Local Government

This bill authorizes the creation of emergency services districts in Wisconsin and grants these districts the authority to levy property taxes and impose special charges to fund their operations. It also allows emergency services districts to issue debt to finance capital projects. The legislation amends state statutes to clarify how emergency services district board members are elected, specifying ballot procedures and candidate limits for these districts. Additionally, the bill outlines how election costs for emergency services districts are shared between the districts and local governments when voting occurs.

This bill establishes a state assistance program to help smaller municipalities, specifically 3rd and 4th class cities, villages, and towns, upgrade their water infrastructure to meet federal water quality standards. The program would provide grants covering up to 50 percent of project costs, with the Department of Natural Resources responsible for administering applications, setting eligibility criteria, and prioritizing projects based on established rules. An appropriation of $10 million is included for the 2025-26 fiscal year to fund these assistance payments, and the department must approve all project plans and specifications before funds are released.

This bill allows local governments to require that certain top administrative employees live within their jurisdiction. It specifically permits police and fire departments to set residency rules for their chiefs, cities and villages to apply them to administrators, counties without elected executives to apply them to county administrators, and school boards to apply them to school district administrators. Additionally, cities and villages that have or are electing a city manager may require that manager to live locally. The changes take effect only for individuals hired after the bill becomes law, meaning existing employees are not affected.

AB 605 allows municipal solid waste facilities that received loans under Wisconsin's clean water fund program (for wastewater infrastructure) to retain a portion of environmental repair fees collected from waste disposal. Specifically, these facilities may keep fees equal to their outstanding loan principal and interest while repaying the loan, instead of paying all collected fees to the state department. The bill directly affects municipal waste facilities that have secured such loans, modifying how they handle environmental fees. This change streamlines loan repayment by redirecting fees that would otherwise go to the state. The bill amends existing statutes to create this exception without altering general fee collection requirements.

This bill establishes a funding mechanism for municipalities to receive payments from the state for services they provide to state facilities and University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority properties. It requires state agencies to make full payments at established rates for municipal services such as water, sewer, electrical, and waste disposal, with funds drawn from state appropriations for facility operations. The legislation also mandates that the state department assess program costs to cover these payments and prorate funding if the annual appropriation is insufficient. This bill directly affects municipalities providing services to state facilities and the state agencies that operate those facilities, with provisions taking effect in 2026.