[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Vernon 9-5-2002 (Ch. 5 of the Town Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
Treasurer's annual report. Each year the Treasurer,
at the direction of the Town Board, pursuant to § 60.41,
Wis. Stats., shall prepare for the Annual Town Meeting an Annual Treasurer's
Report. The report shall contain a summary of taxes levied and collected
from the preceding year's tax roll and a statement of current indebtedness
of the Town and such other information as from time to time the Town
Board may deem necessary and proper.
B.
Auditor's annual statement. Each year the auditor,
at the direction of the Town Board, pursuant to § 60.41,
Wis. Stats., shall prepare for the Annual Town Meeting an Annual Financial
Statement. The statement shall contain a summary of transactions for
the preceding year and a statement of revenues and expenditures for
the preceding fiscal year, a current statement of indebtedness of
the Town, a statement of the financial condition of the Town, and
other such information as from time to time the Town Board may deem
necessary and proper.
A.
Departmental estimates. On or before September 1 of
each year, each officer, department and committee shall file with
the Town Clerk an itemized statement of disbursements made to carry
out the powers and duties of such office, department or committee
during the preceding fiscal year, and a detailed statement of the
receipts and disbursements on account of any special fund under the
supervision of such officer, department or committee during such year,
and of the conditions and management of such fund; also detailed estimates
of the same matters for the current fiscal year and for the ensuing
fiscal year. Such statements shall be presented in the form prescribed
by the Town Clerk and shall be designated as "Department Estimates"
and shall be as nearly uniform as possible for the main division of
all departments.
B.
Town Board to prepare. Each year the Town Board shall
prepare a proposed budget presenting a financial plan for conducting
the affairs of the Town for the ensuing calendar year. The budget
shall include the following information:
(1)
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
of the current year.
(2)
An itemization of all anticipated income of the Town
from sources other than general property taxes and bonds issued, with
the comparative statement of the amounts received by the Town from
each of the same or similar sources for the last preceding and current
fiscal year.
(3)
An estimate of the amount of money to be raised from
general property taxes which, with income from other sources, will
be necessary to meet the proposed expenditures.
(4)
Such other information as may be required by the Town
Board and by state law.
(5)
The budget summary shall include all of the following
for the proposed budget and the budget in effect and shall also include
the percentage of change between the budget of the current year and
the proposed budget:
(b)
For the general fund, all revenues from the following
sources:
(c)
All beginning and year-end governmental and proprietary
fund balances.
(d)
The contribution of the property tax to each governmental
fund and to each proprietary fund that receives property tax revenue
and the totals for all funds.
(e)
Revenue and expenditure totals, by fund, for each
governmental fund and for each proprietary fund and the revenue and
expenditure totals for all funds combined.
(6)
The Town Board shall provide a reasonable number of
copies of the prepared budget for distribution to citizens.
C.
Budget hearing.
(1)
At least 15 days before the hearing, a summary of
the proposed budget and the notice of the place for holding the public
hearing thereon shall be posted in three public posting places within
the Town.
(2)
Any resident or taxpayer of the Town shall have an
opportunity to be heard on the proposed budget at the hearing.
D.
Approval of the budget. The Town Board shall adopt
the budget for the following year as soon as practicable after completion
of the budget hearing.
E.
Statutes incorporated. Sections 60.40, 60.41, 60.42, 60.43 and 65.90, Wis. Stats., are incorporated herein, including any amendments that may be made thereto in the future. In the event of a conflict between said statutory requirements and the requirements of this § 23-2, said statutes shall be controlling.
The amount of the tax to be levied or certified,
the amounts of the various appropriations, and the purposes thereof
shall not be changed except by a two-thirds vote of the entire membership
of the Town Board. This provision shall not apply to changes in the
proposed budget that occur pursuant to a public hearing held for the
purpose of considering the proposed budget.
[Amended 12-18-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-06; 5-1-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-03; 12-15-2016 by Ord.
No. 2016-14; 7-19-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-04; 2-7-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-02]
A.
No money shall be drawn from the treasury of the Town of Vernon, 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 § 23-3 of this chapter.
(1)
At the close of each fiscal year any unencumbered balance of any
appropriation shall be subject to re-appropriation by the Town Board.
(2)
Appropriations may be made by the Town Board, to be paid out of the
income of the current year, in furtherance of improvements or works
which will not be completed within such year, and such appropriation
shall continue in force until the purpose for which it was made shall
have been accomplished or abandoned.
(3)
Department heads must verify availability of the funds in the line
item budget prior to a purchase.
