[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Oconomowoc
as Ch. 3 of the 1986 Town Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 260.
A.
Aggregate tax stated on roll. Pursuant to § 70.65(2), Wis.
Stats., the Clerk shall, in computing the tax roll, insert only the
aggregate amount of state, county, school and local taxes in a single
column on the roll opposite the parcel or tract of land against which
the tax is levied or, in the case of personal property, in a single
column opposite the name of the person against whom the tax is levied.
Each tax bill or receipt shall show the purpose for which such taxes
are to be used, giving the percentage for state, county and local
taxes.
B.
Rates stamped on receipts. Pursuant to § 74.08(1), Wis.
Stats., in lieu of entering on each tax receipt the several amounts
paid respectively for state, county, school, local and other taxes,
the aggregate amount of such taxes shall be combined in a single column
on the tax receipt issued by the Treasurer. The Treasurer shall cause
to be printed or stamped on the tax receipt the separate proportion
or rate of taxes levied for state, county, school, local or other
purposes.
The calendar year shall be the fiscal year.
A.
Preparation.
(1)
Town Board to prepare. The Town Board shall annually prepare and
submit a proposed budget presenting a financial plan for conducting
the affairs of the Town for the ensuing fiscal year.
(2)
Information required. The budget shall include the following information:
(a)
The expense of conducting each department and activity of the
Town for the ensuing fiscal year and corresponding items for the current
year and last preceding fiscal year, with reasons for increase and
decrease recommended as compared with appropriations for the current
year.
(b)
An itemization of all anticipated income of the Town from sources
other than general property taxes and bonds issued, with a statement
comparing the amounts received by the Town from each of the same or
similar sources for the last preceding and current fiscal year.
(c)
An itemization of the amount of money to be raised from general
property taxes which, with income from other sources, shall be necessary
to meet the proposed expenditures.
(d)
Such other information as may be required by the Board and state
law.
(3)
Copies required. The Town shall provide a reasonable number of copies
of the budget thus prepared for distribution to citizens.
B.
Hearing. The Board shall hold a public hearing on the budget as required
by law.
C.
Action by Board. Following the public hearing, the proposed budget
may be changed or amended and shall take the same course in the Board
as ordinances.
The amount of the tax to be levied or certified and the amounts
of the various appropriations, and the purposes thereof, shall not
be changed after approval of the budget except by a two-thirds vote
of all the Supervisors of the Town Board. Notice of such change shall
be given by publication within 15 days thereafter in the official
Town newspaper.
No money shall be drawn from the treasury of the Town, nor shall any obligation for the expenditure of money be incurred, except in pursuance of the annual appropriation in the adopted budget or when changed as authorized by § 29-4. At the close of each fiscal year, any unencumbered balance of an appropriation shall revert to the general fund and shall be subject to reappropriation; but appropriations may be made by the Board, to be paid out of the income of the current year, in furtherance of improvements or other objects or works which will not be completed within such year, and any such appropriation shall continue in force until the purpose for which it was made has been accomplished or abandoned.
A.
Town Board to audit accounts. Except as provided in Subsection C, no account or demand against the Town shall be paid until it has been audited by the Town Board and an order drawn on the Town treasury therefor. Every such account shall be itemized. After auditing, the Town Board shall cause to be endorsed by the Clerk, over his hand on each account, the words "allowed" or "disallowed," as the fact is, adding the amount allowed, if any, and specifying the items or parts of items disallowed, in part only. The minutes of the proceedings of the Board shall show to whom and for what purpose every such account was allowed and the amount thereof. Every such account or demand allowed in whole or in part shall be filed by the Clerk; those of each year shall be consecutively numbered and have endorsed thereon the number of the order on the Treasurer issued in payment; and the Clerk shall take a receipt thereon for such order.
B.
Claims to be verified. All accounts, demands or claims against the
Town shall be verified by the claimant or proper official.
C.
