AB563,3,62 66.0615 (1) (f) "Tourism entity" means a nonprofit organization that came into
3existence before January 1, 1992, and provides staff, development or promotional
4spends at least 51 percent of its revenues on tourism promotion and development,
5and provides destination marketing staff and services for the tourism industry in a
6municipality.

AB563,4,78 66.0615 (1m) (a) The governing body of a municipality may enact an ordinance,
9and a district, under par. (e), may adopt a resolution, imposing a tax on the privilege
10of furnishing, at retail, except sales for resale, rooms or lodging to transients by
11hotelkeepers, motel operators and other persons furnishing accommodations that
12are available to the public, irrespective of whether membership is required for use
13of the accommodations. A tax imposed under this paragraph is not subject to the
14selective sales tax imposed by s. 77.52 (2) (a) 1. and may not be imposed on sales to
15the federal government and persons listed under s. 77.54 (9a). A tax imposed under
16this paragraph by a municipality shall be paid to the municipality and may, with
17regard to any tax revenue that may not be retained by the municipality, shall be

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1forwarded to a tourism entity or a commission if one is created under par. (c), as
2provided in par. (d), except that before the person collecting the tax pays it to the
3municipality, the person may retain 3 percent of the tax collected. Except as provided
4in par. (am), a tax imposed under this paragraph by a municipality may not exceed
58%. Except as provided in par. (am), if a tax greater than 8% under this paragraph
6is in effect on May 13, 1994, the municipality imposing the tax shall reduce the tax
7to 8%, effective on June 1, 1994.

AB563,4,159 66.0615 (1m) (c) 1. If a commission is created by a single municipality, the
10commission shall consist of 4 to 6 members. One At least one of the commission
11members shall represent the Wisconsin hotel and motel industry. Members shall be
12appointed under subd. 3. A majority of the members of a commission shall be owners
13or operators of restaurants, tourist attractions, or lodging facilities which collect the
14room tax described in this section, and which are located in the municipality for
15which the room tax is collected.

AB563,5,217 66.0615 (1m) (c) 2. a. If the commission is created by more than one
18municipality in a zone, the commission shall consist of 3 members from each
19municipality in which annual tax collections exceed $1,000,000, 2 members from
20each municipality in which annual tax collections exceed $300,000 but are not more
21than $1,000,000 and one member from each municipality in which annual tax
22collections are $300,000 or less. A majority of the members of a commission shall be
23owners or operators of restaurants, tourist attractions, or lodging facilities which
24collect the room tax described in this section, and which are located in the

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1municipalities for which the room tax is collected. Except as provided in subd. 2. b.,
2members shall be appointed under subd. 3.

AB563,5,104 66.0615 (1m) (d) 1. A municipality that first imposes a room tax under par. (a)
5after May 13, 1994, shall spend at least 70% of the amount collected on tourism
6promotion and development. Any amount of room tax collected that must be spent
7on tourism promotion and development shall either be spent directly by the
8municipality on tourism promotion and development or shall be forwarded to the
9commission for its municipality or zone if the municipality has created a commission,
10or forwarded to a tourism entity.

AB563,5,2412 66.0615 (1m) (d) 2. If Subject to par. (dm), if a municipality collects a room tax
13on May 13, 1994, it may retain not more than the same percentage of the room tax
14that it retains on May 13, 1994. If a municipality that collects a room tax on May 1,
151994, increases its room tax after May 1, 1994, the municipality may retain not more
16than the same percentage of the room tax that it retains on May 1, 1994, except that
17if the municipality is not exempt under par. (am) from the maximum tax that may
18be imposed under par. (a), the municipality shall spend at least 70% of the increased
19amount of room tax that it begins collecting after May 1, 1994, on tourism promotion
20and development. Any amount of room tax collected that must be spent on tourism
21promotion and development shall either be spent directly by the municipality on
22tourism promotion and development or shall be forwarded to the commission for its
23municipality or zone if the municipality has created a commission, or forwarded to
24a tourism entity.

AB563,6,4

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166.0615 (1m) (d) 8. The governing body of a tourism entity shall include at least
2one owner or operator of a lodging facility which collects the room tax described in
3this section and which is located in the municipality for which the room tax is
4collected. Subdivision 4., as it applies to a commission, applies to a tourism entity.