(4)
The Town Board must approve all expenditures for legal fees for an
annexation by roll call in Open Session. The Town of Vernon will no
longer waive any legal fees, charges, and filing fees to settle an
annexation lawsuit, unless the amount is approved by a majority of
the Town Board members, by roll call vote.
B.
The
Town Board must pre-approve any agreement between the Town of Vernon
and one or more municipalities or parties. The Town shall not enter
into any agreement where the Town is to be responsible for the share
of the invoice for another entity.
C.
The
Town Clerk shall follow the procedures list below for accounts payable:
(1)
Invoices received in the Clerk's Office are processed for payment
only if the following are included with the invoice:
(a)
A signature of a department head or an authorized individual
which indicates goods/services received were in the proper quantities
and price authorized.
(b)
The account number to be charged.
(c)
The date of approval.
(d)
All supporting documentation.
(e)
Verification of funds available in the line item budget.
(2)
If the invoice does not match the product that was ordered, it will
be placed on hold, until the invoice is corrected, or product is received.
An e-mail alert will subsequently be sent to the submitter asking
him/her to notify the Clerk's Office when the items have been
received or the invoice has been corrected. The party requesting these
funds must be notified by the Town Clerk that the invoice is being
disputed, within 30 days of the invoice date, pursuant to Wisconsin
Statutes § 66.0135.
(3)
Once the Clerk's office receives written documentation from
a department head or an authorized individual that the items have
been received or the invoice has been corrected, the hold will be
removed, and the invoice will be processed for payment.
(4)
Accounts payable is processed in the Clerk's office and is to
be included in the Vernon Town Board packet for review and approval
at a Town Board meeting.
(5)
Checks for approved accounts payable are subsequently processed.
(6)
The payment for invoices are transferred to the general ledger and
posted after they have been approved by the Town Board.
(7)
The Town Chairman, Clerk/Treasurer and a Town Supervisor appointed
by the Town Board shall sign the approved accounts payable checks;
only one signature stamp can be used in processing the checks.
[Amended 3-21-2019 by Ord. No.
2019-03]
(8)
The approved check is then processed by a Deputy Clerk or the Treasurer
to be mailed or distributed.
D.
In the event that a request for payment cannot wait for approval at the next Town Board meeting, the Clerk must contact two Town Board members to explain the need to process the manual check request immediately. The approved manual check request must also be emailed to the Town Board for disclosure. Once this has been completed, the Town Clerk will follow the normal process for payment described in Subsection C, above, and supply the documentation at the next Town Board meeting including the date paid, name of claimant, purpose and amount.
E.
No bill and/or voucher may be paid by the Town Clerk without prior
approval of the Town Board with the exception of Automated Clearing
House (ACH) withdrawals approved by resolution. The Town Clerk and
Town Treasurer are responsible for implementing the approved Town
of Vernon ACH agreements and shall maintain a list of the approved
vendors authorized to be paid by ACH transactions.
F.
The Town Treasurer shall give monthly reports to the Town Board including
receipts, disbursements and status of all accounts.
G.
All funds received by the Town of Vernon must be receipted by the
person accepting the funds and placed in the treasurer's locked
safe. The Town of Vernon Treasurer's deposited receipts must
be entered into the Town's accounting system information. All
payments for outstanding invoices will be posted to the customer's
account in accounts receivable. Accounts receivable subsidiary ledgers
(i.e., AR aging reports) must be reconciled monthly to the general
ledger. All aged account reports must be reviewed monthly the Vernon
Town Board. Statements for all unpaid accounts will be mailed each
month. All delinquent accounts will be placed on the resident's
subsequent tax bill and nonresidents should be followed up for collection.
Any and all disputed receivables or account receivable invoices must
be forwarded to the Vernon Town Board for review and proper resolution.
[Amended 6-19-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-05; 3-21-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-03]
A.
Signatures
required. Pursuant to § 66.0607(3), Wis. Stats., Town Board
hereby determines that the Town Clerk/Treasurer, Town Chairperson
and a Town Supervisor appointed by the Town Board are required to
sign all drafts or order checks or transfer orders, and the same shall
not be valid absent all such signatures.
B.
Facsimile
signatures.
(1)
Use of facsimiles authorized. Pursuant to § 66.0607(3), Wis. Stats., and subject to the provisions of Subsection B(2) and (3) below, the Town Board hereby authorizes the use of facsimile signatures in lieu of personal signatures of the Town Chairperson, Clerk/Treasurer and a Town Supervisor appointed by the Town Board, specifically the facsimile signatures adopted by such persons and approved by the Town Board.
(2)
Use of facsimiles limited. Notwithstanding the authorization granted in Subsection B(1) above, no more than one facsimile signature may be used on any such draft, order check or transfer check.