Payment of regular wages or salaries. Regular wages or salaries of
Town officers and employees shall be paid by payroll, verified by
the proper Town official and filed with the Town Clerk in time for
payment on the regular payday.
[Amended 12-17-1990]
A.
Town Board members. The Town Board Chairperson may receive a car
allowance for travel within Waukesha County if authorized by the Town
Board. The Town Board members, excluding the Chairperson, may receive
reimbursement for travel within Waukesha County. Reimbursement shall
be in a sum established by the Town Board, which shall be payable
1/2 in January and 1/2 in July of each year. Town Board members, including
the Chairperson, may receive reimbursement for meetings, seminars
and workshops held within Waukesha County, provided attendance has
been authorized by the Town Board. Town Board members, including the
Chairperson, may receive reimbursement for travel, meetings, seminars
and workshops held outside of Waukesha County, provided attendance
has been authorized by the Town Board. The Town Board may authorize
reimbursement of actual expenses other than mileage, or in lieu thereof,
a per-diem for 1/2 day or a full day. Reimbursement for mileage shall
be at the then-current Internal Revenue Service rate. A voucher with
receipts attached shall be submitted to the Town Clerk before payment
may be made.
[Amended 10-17-2005; 11-7-2005]
B.
Other officers and employees. Town officers and employees, other
than Town Board members, shall be reimbursed for trips taken outside
the county at the same rate as Board members, but no reimbursement
shall be provided unless such expense has been authorized in advance
by the Town Board. A travel voucher with receipts attached shall be
submitted to the Town Clerk before payment shall be made.
The Treasurer may invest any Town funds not immediately needed,
pursuant to § 66.0603, Wis. Stats.
Under § 66.0607, Wis. Stats., all disbursements of
Town funds shall be by order checks, signed by the Town Clerk and
Treasurer and countersigned either by the Chairman or one of the Supervisors,
as shall be provided from time to time in appropriate resolutions
designating depositories adopted by the Town Board, certified copies
of which shall be filed with such depositories.
[Amended 10-2-1989]
A.
Eliminated. The Town elects not to give the bond on the Treasurer
provided for by § 70.67(1) Wis. Stats.
B.
Town liable for default of Treasurer. Under § 70.67(2),
Wis. Stats., the Town shall be obligated to pay, in case the Treasurer
shall fail to do so, all state and county taxes required by law to
be paid by the Treasurer to the County Treasurer.
[Added 12-2-1991]
A.
By January 31 of each even-numbered year, the owner of each parcel
of property located in the Town which is exempt under § 70.11,
Wis. Stats., shall file with the Town Clerk a tax exemption report
on a form prescribed by the Department of Revenue and furnished by
the Town, as required by § 70.337, Wis. Stats.
B.
Each person required by § 70.337, Wis. Stats., to file a report shall pay a fee of $10 to defray the costs to the Town of distributing and reviewing the forms required under Subsection A and preparing necessary forms for the Department of Revenue.
C.
If the report required under Subsection A is not received when due, the Town Clerk shall send the property owner a notice, by certified mail, stating that the property for which the form is required will be appraised at the owner's expense if a completed form is not received by the Town Clerk within 30 days after the notice is sent. If the completed form is not received by the Clerk within 30 days after the notice is sent, the property shall be appraised either by the Town Assessor or a person hired by the Town to conduct the appraisal.
D.
By March 15 of each year, the owner of each parcel of property exempt
under § 70.11, Wis. Stats., and that is used in the most
recently ended taxable year in a trade or business for which the owner
of the property was subject to taxation under §§ 511
to 515 of the Internal Revenue Code, as defined in § 71.22(4m)
Wis. Stats. (unrelated business income), shall file with the Town
Clerk a statement containing the information required by § 70.339,
Wis. Stats. Forms shall be provided by the Town Clerk.
E.
