Wis. Stat. § 79.05 — WI Code / Chapter 79 / Section 79.05
Expenditure restraint incentive program.
Status: in_force

(1) In this section:

(a) “Full value” means the value determined under s. 70.57 including the value of tax increments under s. 66.1105 .

(am) “Inflation factor” means a percentage equal to the average annual percentage change in the U.S. consumer price index for all urban consumers, U.S. city average, as determined by the U.S. department of labor, for the 12 months ending on August 31 of the year before the statement under s. 79.015 , except that the percentage under this paragraph shall not be less than zero.

(b) “Municipal budget” means the municipality’s general fund.

(c) “Property tax levy rate” means the amount determined as follows:

1. Subtract the tax increment under s. 66.1105 from the total property tax levy.

2. Subtract the tax incremental value under s. 66.1105 from the full value.

3. Divide the amount under subd. 1. by the amount under subd. 2.

(d) “Valuation factor” means a percentage equal to 60 percent of the percentage change in the municipality’s equalized value due to new construction less improvements removed between the year before the statement under s. 79.015 and the previous year, but not less than zero nor greater than 2.

(2) A municipality is eligible for a payment under sub. (3) if it fulfills all of the following requirements:

(a) Its property tax levy rate established during the year before the statement under s. 79.015 is greater than 5 mills.

(c) Its municipal budget; exclusive of principal and interest on long-term debt and exclusive of revenue sharing payments under s. 66.0305 , payments of premiums under s. 66.0137 (5) (c) 1. and 1m. , expenditures of amounts levied under s. 66.0602 (3) (h) , expenditures of amounts levied under s. 66.0602 (3) (o) , revenues generated from a tax imposed under s. 77.701 , payments received under s. 79.038 , expenditures of payments due to the termination of a tax incremental district under s. 79.096 (3) , recycling fee payments under s. 289.645 , expenditures of grant payments under s. 16.297 (1m) , unreimbursed expenses related to an emergency declared under s. 323.10 , expenditures from moneys received pursuant to P.L. 111-5 , grants received from the state or federal government for the purpose of providing law enforcement, fire protection, or emergency medical services, and expenditures made pursuant to a purchasing agreement with a school district whereby the municipality makes purchases on behalf of the school district; for the year of the statement under s. 79.015 increased over its municipal budget as adjusted under sub. (6) ; exclusive of principal and interest on long-term debt and exclusive of revenue sharing payments under s. 66.0305 , payments of premiums under s. 66.0137 (5) (c) 1. and 1m. , expenditures of amounts levied under s. 66.0602 (3) (h) , expenditures of amounts levied under s. 66.0602 (3) (o) , revenues generated from a tax imposed under s. 77.701 , payments received under s. 79.038 , expenditures of payments due to the termination of a tax incremental district under s. 79.096 (3) , recycling fee payments under s. 289.645 , expenditures of grant payments under s. 16.297 (1m) , unreimbursed expenses related to an emergency declared under s. 323.10 , expenditures from moneys received pursuant to P.L. 111-5 , grants received from the state or federal government for the purpose of providing law enforcement, fire protection, or emergency medical services, and expenditures made pursuant to a purchasing agreement with a school district whereby the municipality makes purchases on behalf of the school district; for the year before that year by less than the sum of the inflation factor and the valuation factor, rounded to the nearest 0.10 percent.

(2m) Annually, on October 1, the department of revenue shall certify the appropriate percentage change in the consumer price index that is to be used in the requirement under sub. (1) (am) to the joint committee on finance.

(3) Each municipality that qualifies under sub. (2) shall receive a payment calculated as follows:

(a) Subtract 5 mills from the municipality’s property tax levy rate.

(b) Multiply the amount under par. (a) by the municipality’s full value.

(c) Divide the amount under par. (b) by the total of the amounts under par. (b) for all municipalities that qualify.

(d) Multiply the amount under par. (c) by the amount for the year under s. 79.01 (1) , 2021 stats.

(4) Notwithstanding subs. (2) and (3) , in 2025, each municipality shall receive a payment under this section that is equal to the amount of the payment received by the municipality under this section in 2024.

(5) No municipality may, for the purpose of qualifying for a payment under this section, establish a fund, other than a general fund, that does not conform to generally accepted accounting principles promulgated by the governmental accounting standards board or its successor bodies.

(6)

(a) If a municipality transfers to another governmental unit responsibility for providing any service that the municipality provided in the preceding year, its budget for the preceding year shall be decreased to reflect the cost that the municipality incurred to provide that service, as determined by the department of revenue.

(b) If a municipality increases the services that it provides by adding responsibility for providing a service transferred to it from another governmental unit in any year, its budget for the preceding year shall be increased to reflect the cost of that service, as determined by the department of revenue.

(c) If a municipality receives payments from another governmental unit for providing a service to that other governmental unit, pursuant to a contract with the municipality, the municipality receiving the payments shall not include the amounts of the payments nor the costs for providing the service in its budget for the year in which it receives the payments, for the purpose of determining eligibility under sub. (2) (c) .

(7)

(a) Beginning with the distributions in 2018 and ending with the distributions in 2022, the annual payment under this section to the village of Maine shall be the amount otherwise determined for the village under this section, plus $583,000.

(b) Beginning with the distributions in 2018 and ending with the distributions in 2022, the annual payment under this section to the city of Janesville shall be the amount otherwise determined for the city under this section, plus $583,000.

History: 1989 a. 336 ; 1991 a. 39 , 61 ; 1993 a. 16 ; 1999 a. 9 ; 1999 a. 150 s. 672 ; 2001 a. 16 ; 2009 a. 11 , 28 ; 2011 a. 32 , 106 , 258 ; 2013 a. 20 , 165 ; 2015 a. 55 ; 2017 a. 58 , 59 ; 2019 a. 19 ; 2021 a. 1 , 61 ; 2023 a. 12 , 19 ; 2025 a. 36 , 212 .