(3)
Permission to affix facsimile signature required. Notwithstanding the authorization granted in Subsection B(1) above, at no time may the facsimile signature of the Town Chairperson, Town Clerk/Treasurer or Town Supervisor appointed by the Town Board be affixed to any draft, order check, or transfer check without the affected officer's express permission to affix his or her facsimile signature to the specific draft, order check, or transfer check involved.
At a Special Town Meeting called for the approval
of the tax levy, the Town's qualified electors shall approve a tax
levy generated by the Town Board's budget. The Special Town Meeting
may be combined with the budget hearing or be held separately.
The tax roll and tax statement shall be prepared
as required by Wisconsin State Statutes, and as amended from time
to time.
A.
Applicant. No initial or renewal license, permit,
waiver, modification, variance, conditional use approval, special
exception, zoning matter or any other discretionary action of the
governing body or any of its boards, commissions, departments or employees
shall be approved for any applicant who is:
(1)
Delinquent in the payment of any taxes, assessments,
special assessments, personal property taxes, or engineering, legal,
administrative or other claim owed to the governing body.
(2)
Delinquent in the payment of a forfeiture resulting
from the violation of any ordinance of the governing body.
(3)
Delinquent in the payment of any taxes or other claims
due to the state or county.
(4)
Has any outstanding warrant or capias from any municipal,
state or federal court.
B.
Premises or property. No initial or renewal license,
permit, variance, conditional use approval, special exception, zoning
matter or any other discretionary action of the governing body or
any of its boards, commissions, departments or employees shall be
issued for any premises or property for which taxes, assessments,
special assessments, personal property taxes, or engineering, legal,
administrative or other claims of the governing body are delinquent
and unpaid.
A.
Membership. The membership of the Board of Review
shall be as described in § 70.46(1), Wis. Stats.
B.
Alternate members. Pursuant to §§ 70.47(6m)(c)
and 70.46(1), Wis. Stats., the Town Board allows for appointments
of alternates to serve on the Board of Review in the event a Board
member is removed or unable to serve for any reason. The Town Chairperson
shall appoint, subject to confirmation of the Town Board, one alternate
member for a term of five years. The Town Chairperson may appoint,
subject to confirmation of the Town Board, additional alternate members,
in addition to the one required alternate member. If more than one
alternate member is appointed, the Town Chairperson, subject to confirmation
of the Town Board, shall designate one of the existing or newly appointed
members as first alternate, one as second alternate, and so forth
to establish the priority of all alternate members. The terms of any
additional alternate members shall be for five years, unless that
term must be reduced by one or more years at the time of appointment
to ensure that no two alternate members' terms end in the same year.
The first alternate member shall act with full power when three members
are absent, refuse, or are otherwise unavailable to hear an objection.
The second alternate member (if any) shall act with full power when
four members (or three members and the first alternate member) are
absent, refuse or are otherwise unavailable to hear an objection.
Additional alternate members (if any) shall act, in order of their
priority, when necessary to provide three members/alternate members
to hear any objection.
C.
Confidentiality of income and expense information
provided to Assessor. Pursuant to § 70.47(7)(af), Wis. Stats.,
income and expense information provided by a property owner to an
Assessor for the purposes of establishing the valuation for assessment
purposes by the income method of valuation shall be confidential and
not a public record open to inspection or copying under § 19.35(1),
Wis. Stats. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an officer may make disclosure
of such information under the following circumstances:
(1)
The Assessor has access to such information in the
performance of his/her duties.
(2)
The Board of Review may review such information when
needed, in its opinion, to decide upon a contested assessment.
(3)
Another person or body has the right to review such
information due to the intimate relationship of the duties of an office
or as set by law.
(4)
The officer is complying with a court order.
(5)
The person providing the income and expense information
has contested the assessment level at either the Board of Review or
by filing a claim for excessive assessment under § 74.37,
Wis. Stats., in which case the records are open and public.
Whenever either the Town Board, Town Clerk or
other Town official contacts or has authorized a property owner in
the Town to contact the Town Attorney, Town Engineer, Town Planner
or any other of the Town's professional staff or the property owner
contacts them directly and any of the aforementioned contacts results
in a charge to the Town for that professional's time and services,
and said service is not a service supplied to the Town 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. The Town of Vernon Professional
Services Reimbursement Notice (Exhibit A) advises residents and requests
information from residents regarding the policy outlined in this section.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Exhibit A is on file at the
office of the Town Clerk.
A.