If the statement required under Subsection D is not received by the due date, the Town Clerk shall send the owner of the property a notice, by certified mail, stating that failure to file the statement is subject to the penalties below.
G.
Sections 70.337 and 70.339, Wis. Stats., with all amendments and
revisions thereto, are hereby adopted by reference and made a part
of this Code as though set forth in full.
A.
Fees of Town professionals charged back. Whenever a Town official
authorizes a property owner to contact the Town Attorney, Engineer
or Planner, or a property owner contacts the Town Attorney, Engineer
or Planner, if said contact results in a charge to the Town of Oconomowoc
for that professional's time and service and said service is
not a service applied to the Town of Oconomowoc as a whole, then and
in that event the Town Clerk shall, pursuant to the provisions of
§ 66.0627, Wis. Stats., charge that service to said property
owner for the fees incurred by the Town. It is not the intent of this
section to charge back responses by the Town's professional staff
to general questions of an incidental nature relating to general Town
business affairs notwithstanding the fact that the professional may
charge the Town.
B.
Billing procedure and right to appeal.
(1)
The Town Clerk shall bill each property owner for the current services
provided by the Town Attorney, Engineer or Planner and shall set with
said bill a specified period of time within which to pay, which shall
be not less than 30 days. The bill shall also state that, within 15
days of the date of the bill, the property owner may request a hearing
before the Town Board regarding the charges against the property.
The bill shall be an itemized statement of the professional service
fees to be charged. The special charge is not payable in installments.
If the special charge is not paid within the time specified, the special
charge is delinquent. A delinquent special charge shall become a lien
on the property against which it is imposed as of the date of delinquency.
The delinquent special charge shall be included in the current or
next tax roll for collection and settlement under Ch. 74, Wis. Stats.,
as provided in § 66.0627(4), Wis. Stats.
C.
Appeal to Town Board. Upon receipt of a timely request for hearing,
the Town Board shall hold a hearing regarding the property charges
at its next scheduled meeting or as soon as feasible. Such hearing
shall be preceded by posting public notice and reasonable notice,
via first class mail, to the property owner. In the event a hearing
is requested, no charges shall be placed on the tax roll unless and
until such hearing has been held and a decision has been rendered
by the Town Board to approve the charges against the tax roll in whole
or in part. If approved only in part, only that part of the charges
that are approved may be charged against the tax roll.
[Added 9-5-2008]
A.
In addition to other methods provided by law, special assessments
for any public work or improvement or any current service may be levied
in accordance with the provisions of this section.
B.
Whenever the Town Board shall determine that any public work or improvement
or any current service shall be financed in whole or in part by special
assessments levied under this section, it shall adopt a preliminary
resolution specifying this intention and the time, either before or
after completion of the work or improvement, when the amount of the
assessments will be determined and levied, the number of annual installments,
if any, in which assessments may be paid, the rate of interest to
be charged on the unpaid balance, and the terms on which any of the
assessments may be deferred while no use of the improvement is made
in connection with the property.
C.
The provisions of § 66.0703, Wis. Stats., shall apply to
special assessments levied under this section, except that when the
Town Board determines by resolution that the hearing on the assessments
be held subsequent to the completion of the work or improvement or
the rendering of the service, the report required by § 66.0703(4),
Wis. Stats., shall contain a statement of the final cost of the work,
service or improvement in lieu of an estimate of the cost.
D.
Notice of the time and place of the public hearing on any special
assessment proposed to be levied and notice of the final assessment
and terms of payment thereof shall be given in the manner prescribed
by § 66.0703(7) and (8)(d), Wis. Stats.
E.
Any special assessment levied under this section shall be a lien
against the property assessed from the date of the final resolution
of the governing body determining the amount of the levy.
F.
Any person against whose property a special assessment is levied
under this section may appeal therefrom in the manner prescribed in
§ 66.0703(12), Wis. Stats., within 40 days of the date of
the final determination of the Town Board.
