Wisconsin Towns Association

Wisconsin Towns Association

May 2020

W7686 County Road MMM

Shawano, WI 54166

Website:

Email: wtowns@

Phone: 715-526-3157 Fax: 715-524-3917

PRSRT STD

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

SHAWANO, WI

PERMIT NO. 26

August 2018 | 1

Wisconsin Towns Association

Board of Directors

District 3

District 4

Eau Claire

District 2

District 5

District 1

Betty Manson

District 1

608-462-5034

Kevin Koth

District 4

715-612-8124

Jerry Derr

District 1

608-575-3407

Sharon Folcey

District 2

608-269-8463

District 6

Steve Dickinsen

District 2

715-533-3360

Marilyn Bhend Lee Engelbrecht John Piechowski

District 4

District 5

District 5

715-581-7006

920-755-4042

920-566-2855

��A statewide association

providing education, legal

information and grassroots

legislative advocacy to

empower and inspire our

members to lead in their

communities.��

Lester Lewis

District 3

715-785-7276

Jim Paden

District 3

612-384-1197

Dick Gimler

District 6

920-261-2964

Tom Winker

District 6

262-224-6691

Wisconsin Towns

May 2020

Volume 387

President

Jerry Derr

Bristol, Dane Co.

ghderr@

Vice President

What��s Inside... Page

From the Desk of Mike Koles, Executive Director

4

Municipal Clerks Week

5

Borrowing Money - Atty. Joe Ruth

7

Lester Lewis

Molitor, Taylor Co.

lester.1949@

Director Dialogue - Kevin Koth

10

Retail Alcohol Beverage Licensing - Atty. Lara Carlson

11

Secretary

2020 Open Book and Board of Review

Considerations - Atty. Carol Nawrocki

14

Board of Review Options following Act 185

16

Workers Compensation following Act 185

19

Waiving Late Property Tax Payment Interest and Fees

following Act 185: FAQ��s & Resolution

20

2020 WTA Convention Hotels

24

Vendor Focus - Darcy Luoma Coaching & Consulting

26

WTA Handbook Order Form

28

Sharon Folcey

Leon, Monroe Co.

folcey@

Executive Director

Mike Koles

wtowns@

The publication Wisconsin Towns is

published by the Wisconsin Towns

Association at W7686 Co. Rd. MMM,

Shawano WI 54166

715.526.3157

Third Class Postage Paid at

Shawano, WI

Empowering Town Officials

FROM THE

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Responsible

If I were asked to pick a single word, just one, that

could be used to differentiate people from the rest of

the world, ��responsible�� would be at the top of my

list. This adjective is comprised of two words, both

from 13th century French, ��respond�� and ��able��. As

people, we are ��able�� to ��respond�� to the situation

around us.

Other creatures also have the ability to respond to

stimulus. My favorite past time of sitting in a tree with

a bow gets real exciting when the diminishing

daylight (stimuli) triggers a well-known and

uncontrollable response in whitetails in autumn.

Certainly some mammals are more advanced than

deer, but what separates people is that between

stimulus and response, we are able to make a very

controllable choice.

In this month��s vendor focus, Darcy Luoma, mentions

a leader��s ability to Pause-Think-Act. This is the title

of one of her many powerful educational programs

and the focus of her 2019 Convention capnote speech.

Simply, after the stimulus and before action, true

leaders ��pause�� and ��think��.

In last month��s article, I noted that crises can be

categorized in several ways. The 1918 flu pandemic

was largely an ��unknown-unknown��. People were

getting sick with flu-like symptoms, but they were

much more severe than typical. Nobody truly knew it

was influenza, and in fact, the virus wouldn��t be seen

for the first time with a microscope until 15 years

later. COVID is a ��known-unknown��. We know the

problem and must implement strategies to defeat it.

To date, the strategies that have been implemented are

foreign to us. Social distancing and Safer at Home

and are terms that didn��t exist only a few weeks ago,

the complete impacts of which (both positive and

negative) won��t be fully known for years to come.

By

Mike Koles

Getting almost 500 legal calls/emails into the WTA

office per week is just as foreign to our team.

Typically, legal hotline traffic is 50% of that. We��ve

been forced to learn new technologies like Zoom and

Go to Meeting that are about as comfortable to me as

inviting someone from Illinois into deer camp.

These foreign strategies are indeed �C not comfortable.

Many have been lauded by some town officials, while

others detest them. For town government, they have

caused significantly more work for town boards,

especially clerks, and increased costs/decreased

revenues. Many of those 500 calls have been filled

with emotion. Yet, in the midst of this trying time, I

know town officials will choose to respond to stimuli

with service, dedication, empathy, and an

understanding that you can disagree with your fellow

town officials without being disagreeable.

As an association of 1246 towns and 23 villages,

comprising over 7,000 elected/appointed officials,

WTA is focused singularly on helping you

collectively and individually navigate this from the

perspective of town governance. That might mean

sending a lot of email alerts that report what is

happening in Madison or Washington (we are only the

messenger, please don��t shoot). It certainly means

providing education by answering your many legal

questions. And, it also might mean advocating for

legislation and funding that increases your town��s

ability to respond to the situation.

Regarding the latter, Act 185 was recently signed by

the Governor and included two changes requested by

you. Flexibilities were added to the Annual Town

Meeting that many of you exercised. There were also

requested changes to the Board of Review

proceedings. The BOR changes were close to, but not

exactly what we were looking for. Let��s just say the

old adage about politics and sausage making couldn��t

be truer. In the end, the product is still a good one.

May 2020 | 4

Carol��s article details BOR proceedings, while a

summary sheet that was provided on April 15th via

email and the website is also

printed in this magazine.

Two

other

changes

are

noteworthy to towns. A change

was

made

to

workers

compensation

for

first

responders. Also, your town, in

tandem with the County Board,

can choose to waive fees and

interest on late property taxes.

Please see a summary sheet

explaining these two changes in

the magazine. Also, please find

a model municipal resolution

that is built off of a model county

resolution being distributed by

the

Wisconsin

Counties

Association. Please note that

your resolution must be

��similar�� to your county��s

resolution. As I��ve stated in two

emails, analyze the option to

make property taxes changes very carefully. A towncounty authorization or even a unilateral county

authorization to eliminate late

payments fees and interest could

create cash flow problems for

your town.

More detail is

included in the summary.

Welcome to Aspen Marie!

On April 11th Casey Gast and her

husband Keegan were blessed

with the arrival of Aspen Marie.

Baby, Mom, and Dad are all

healthy and doing well. All

parents have stories they tell their

kids that begin with ��when I was

a kid�� or ��when you were born��.

Many years from now, after

Casey and Keegan have become

the wonderful and successful

parents we know they will be, can

you imagine the stories they will

tell Aspen about when she was

born? Congratulations to all!

Celebrate Municipal Clerks Week!

Governor Evers has proclaimed

May 3 �\ 9, 2020

Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Week

The Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association

wishes all Professional Clerks & Deputies

��Happy Clerks Week!��

Calling all New Clerks! The WMCA is here to help with

education and mentoring to help develop the skills you need to

be a great Professional Clerk in your municipality.

To Join the WMCA or request a copy of the Proclamation

contact the WMCA Office at: ExecDirector@

or Phone: 920�\568�\9278

��Your professional link to excellence��

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