AB563,6,116 66.0615 (1m) (d) 9. With regard to a tourism entity that spends at least 51
7percent, but not more than 70 percent, of its revenues on tourism promotion and
8development, a majority of the members of the tourism entity's governing body shall
9be owners or operators of restaurants, tourism attractions, or lodging facilities which
10collect the room tax described in this section, and which are located in the
11municipality for which the room tax is collected.

AB563,6,2013 66.0615 (1m) (dm) Beginning with the room tax collected on January 1, 2013,
14by a municipality that collected a room tax on May 13, 1994, as described in par. (d)
152., and retained more than 30 percent of the room tax collected for purposes other
16than tourism promotion and development, such a municipality shall reduce the
17amount retained that exceeds 30 percent by one-third on January 1, 2013, January
181, 2014, and January 1, 2015, so that on and after January 1, 2015, the municipality
19retains not more than 30 percent of the room tax collected for purposes other than
20tourism promotion and development.

AB563,6,2422 66.0615 (4) (a) Annually, on a form created and provided by the department of
23revenue, every municipality that imposes a tax under sub. (1m) shall certify and
24report to the department all of the following:

AB563,7,2

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11. The amount of room tax revenue collected by the municipality in the previous
2year.

AB563,7,73 2. A detailed accounting of the amounts of such revenue that were forwarded
4in the previous year for tourism promotion and development, specifying the
5commission or tourism entity which received the revenue. The detailed accounting
6shall include expenditures of at least $1,000 made by a commission or a tourism
7entity.

AB563,7,118 3. A list of each member of the commission and each member of the governing
9body of a tourism entity to which the municipality forwarded room tax revenue in the
10previous year, and the name of the business entity the member owns, operates, or is
11employed by, if any.

AB563,7,1312 (b) The department of revenue shall collect the reports described in par. (a) and
13shall make them available to the public.

AB563,7,1714 (c) The department of revenue may impose a penalty of not more than $3,000
15on a municipality that does not submit to the department the reports described in
16par. (a). A municipality may not use room tax revenue to pay a penalty imposed
17under this paragraph. The penalty shall be paid to the department of revenue.

AB563,7,24 18(5) (a) Any individual may bring an action in the circuit court alleging that the
19municipality in which he or she resides is not allocating or using the room tax
20revenue it receives as required under this section, or alleging that the commission
21or tourism entity to which such a municipality forwards some of its room tax revenue
22is not using the room tax revenue it receives as required under this section. An action
23described in this paragraph may also be brought by any person affected by tourism
24in that municipality.

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1(b) If the court finds that such room tax revenues are not being allocated by a
2municipality as required under this section, the court may order the municipality to
3immediately comply with the statutory requirements in this section relating to the
4allocation of the room tax revenues, to repay to a tourism entity or commission any
5amounts that should have been so allocated as required under this section, and may
6impose a forfeiture on the municipality equal to the lesser of either 20 percent of the
7amount the municipality must allocate to comply with the court's order or $1,000.
8If a forfeiture is imposed under this paragraph, the municipality shall pay the
9forfeiture to the department of revenue.

AB563,8,1310 (c) 1. If the court finds that such room tax revenues are not being used by a
11commission or tourism entity as required under this section, the court may order the
12commission or tourism entity to immediately comply with the statutory
13requirements in this section relating to the use of the room tax revenues.

AB563,8,2114 2. If the court finds that a tourism entity is not in compliance with the statutory
15requirements, as described in subd. 1., the municipality shall create a commission.
16The municipality shall, for a period of time determined by the court, forward to the
17commission all room tax revenue that it may not retain. The commission may either
18spend the revenue it receives directly, or it may forward the revenue to the entity.
19Upon the expiration of the period of time determined by the court for room tax
20revenue to be forwarded to the commission, the municipality may resume forwarding
21the room tax revenue it may not retain directly to the tourism entity.

AB563,8,2522 3. If the court finds that a commission is not in compliance with the statutory
23requirements, as described in subd. 1., the appointing official under sub. (1m) (c) 3.
24shall dismiss all of the members of the commission and shall appoint new
25commission members as provided in sub. (1m) (c).

AB563,9,3

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1(d) If the person who brought the action under par. (a) prevails, the court shall
2award the plaintiff the costs and reasonable attorney fees the person incurred in
3bringing the action.