order, shall
17declare its findings and deny the petition.
AB909, s. 19
18Section
19. 33.26 (3) (c) of the statutes is created to read:
AB909,8,319
33.26
(3) (c) If the county board finds, after consideration of the committee's
20report and any other evidence submitted to the county board, that a petition to attach
21contiguous territory to an existing district is signed by the requisite owners as
22provided in s. 33.25, that the attachment to the district is necessary, that the public
23health, comfort, convenience, necessity, or welfare will be promoted by the
24attachment, and that both the territory included in the district and the territory to
25be attached to the district will be benefited by the attachment, the county board, by
1order, shall declare its findings and shall establish the boundaries of the territory to
2be attached. If the county board does not so find, the county board, by order, shall
3declare its findings and deny the petition.
AB909, s. 20
4Section
20. 33.26 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,8,65
33.26
(5) The department shall be notified in writing of
the a hearing
for the
6creation of the district
under sub. (1) at the time the hearing date is set.
AB909, s. 21
7Section
21. 33.26 (6) of the statutes is repealed.
AB909, s. 22
8Section
22. 33.26 (7) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,8,129
33.26
(7) Any person aggrieved by the action of the
county board may petition
10the circuit court for judicial review. A verified petition shall be presented to the court
11not more than 30 days after the decision of the
county board, and shall specify the
12grounds upon which the appeal is based.
AB909, s. 23
13Section
23. 33.26 (8) of the statutes is created to read:
AB909,8,1714
33.26
(8) Petitions requesting attachment and motions for attachment
15proceedings under s. 33.33 (2), 2005 stats., that are filed or initiated before the
16effective date of this subsection .... [revisors inserts date], shall comply with the
17applicable procedures and requirements under s. 33.33 (2), 2005 stats.
AB909, s. 24
18Section
24. 33.265 of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,8,24
1933.265 Notice, filing and recording requirements. If a district is
created 20established or its boundaries altered, the board of commissioners shall record the
21authorizing document, including a legal description of the boundary, with the
22register of deeds in each county where the district is situated, and file the document
23and legal description with the department of natural resources and the department
24of revenue.
AB909, s. 25
25Section
25. 33.33 (title) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,9,1
133.33 (title)
Merger, attachment,; detachment.
AB909, s. 26
2Section
26. 33.33 (2) of the statutes is repealed.
AB909, s. 27
3Section
27. 33.35 of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,9,19
433.35 Dissolution of districts. A petition to dissolve an existing district
5created established under this chapter may not be considered at an annual meeting
6of the district unless an elector within the district or a property owner within the
7district notifies the district board of commissioners in writing at least 90 days before
8the annual meeting that the elector or property owner intends to petition for
9dissolution at that annual meeting. The notice of the annual meeting must include
10a statement that a petition to dissolve the district will be considered. The district
11may be dissolved upon a two-thirds vote of the electors and property owners present
12at the annual meeting. The county board shall by order dissolve the district following
13receipt of the petition if the county board finds that one or more of the standards for
14the
creation establishment of a district under s. 33.26 (3) are not met. The order for
15dissolution shall be conditioned upon proper petition to the circuit court and
16appointment of a receiver to administer the winding up of the district under the
17supervision of the court and a final order of the court. The attorney general shall
18represent the state and shall be a party to every dissolution proceeding where state
19money is involved.
AB909, s. 28
20Section
28. 33.37 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,9,2321
33.37
(1) Where the If a proposed district is in more than one county, the county
22board of the county within which the largest portion, by valuation, of the proposed
23district lies shall have jurisdiction under ss. 33.24 to 33.28.
AB909, s. 29
24Section
29. 33.37 (1m) of the statutes is created to read:
AB909,10,3
133.37
(1m) If an existing district is in more than one county, the county board
2of the county within which the largest portion, by valuation, of the existing district
3lies shall have jurisdiction on petitions for attachment under s. 33.25.
AB909, s. 30
4Section
30. 33.37 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB909,10,85
33.37
(2) The If an existing district is in more that one county, the county
board
6of the county within which the largest portion, by valuation, of a district lies shall
7have jurisdiction
on motions for attachment under s. 33.33 (2) (b) and on petitions
8for dissolution under s. 33.35.
AB909,10,1410
(1) The treatment of sections 33.24 (2), 33.25 (title), (1) (a), (2m), and (4), 33.26
11(1), (3) (c), and (5), 33.33 (title) and (2), and 33.37 (1m) of the statutes, the
12renumbering and amendment of sections 33.25 (3) and 33.26 (2) of the statutes, and
13the creation of sections 33.25 (3) (b) and 33.26 (2) (c) of the statutes first applies to
14petitions to attach territory that are filed on the effective date of this subsection.
AB909,10,1615
(2) The treatment of section 33.26 (6) of the statutes first applies to petitions
16filed with county clerks on the effective date of this subsection.
