Wis. Stat. § 66.1105 — WI Code / Chapter 66 / Section 66.1105
Tax increment law.
Status: in_force

(1) Short title. This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Tax Increment Law”.

(2) Definitions. In this section, unless a different intent clearly appears from the context:

(ab) “Affordable housing” means housing that costs a household no more than 30 percent of the household’s gross monthly income.

(ae)

1. “Blighted area” means any of the following:

a. An area, including a slum area, in which the structures, buildings or improvements, which by reason of dilapidation, deterioration, age or obsolescence, inadequate provision for ventilation, light, air, sanitation, or open spaces, high density of population and overcrowding, or the existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes, or any combination of these factors is conducive to ill health, transmission of disease, infant mortality, juvenile delinquency, or crime, and is detrimental to the public health, safety, morals or welfare.

b. An area which is predominantly open and which consists primarily of an abandoned highway corridor, as defined in s. 66.1333 (2m) (a) , or that consists of land upon which buildings or structures have been demolished and which because of obsolete platting, diversity of ownership, deterioration of structures or of site improvements, or otherwise, substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of the community.

2. “Blighted area” does not include predominantly open land area that has been developed only for agricultural purposes.

(aj) “Decrement situation” means a situation in which the aggregate value, as equalized by the department of revenue, of all taxable property located within a tax incremental district on or about the date on which a resolution is adopted under sub. (5) (h) 1. is at least 10 percent less than the current tax incremental base of that district.

(am) “Environmental pollution” has the meaning given in s. 299.01 (4) .

(bm) “Highway” has the meaning provided in s. 340.01 (22) .

(bq) “Household” means an individual and his or her spouse and all minor dependents.

(c) “Local legislative body” means the common council.

(cm) “Mixed-use development” means development that contains a combination of industrial, commercial, or residential uses, except that lands proposed for newly platted residential use, as shown in the project plan, may not exceed 35 percent, by area, of the real property within the district.

(cs) “Newly platted residential development” means residential development on a parcel that has not previously been the site of permanent structures other than structures used solely for agricultural purposes.

(e) “Planning commission” means a plan commission created under s. 62.23 , a board of public land commissioners if the city has no plan commission, or a city plan committee of the local legislative body, if the city has neither a commission nor a board.

(f)

1. “Project costs” mean any expenditures made or estimated to be made or monetary obligations incurred or estimated to be incurred by the city which are listed in a project plan as costs of public works or improvements within a tax incremental district or, to the extent provided in this subd. 1. (intro.) or subds. 1. k. and 1. n. , or sub. (20) (c) , without the district, plus any incidental costs, diminished by any income, special assessments, or other revenues, including user fees or charges, other than tax increments, received or reasonably expected to be received by the city in connection with the implementation of the plan. For any tax incremental district for which a project plan is approved on or after July 31, 1981, only a proportionate share of the costs permitted under this subdivision may be included as project costs to the extent that they benefit the tax incremental district, except that expenditures made or estimated to be made or monetary obligations incurred or estimated to be incurred by a 1st class city, to fund parking facilities ancillary to and within one mile from public entertainment facilities, including a sports and entertainment arena, shall be considered to benefit any tax incremental district located in whole or in part within a one-mile radius of such parking facilities. To the extent the costs benefit the municipality outside the tax incremental district, a proportionate share of the cost is not a project cost. “Project costs” include:

a. Capital costs including, but not limited to, the actual costs of the construction of public works or improvements, new buildings, structures, and fixtures; the demolition, alteration, remodeling, repair or reconstruction of existing buildings, structures and fixtures other than the demolition of listed properties as defined in s. 44.31 (4) ; the acquisition of equipment to service the district; the removal or containment of, or the restoration of soil or groundwater affected by, environmental pollution; and the clearing and grading of land.

b. Financing costs, including, but not limited to, all interest paid to holders of evidences of indebtedness issued to pay for project costs, any premium paid over the principal amount of the obligations because of the redemption of the obligations prior to maturity, and payments made by the city or village to a county or other municipality that issues obligations to finance project costs of a district pursuant to sub. (20) .

c. Real property assembly costs, meaning any deficit incurred resulting from the sale or lease as lessor by the city of real property within a tax incremental district for consideration which is less than its cost to the city.

d. Professional service costs, including, but not limited to, those costs incurred for architectural, planning, engineering, and legal advice and services.

e. Imputed administrative costs, including, but not limited to, reasonable charges for the time spent by city employees in connection with the implementation of a project plan.

f. Relocation costs, including, but not limited to, those relocation payments made following condemnation under ss. 32.19 and 32.195 .

g. Organizational costs, including, but not limited to, the costs of conducting environmental impact and other studies and the costs of informing the public with respect to the creation of tax incremental districts and the implementation of project plans.

h. The amount of any contributions made under s. 66.1333 (13) in connection with the implementation of the project plan.

i. Payments made, in the discretion of the local legislative body, which are found to be necessary or convenient to the creation of tax incremental districts or the implementation of project plans, including payments made to a town that relate to property taxes levied on territory to be included in a tax incremental district as described in sub. (4) (gm) 1.

j. That portion of costs related to the construction or alteration of sewerage treatment plants, water treatment plants or other environmental protection devices, storm or sanitary sewer lines, water lines, or amenities on streets or the rebuilding or expansion of streets the construction, alteration, rebuilding or expansion of which is necessitated by the project plan for a district and is within the district.

k. That portion of costs related to the construction or alteration of sewerage treatment plants, water treatment plants or other environmental protection devices, storm or sanitary sewer lines, water lines, or amenities on streets outside the district if the construction, alteration, rebuilding or expansion is necessitated by the project plan for a district, and if at the time the construction, alteration, rebuilding or expansion begins there are improvements of the kinds named in this subdivision on the land outside the district in respect to which the costs are to be incurred.

