Shared Revenue Bill Moving Quickly
Last week the legislature introduced AB 245, the highly anticipated local government funding reform package.
A public hearing was held Thursday, May 4th and the League, as well as several municipal leaders representing cities and villages of all sizes, testified on the legislation. The bill marks the potential to provide a generational change in the way local governments are funded in Wisconsin by indexing annual growth in shared revenue to the percentage increase in state sales tax. The proposal would provide at least a 10% increase for all municipalities providing $227 million overall in a new county and municipal supplemental aid payment that provides a 30% increase in overall shared revenue.
League Supports Housing Finance Bills
Today the legislature rolled out three bills that will help produce more workforce and senior housing in Wisconsin. The lack of housing inventory in Wisconsin, rooted in the Great Recession, is a critical problem that continues today. It will take a public-private partnership of the sort proposed by this legislation to address that shortage and to set Wisconsin’s economy back on the path to full recovery and growth.
The League worked closely with the bill authors, with WHEDA, and with the real estate and building industry on these bills and they have our support.
The three incentives bills, LRB-1633, LRB-2198, and LRB-2199,
are being circulated for co-sponsorship among legislators. The League encourages all lawmakers to sign onto this package, which if funded in the state budget, accomplish the following:
- Provide a revolving loan for infrastructure; the streets, sewers, water systems, and other essentials needed for new housing;
- Provide loans for revitalizing apartments over downtown commercial properties;
- Provide loans for the conversion of under-utilized commercial properties into housing.
The League-supported finance bills are incentive-based. To qualify for funding, a municipality and its private sector partners need to take steps to streamline the local land use approval process, which can in some instances add cost and inhibit development.
Examples of the sort of voluntary reforms that municipalities may adopt are detailed in “Enabling Better Places: A Users Guide to Wisconsin Neighborhood Affordability,” a practical manual for local government land use streamlining. The guide was prepared by the Congress for the New Urbanism, the League, and many other groups. It is available as a free download on the League’s web site.
There is a fourth bill in the package, LRB 0585,
that will emphasize “truth in zoning;” reinforcing the notion that what are classified as permitted uses in local zoning regulations must be allowed by local processes. The League is taking a neutral position on this bill.
The League has prepared a summary of all four housing bills that have been circulated today for co-sponsorship.
Both the Local Government Funding package and the Housing legislation will see funding supporting the initiatives in the 2023-2025 budget.