Allowable time to pay. At least 30 days prior to charging
any fees for professional services against the current or next tax
roll as a delinquent tax against the property, the Town Clerk shall
give the property owner to be billed notice of the proposed charge
against his/her property, via first-class mail. Such notice shall
specify that within 15 days of the date of the notice the property
owners may request a hearing before the Town Board regarding the assessment
against the property. Such notice shall also include an itemized statement
of the professional service fees to be charged.
B.
Appeal to Town Board. In the event the property owner disputes either the amount of the charges levied or that those charges are not related to his/her property, the owner may appeal said charges before the Town Board within 15 days of the date of notice provided pursuant to Subsection A above by requesting to be placed on the Town Board agenda by contacting the Town Chairperson. Upon receipt of a request for hearing, the Town Board shall hold a hearing regarding the property assessment at its next scheduled meeting or as soon as feasible. Such hearing shall be preceded by 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 while the matter is pending.
C.
Special charge. Following the provision of notice
and expiration of the time for appeal, or if timely appealed and the
Town Board orders that payment be made, thereafter if the charge remains
unpaid, the Town Clerk shall automatically charge the delinquent bill
against the current or next tax roll as a delinquent tax against the
property as provided by law, pursuant to § 66.0627, Wis.
Stats. In the event the statement rendered to the property owner or
the time given to the property owner to pay is too late in the current
year for the charge, when it becomes delinquent, to be extended on
that year's tax roll, the delinquent charge shall then be extended
to the following tax year's tax roll.
D.
Persons other than property owner. The Town Clerk
shall give persons other than property owners billed for services,
as provided for herein, a period of time not to exceed 60 days to
pay, and thereafter if that charge is not paid in full the Town Clerk
will turn over the bill to the Town's collection agency for payment.
A.
Request for letters regarding special assessments
on property. A fee in an amount established by the Town Board by separate
resolution from time to time shall be paid for each request that a
Town official or employee issue an opinion as to whether or not special
assessments exist regarding a named property. Said resolution may
include a separate larger amount in the event that the request demands
that the opinion be issued on the same day as the request is made,
in consideration of the additional inconvenience caused by such demand.
B.
Fence viewers. A fee in an amount established by the
Town Board by separate resolution from time to time, which may include
separate amounts for each day and for each fence viewer, shall be
charged to the petitioner requesting fence viewing pursuant to Ch.
90, Wis. Stats. At the time of the petition, fees which total the
amount that must be paid for one day of work by three fence viewers
must be paid or the application shall be deemed to be incomplete,
and this initial fee shall be applied toward the total fee imposed
for the fence viewing work.
C.
Tax search.
(1)
Definition. The Town Treasurer is authorized to check
tax information requested by escrow agents.
(2)
Fee. For each tax key number checked by the Treasurer
or the Treasurer's designee, the Treasurer shall charge the escrow
agent an amount established by the Town Board by separate resolution
from time to time.
[Amended 3-16-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-05]
A.
HOTEL or MOTEL
TRANSIENT
Definitions. As used in this section, the following
terms shall have the meaning indicated:
[Amended 3-16-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-05]
A building or group of buildings in which the public may
obtain accommodations for a consideration, including, without limitation,
such establishments as inns, motels, tourist homes, tourist houses
or courts, lodging houses, rooming houses, summer camps, apartment
hotels, resort lodges and cabins and any other building or group of
buildings in which accommodations are available to the public, except
accommodations, including mobile homes as defined in § 66.0435(1)(d),
Wis. Stats., rented for a continuous period of more than one month
and accommodations furnished by any hospitals, sanatoriums, or nursing
homes, or by corporations or associations organized and operated exclusively
for religious, charitable or educational purposes, provided that no
part of the net earnings of such corporations and associations inures
to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.
Any person residing for a continuous period of less than
one month in a hotel, motel or other furnished accommodations available
to the public.
B.
Tax imposed. A tax at the rate of 8% or the gross
receipts from the sale, performance or furnishing of the following
services is imposed for the privilege of selling, performing or furnishing
such services as furnishing rooms or lodging to transients by hotelkeepers,
motel operators and other persons furnishing accommodations that are
available to the public, irrespective of whether membership is required
for use of the accommodations.
C.
Selective sales tax. This tax is not subject to the
selective sales tax imposed by § 77.52(2)(a), Wis. Stats.
D.
Required reports. Every operator of a hotel, motel
or other place of public accommodations covered by this section shall
submit a quarterly report to the Town Clerk showing the gross receipts
from furnishing such accommodations in conjunction with a copy of
the state sales tax report for the business and the tax due to the
Town. The state sales tax report and tax shall be submitted quarterly,
not later than 30 days from the end of each calendar quarter for the
receipts of the past calendar quarter. The quarterly report shall
be signed by the operator in the presence of a notary public with
a statement that the report is true and correct to the best of the
operator's information and belief.
