Financing harbor improvements and operations generally
Wis. Stat. § 30.34
in effect(1) Harbor fund to be created. All municipalities operating a public harbor through a board of harbor commissioners shall establish in the municipal treasury a revolving fund to be known as the “harbor fund”. Moneys for such fund may be raised by appropriation from the general fund or by taxation or loan as other moneys in the general fund are raised. Moneys in such fund may be expended only as provided in s. 30.38 (13).
(2) Financing dock walls and shore protection walls. A municipality may pay either or both the assessable and nonassessable parts of the cost of the construction, maintenance or repair of any dock wall or shore protection wall, authorized by s. 30.30 (3), out of its general fund or other available funds, or it may finance such work through the issuance of its negotiable bonds as provided in ch. 67, except that it is not necessary to include such bonds in the municipal budget or to submit the question of their issuance to a referendum vote of the electors. The bonds shall be serial bonds, payable at any time within 10 years and shall bear interest payable either annually or semiannually as the governing body determines. The bonds shall be a direct obligation of the municipality and the full faith and credit of the municipality shall be pledged for their payment. No such bonds shall be issued unless at or before the time of their issuance the governing body levies a direct annual tax sufficient to pay the principal and interest thereon as they fall due.
(3) Financing by means of notes, bonds or assignments of net profits.
(a) Any municipality may, with the consent of its board of harbor commissioners, finance the cost of acquisition, construction, alteration or repair of any harbor facility by issuing evidences of indebtedness payable only out of the revenue obtained from the public harbor facilities. Such evidences of indebtedness may be revenue bonds, refunding bonds or bond anticipation notes issued under s. 30.35 or 66.1103 or may be pledges or assignments of net profits, issued pursuant to s. 66.0621 (5) as if the harbor facility were a public utility.
(b) The moneys received from the sale of such evidences of indebtedness shall be used solely for the specific purpose for which they were issued. The municipality issuing them shall not be deemed obligated or indebted thereon, and no funds or money of such municipality, except the revenues from the public harbor facilities, shall ever be used for payment or redemption of the evidences of indebtedness, except that the municipality issuing such evidences of indebtedness may at any time, with the consent of its auditing officer or committee, and by a vote of two-thirds of its governing body, assume the obligation of paying the principal and interest of such evidences of indebtedness as are then outstanding. Thereafter, such evidences shall in every respect be held to be outstanding indebtedness of such municipality. The governing body of any municipality assuming an indebtedness under this paragraph shall levy an annual irrepealable tax to pay interest thereon and discharge the principal thereof as required by article XI, section 3, of the constitution.
(c) The holders of evidences of indebtedness issued as authorized by this subsection shall have the rights accorded by s. 66.0621 (4) (b) to holders of revenue bonds issued pursuant to s. 66.0621, but in case of sale by order of any court, there shall be sold only the facility itself without the land on which it is erected. The purchaser at such sale may either remove such facility or may continue to operate the same and collect the revenue thereof, in a fair and businesslike manner, under the supervision of the court, until the outstanding evidences of indebtedness, together with interest until payment, have been paid, together with all costs and charges as determined by the court.
(4) Emergency repair fund. Any municipality having established a board of harbor commissioners to operate its harbor facilities may create a contingent fund for the purpose of permitting the secretary of the board to pay for repairs to harbor facilities which constitute emergency repairs within the meaning of s. 30.32 (4). The secretary may pay for such repairs out of such fund on the secretary’s signature alone.
(5) Other financing. Nothing in this section is intended to prevent a municipality not operating its harbor as a commercial enterprise from raising and appropriating funds for construction, improvement, alteration or repair of its harbor and harbor facilities in the same manner as it may raise and appropriate funds for other legitimate municipal purposes.
Source: WI Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/30.34Fetched: 10/7/2026