Provisions applicable to certain cities with special sales tax authority

Wis. Stat. § 62.90

in effect

All of the following apply to a 1st class city: (1) With regard to the budget of the 1st class city, all of the following apply: (a) The total amount of budgeted expenditures related to cultural or entertainment matters or involving partnerships with nonprofit groups, other than a charter school authorized by the common council of the city of Milwaukee under s. 118.40, may not be greater than 5 percent of the total amount of budgeted expenditures for the budget period. (b) When each department of the 1st class city prepares an estimate of the department’s needs for the ensuing fiscal period, it shall also provide a proposal to reduce the department’s budget for the ensuing fiscal period by an amount equal to a total of 5 percent of the department’s base level for its budget for the current fiscal period. (2) The common council may enact an ordinance or adopt a resolution that includes new program spending only upon a two-thirds vote of all of the members of the common council. This subsection does not apply to a program that is intended to reduce expenditures or consolidate or reorganize existing services into a different administrative structure without increasing expenditures. If the 1st class city imposes a tax under s. 77.701 (1) and subsequently repeals the tax, this subsection does not apply after the repeal. (3) The common council may enact an ordinance or adopt a resolution that increases the total number of positions in the city only upon a two-thirds vote of all of the members of the common council. If the 1st class city imposes a tax under s. 77.701 (1) and subsequently repeals the tax, this subsection does not apply after the repeal. (4) The 1st class city may not use moneys raised by levying taxes for any of the following: (a) Developing, operating, or maintaining a rail fixed guideway transportation system, as defined in s. 85.066 (1). (b) Funding any position for which the principal duties consist of promoting individuals or groups on the basis of their race, color, ancestry, national origin, or sexual orientation. (5) (a) The 1st class city shall maintain a level of law enforcement and fire protective and emergency medical service that is at least equivalent to that provided in the 1st class city in the previous year, as measured by the number of full-time equivalent law enforcement officers, as defined in s. 165.85 (2) (c), employed by the 1st class city and the daily staffing level of the paid fire department, as defined in s. 213.10 (1g), not including law enforcement officers or fire fighters whose positions are funded by grants received from the state or federal government. The 1st class city may use any reasonable method of estimating the number of full-time equivalent law enforcement officers employed by the 1st class city and the daily staffing level of the paid fire department for the year, but may consider only positions that are actually filled. (b) In any year in which moneys available under s. 77.701 (2) (c) are available for expenditure under this paragraph, the 1st class city shall use the moneys to increase the number of law enforcement officers, as defined in s. 165.85 (2) (c), employed by the 1st class city and the daily staffing level of the paid fire department of the 1st class city above the number and daily staffing level provided in the 1st class city on April 1, 2023. This paragraph does not apply in any year after the 1st class city employs 1,725 law enforcement officers, including 175 detectives, and maintains a daily staffing level not fewer than 218 members of the paid fire department. (bm) By December 31 of the 10th year beginning after the 1st class city first imposes a tax under s. 77.701 (1), the 1st class city shall attain a staffing level of not fewer than 1,725 law enforcement officers, as defined in s. 165.85 (2) (c), including 175 detectives, in its police department and shall attain a daily staffing level of not fewer than 218 members of the paid fire department, as defined in s. 213.10 (1g). (c) Section 66.0608 (2m) applies to the 1st class city. (6) The 1st class city shall obtain an independent audit of its office of violence prevention and shall submit the results of that audit to the legislature in the manner provided under s. 13.172 (2). (7) The 1st class city shall identify all buildings that the 1st class city has the authority to sell and that are not being used by the 1st class city and prepare a plan for the use or sale of these buildings. The city shall submit that plan to the joint committee on finance in the manner provided under s. 13.172 (2). (8) Beginning January 1, 2024, the school board of the 1st class city school district that is located in the 1st class city shall ensure that not fewer than 25 school resource officers are present at schools within the school district during normal school hours and that school resource officers are available during before-school and after-school care, extracurricular activities, and sporting events as needed. In addition, beginning January 1, 2024, the school board of the 1st class city school district that is located in the 1st class city shall ensure that the school resource officers complete the 40-hour course sponsored by the National Association of School Resource Officers. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, the school board of the 1st class city school district that is located in the 1st class city shall consider the statistics it receives under s. 118.124 (3) (a) when deciding at which schools to place school resource officers required under this subsection. The 1st class city school district and the 1st class city shall agree to an apportionment of the costs of meeting the requirements of this subsection. In this subsection, “law enforcement officer” means a person who is employed by the state or a political subdivision of the state for the purpose of detecting and preventing crime and enforcing laws or ordinances and who is authorized to make arrests for violations of the laws or ordinances that the person is employed to enforce, and “school resource officer” means a law enforcement officer who is deployed in community-oriented policing and assigned by the law enforcement agency, as defined in s. 165.83 (1) (b), that employs him or her to work in a full-time capacity in collaboration with a school district.

Source: WI Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/62.90Fetched: 10/7/2026