E.
Enforcement.
(2)
The Town Clerk with Town Board approval shall determine
the tax due in his/her best judgment if the operator of a covered
establishment fails, neglects or refuses to furnish a complete report
within 60 days of the date it is due.
(3)
The amount of tax which the Town Clerk and Town Board determine is due under Subsection B of this section is additionally subject to a payment of 1% per month on the unpaid balance. No refund or modification of the amount may be made until the operator files a correct report and allows the Town to inspect and audit the accommodations' financial records.
(4)
The Town Board may subject any operator who fails
to pay a tax when due to an assessment of up to 25% of the room tax
due or $5,000, whichever is less.
F.
Citation. The Town Board is authorized to issue citations
for violations.
G.
Confidentiality. Information obtained by the Town,
its agents and officials shall not be disclosed except for persons
using the information in the discharge of duties imposed by law or
of the duties of their office or by order of the Court. However, the
Town may release statistics which do not disclose a taxpayer's identity.
The Town Board shall let, pursuant to the provisions
of §§ 66.0901 and 60.47, Wis. Stats., all public contracts
as defined in §§ 66.0901(1)(c) and 60.47(1)(a), Wis.
Stats., as required by said statutes.
A.
Town performance of contract. Any public contract
or part thereof may be done directly by the Town without submitting
the same for bids.
B.
Contracts with other municipalities. The Town Board
may also enter into arrangements with any municipality to do any type
of work without the requirement of competitive bidding regardless
of amount involved.
[Amended 3-19-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-02]
A.
Applicability. This section shall apply to the following:
B.
Person defined. "Person" shall mean any individual, business, corporation,
partnership or other entity capable of purchasing and holding land.
C.
General regulations. No person shall conduct or cause to be conducted any of the activities subject to this section, as provided in Subsection A above, unless that person first satisfies the following requirements:
(1)
Certified survey map not required. The combination of lots without
a certified survey map is allowed in the following strictly limited
circumstances, if the following procedures are followed:
(a)
Limited circumstances. All of the following must be true:
[1]
Three parcels, with three separate tax key numbers, must be
combined to form two parcels with two separate tax key numbers;
[2]
One of the three parcels must be divided, the division legally
described by metes and bounds description, and portions of the parcel
must be combined with the other two parcels;
[3]
The parcel that is divided must be an unbuildable lot prior
to the division and combination;
[4]
The resulting two parcels must each comply with the appropriate
zoning district and be buildable lots; and
[5]
All three of the parcels must not have been divided from, or
combined with, other parcels in the immediately preceding five years.
(a-1)
Correct illegal land divisions. All the following
must be true:
[1]
Two parcels, with two separate tax key numbers, must be combined
to form one parcel with one separate tax key number;
[2]
The staff of the Waukesha County Parks and Land Use Division
shall have made a determination in writing that the lots were not
legally created and therefore cannot be recognized as separate parcels;
[3]
The resulting parcel must comply with the appropriate zoning
district and be a buildable lot.
(b)
Procedures. The following procedures must be followed to combine
tax key numbers without preparing a certified survey map:
[1]
[2]
The combination application shall be presented to the Town Plan
Commission for review and approval. Approval shall not be provided
until the Town Plan Commission determines that the provisions of this
section and all other applicable codes and ordinances of the Town
and Waukesha County have been met.
[3]
Upon Town Plan Commission approval, the application shall be
presented to the Town Board for review, and the combination shall
be subject to the approval of the Town Board.
(2)
Certified survey map required. In all circumstances where the limitations of Subsection C(1)(a) or (a-1) are not met, the combination or creation of lots as provided in Subsection A above shall only be done through a certified survey map or subdivision plat, which map shall be recorded in the Waukesha County Register of Deeds office by the Town Clerk or his/her designee under the requirements of Ch. 236, Wis. Stats. The certified survey map shall first be presented to the Town Plan Commission for review and approval. Approval shall not be provided until the Town Plan Commission determines that the provisions of this section and all other applicable codes and ordinances of the Town and Waukesha County have been complied with.
[Added 10-19-2017 by Ord.
No. 2017-06]
The Town of Vernon elects not to give the bond on Municipal
Treasurer provided for by § 70.67 (1), Wis. Stats. Pursuant
to § 70.67 (2) of the Wisconsin Statutes, the Town of Vernon
shall be obligated to pay, in case the Treasurer thereof shall fail
to do so, all taxes of any kind required by law to be paid by such
Treasurer to the County Treasurer.
