67.03 Grant of power to borrow; general limitations of indebtedness.
(1)
(a) Except as provided in s. 67.01 (9), municipalities may borrow money and issue municipal obligations therefor only for the purposes and by the procedure specified in this chapter. The aggregate amount of indebtedness, including existing indebtedness, of any municipality shall not exceed 5 percent of the value of the taxable property located in the municipality as equalized for state purposes except that the aggregate amount of indebtedness of any school district that offers no less than grades 1 to 12 and that at the time of incurring the debt is eligible to receive state aid under s. 121.08 shall not exceed 10 percent of the equalized value of the taxable property located in the school district.
(b) Any school district about to incur indebtedness may apply to the state superintendent of public instruction for, and the state superintendent may issue, a certificate as to the eligibility of the school district to receive state aid under s. 121.08, which certificate shall be conclusive as to such eligibility for 30 days, but not beyond the next June 30.
(2) The amount so limited includes such indebtedness only as has been or may be incurred independently by a municipality for its own separate purposes; and does not include any indebtedness, in whole or in part, that has been or may be incurred independently by any other municipality for its own separate purposes, even though the territory and taxable property of either municipality constitutes the whole or a part of the territory and taxable property of the other.
(2m) The issuance of refunding municipal obligations and the payment of municipal obligations so refunded shall be treated as if they occur simultaneously. The limitation on aggregate indebtedness under sub. (1) shall not include the amount of the refunded municipal obligation to the extent that provision is made for the payment of the refunded obligation.
(3) Whenever a municipality acquires a utility or other property of any kind that at the time is encumbered by mortgage, trust deed or otherwise, the municipality does not assume the payment of such encumbrance, nor does the encumbrance constitute any part of the amount limited by sub. (1). Neither is any deferred payment upon a municipal contract a part of said amount, if the contract expressly provides immunity for the municipality from all liability arising from such contract to make such payment.
(4) The last determination made by the department of revenue of the full value of the taxable property in any municipality under this section or s. 70.57 or 121.06 (1) shall be the equalized valuation of the taxable property.
(5)
(a) When the last determination made by the department of revenue of the full value of the taxable property in a municipality is not a true valuation of the taxable property therein because of a change in the territory thereof, the department of revenue, upon application in writing by the municipal clerk, in such form as the department prescribes, shall increase or decrease the last determination in such amount as in the best judgment of the department makes proper adjustment for the change in territory, and the resulting adjusted valuation shall be the equalized valuation of the taxable property in the municipality.
(b) When a new municipality has been formed for which no determination of the full value of the taxable property therein has been made by the department of revenue, upon application in writing by the municipal clerk, in such form as the department prescribes, the department shall determine according to its best judgment from all sources of information available to it the full value of the taxable property in the municipality, and the resulting valuation shall be the equalized valuation of the taxable property in the municipality.
(6) The department of revenue may certify to the clerk of any municipality the full value of the taxable property of the municipality when the equalized valuation is requested for use in connection with municipal borrowing.
(7)
(a) For the purposes of indebtedness school districts which in successive years operate all grades to tenth, eleventh and twelfth as provided in s. 121.78 (2) (b) and (c) shall be considered school districts offering no less than grades one to 12.
(b) For the purposes of indebtedness, a school district that does not operate one or more grades as a result of entering into a whole grade sharing agreement under s. 118.50 is considered to be operating those grades.
(9) For any technical college district, the bonded indebtedness for the purpose of purchasing school sites and the construction and equipping of school buildings may not exceed 2 percent of the value of its taxable property as equalized for state purposes.
History: 1975 c. 39; 1981 c. 20; 1983 a. 36 s. 96 (4); 1983 a. 189 s. 329 (7); 1983 a. 207; 1985 a. 29 s. 3202 (43); 1985 a. 225; 1987 a. 69; 1991 a. 316; 1993 a. 399; 1995 a. 27, 225; 1997 a. 27; 1999 a. 83; 2015 a. 55.
A school district did not incur indebtedness by entering into a lease-purchase agreement for a new school when the district, by electing not to appropriate funds for the following fiscal year's rental payment, had the option to terminate the agreement with no future payment obligation. Deick v. Unified School District of Antigo, 165 Wis. 2d 458, 477 N.W.2d 613 (1991).
An agreement to purchase park land whereby a county is to make deferred payments from an existing nonlapsing account, sufficient to cover the entire obligation, secured by mortgaging the property to the grantor, would not create an obligation within the ambit of ch. 67 nor constitute a debt in the context of Art. XI, s. 3. 63 Atty. Gen. 309.
Local government units cannot include the value of tax-exempt manufacturing machinery and specific processing equipment and tax exempt merchants' stock-in-trade, manufacturers' materials, and finished products and livestock in their property valuation totals for non-tax purposes, such as for municipal debt ceilings, tax levy limitations, shared tax distributions, and school aid payments. 63 Atty. Gen. 465.