L. Costs for the removal, or containment, of lead contamination in buildings or infrastructure if the city declares that such lead contamination is a public health concern.

n. Subject to sub. (4m) (d) , project costs incurred for territory that is located within a one-half mile radius of the district’s boundaries and within the city that created the district.

p. Notwithstanding subd. 2. a. , a grant, loan, or appropriation of funds to assist a local exposition district created under subch. II of ch. 229 in the development and construction of sports and entertainment arena facilities, as defined in s. 229.41 (11g) , provided that the city and the local exposition district enter into a development agreement.

2. Notwithstanding subd. 1. , except subd. 1. p. , none of the following may be included as project costs for any tax incremental district for which a project plan is approved on or after July 31, 1981:

a. The cost of constructing or expanding administrative buildings, police and fire buildings, libraries, community and recreational buildings and school buildings, unless the administrative buildings, police and fire buildings, libraries and community and recreational buildings were damaged or destroyed before January 1, 1997, by a natural disaster.

b. The cost of constructing or expanding any facility, except a parking structure that supports redevelopment activities, if the city generally finances similar facilities only with utility user fees.

c. General government operating expenses, unrelated to the planning or development of a tax incremental district.

d. Cash grants made by the city to owners, lessees, or developers of land that is located within the tax incremental district unless the grant recipient has signed a development agreement with the city, a copy of which shall be sent to the appropriate joint review board or, if that joint review board has been dissolved, retained by the city in the official records for that tax incremental district.

e. For a tax incremental district in the city of Milwaukee, direct or indirect expenses related to developing, constructing, or operating a rail fixed guideway transportation system, as defined in s. 85.066 (1) , in the city of Milwaukee. This subd. 2. e. does not apply to the development or construction of a rail fixed guideway transportation system route traversing Clybourn Street and Michigan Street, referred to as the “Lakefront Line.”

3. Notwithstanding subd. 1. , project costs may include any expenditures made or estimated to be made or monetary obligations incurred or estimated to be incurred by the city for newly platted residential development only for a residential tax incremental district under sub. (21) or any tax incremental district for which a project plan is approved before September 30, 1995, or for a mixed-use development tax incremental district to which one of the following applies:

a. The density of the residential housing is at least 3 units per acre.

b. The residential housing is located in a conservation subdivision, as defined in s. 66.1027 (1) (a) .

c. The residential housing is located in a traditional neighborhood development, as defined in s. 66.1027 (1) (c) .

(g) “Project plan” means the properly approved plan for the development or redevelopment of a tax incremental district, including all properly approved amendments thereto.

(h) “Real property” has the meaning prescribed in s. 70.03 .

(i)

1. Except as provided in subd. 2. , “tax increment” means that amount obtained by multiplying the total county, city, school and other local general property taxes levied on all taxable property within a tax incremental district in a year by a fraction having as a numerator the value increment for that year in the district and as a denominator that year’s equalized value of all taxable property in the district. In any year, a tax increment is “positive” if the value increment is positive; it is “negative” if the value increment is negative.

2. For purposes of any agreement between the taxing jurisdiction and a developer regarding the tax incremental district entered into prior to June 22, 2023, “tax increment” includes the amount that a taxing jurisdiction is obligated to attribute to a tax incremental district under s. 79.096 (3) .

(j) “Tax incremental base” means the aggregate value, as equalized by the department of revenue, of all taxable property located within a tax incremental district on the date as of which the district is created, determined as provided in sub. (5) (b) .

(k)

1. “Tax incremental district” means a contiguous geographic area within a city defined and created by resolution of the local legislative body, consisting solely of whole units of property as are assessed for general property tax purposes, other than railroad rights-of-way, rivers or highways. Railroad rights-of-way, rivers or highways may be included in a tax incremental district only if they are continuously bounded on either side, or on both sides, by whole units of property as are assessed for general property tax purposes which are in the tax incremental district. “Tax incremental district” does not include any area identified as a wetland on a map under s. 23.32 , except for an area identified on such a map that has been converted in compliance with state law so that it is no longer a wetland and except as provided in subd. 2.

2. For an area that is identified as a wetland on a map under s. 23.32 and that is within the boundaries of a tax incremental district or is part of a tax incremental district parcel, the area shall be considered part of the tax incremental district for determining the applicability of exemptions from or compliance with water quality standards that are applicable to wetlands.

(L) “Taxable property” means all real taxable property located in a tax incremental district.

(m) “Value increment” means the equalized value of all taxable property in a tax incremental district in any year minus the tax incremental base. In any year “value increment” is positive if the tax incremental base is less than the aggregate value of taxable property as equalized by the department of revenue; it is negative if that base exceeds that aggregate value.

(3) Powers of cities. In addition to any other powers conferred by law, a city may exercise any powers necessary and convenient to carry out the purposes of this section, including the power to:

(a) Create tax incremental districts and define the boundaries of the districts;

(b) Cause project plans to be prepared, approve the plans, and implement the provisions and effectuate the purposes of the plans;