27.075 County exercise of municipal park powers.
(1) The county board of any county with a population of less than 750,000 is hereby vested with all powers of a local, legislative and administrative character for the purpose of governing, managing, controlling, improving and caring for public parks, parkways, boulevards and pleasure drives; and to carry out these powers in districts which it may create for different purposes, or throughout the county, and for such purposes to levy county taxes, to issue bonds, assessment certificates and improvement bonds, or any other evidence of indebtedness. The powers hereby conferred may be exercised by the county board in any town, city or village, or part thereof located in such county upon the request of any such town, city or village, evidenced by a resolution adopted by a majority vote of the members-elect of its governing body, designating the particular park function, duty or act, and the terms, if any, upon which the same shall be exercised by the county board. Such resolution shall state whether the authority or function is to be exercised exclusively by the county or jointly by the county and the town, city or village, and shall also state that the exercise of such power by the county is in the public interest. Upon the receipt of the resolution, the county board may, by a resolution adopted by a majority vote of its membership, elect to assume the exercise of such authority or function, upon the terms and conditions set forth in the resolution presented by the town, city or village.
(2) The county board of any such county may, by a resolution adopted by a majority of its membership, propose to the towns, cities and villages located in such county, or any of them, that it offers to exercise such powers and functions therein in order to consolidate municipal park services and functions in said county. Such resolution shall designate the particular function, duty or act and the terms and conditions, if any, upon which the county board will perform the same. The powers conferred in sub. (1) and designated in such resolution may thereafter be exercised by the county board in each such town, city or village which shall accept such proposal by the adoption of a resolution by a majority vote of the members-elect of its governing body.
(3) After the adoption of resolutions by the county board, the county board shall have full power to legislate upon and administer the entire subject matter committed to it, and among other things, to determine, where not otherwise provided by law, the manner of exercising the power thus assumed.
(4) The town, city or village concerned may enter into necessary contracts with the county, and appropriate money to pay the county for the reasonable expenses incurred in rendering the park services assumed. Such expenses may be certified, returned and paid as are other county charges, and in the case of services performed pursuant to a proposal for the consolidation thereof initiated by the county board and made available to each town, city and village in the county on the same terms, the expenses thereof shall be certified, returned and paid as county charges; but in the event that each and every town, city and village in the county shall accept such proposal of the county board the expenses thereof shall be paid by county taxes to be levied and collected as are other taxes for county purposes. Said towns, cities and villages are vested with all necessary power to do the things herein required, and to do all things and to exercise or relinquish any of the powers herein provided or contemplated. The procedure herein provided for the request or acceptance of the exercise of the powers conferred on the county board in cities and villages is hereby prescribed as a special method of determining the local affairs and government of such cities and villages pursuant to article XI, section 3, of the constitution.
(5) The powers conferred by this section shall be in addition to all other grants of power and shall be limited only by express language.
History: 1973 c. 333; 1983 a. 192; 2017 a. 207 s. 5.