Wis. Stat. § 70.119 — WI Code / Chapter 70 / Section 70.119
Payments for municipal services.
Status: in_force

(1) The state and the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority shall make reasonable payments at established rates for water, sewer and electrical services and all other services directly provided by a municipality to state facilities and facilities of the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority described in s. 70.11 (38) , including garbage and trash disposal and collection, which are financed in whole or in part by special charges or fees. Such payments for services provided to state facilities shall be made from the appropriations to state agencies for the operation of the facilities. Each state agency making such payments shall annually report the payments to the department.

(2) The department shall make reasonable payments for municipal services pursuant to the procedures specified in subs. (4) , (5) , (6) , and (6m) , except as provided in sub. (9) .

(3) In this section:

(a) “Committee” means the joint committee on finance.

(b) “Department” means the department of administration.

(c) “Municipality” means cities, villages, towns, counties, and metropolitan sewerage districts with general taxing authority, except that for distributions after December 31, 2023, “municipality” does not include counties and metropolitan sewerage districts.

(d) “Municipal services” means police and fire protection, garbage and trash disposal and collection not paid for under sub. (1) and, subject to approval by the committee, any other direct general government service provided by municipalities to state facilities and facilities of the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority described in s. 70.11 (38) .

(dm) “State agency” has the meaning given under s. 20.001 (1) .

(e) “State facilities” means all property owned and operated by the state for the purpose of carrying out usual state functions, including the branch campuses of the university of Wisconsin system but not including land held for highway right-of-way purposes or acquired and held for purposes under s. 85.08 or 85.09 .

(4) The department shall be responsible for negotiating with municipalities on payments for municipal services and may delegate certain responsibilities of negotiation to other state agencies or to the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority. Prior to negotiating with municipalities the department shall submit guidelines for negotiation to the committee for approval.

(5) Upon approval of guidelines by the committee, the department shall proceed with negotiations. In no case may a municipality withhold services to the state or to the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority during negotiations.

(6) No later than November 15 annually, the department shall report to the cochairpersons of the committee the results of its negotiations and the total payments proposed to be made in the subsequent calendar year. In computing the proposed payments to a municipality, the department shall base its calculations on the values of state facilities and facilities of the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority described in s. 70.11 (38) , as determined by the department for January 1 of the year preceding the year of the report, and the values of improvements to property in the municipality as determined under s. 70.57 (1) for January 1 of the year preceding the year of the report, and shall also base its calculations on revenues and expenditures of the municipality as reported under s. 73.10 (2) for the year preceding the year of the report.

(6m) In negotiating and computing the proposed payments to a municipality, the department cannot consider the municipality’s receipt of a grant under s. 45.58 to be a payment for municipal services.

(7)

(a) The department shall make payment from the appropriation under s. 20.835 (5) (r) for municipal services provided by municipalities to state facilities. If the appropriation under s. 20.835 (5) (r) is insufficient to pay the full amount under sub. (6) in any one year, the department shall prorate payments among the municipalities entitled thereto. The University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority shall make payment for municipal services provided by municipalities to facilities of the authority described in s. 70.11 (38) .

(b) The department shall determine the proportionate cost of payments for municipal services provided by a municipality for each program financed from revenues other than general purpose revenues and revenues derived from academic student fees levied by the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System, and for each appropriation made from such revenues which finances the cost of such a program.

(c) The department shall assess to the appropriate program revenue and program revenue-service accounts and segregated funds the costs of providing payments for municipal services for the administration of programs financed from program revenues or segregated revenues, except program revenues derived from academic student fees levied by the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System. If payments are prorated under par. (a) in any year, the department shall assess costs under this paragraph as affected by the proration. The department shall transfer to the general fund an amount equal to the assessments in each year from the appropriate program revenue, program revenue-service and segregated revenue appropriations.

(8) This section supersedes other statutes relating to payments for municipal services. Extraordinary police services provided to state facilities are subject to reimbursement under s. 16.008 .

(9) The department shall not make payments for municipal services at the parking ramp located at 1 West Wilson Street in the city of Madison.

History: 1971 c. 328 ; 1973 c. 90 ; 1975 c. 39 ; 1977 c. 29 ; 1977 c. 418 ss. 470 to 473 , 929 (1) ; 1979 c. 34 s. 2102 (58) (a) ; 1981 c. 20 ; 1987 a. 27 , 399 ; 1989 a. 31 ; 1991 a. 269 ; 1995 a. 27 ; 2013 a. 20 ; 2015 a. 55 ; 2023 a. 12 , 19 .