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Madison, WI—Yesterday, the Senate and Assembly passed two bonding bills authored by Representative Rob Brooks (R-Saukville) and Senator Duey Stroebel (R-Cedarburg).

Senate Bill 122, makes the filing of an official bond by local government bodies permissive, not mandatory. Under current law, certain municipal officials are required to file an official bond. The bond is intended to protect the municipality and taxpayers against loss of public funds in the event that the public official fails to perform the duties of the respective office.

“Most municipal officials are covered under employee dishonesty insurance, which makes obtaining an official bond a duplicative process. Senate Bill 122 provides a common sense reform to an outdated mandate,” said Representative Rob Brooks.

Senate Bill 123 guarantees that property taxes will be appropriately distributed to local taxing units, specifically schools, technical college, municipalities, and counties. Currently, municipal treasurers collect most property tax payments in December and January. Municipalities then retain a portion of the property tax and allocate the remainder to other taxing entities.

“Wisconsin’s surety bond threshold is no longer adequate to cover the state and county tax levy if a municipality is unable to distribute property taxes. Senate Bill 123 will ensure that taxing jurisdictions receive their share of local property taxes. These two bills are a victory for local units of government and Wisconsin taxpayers,” stated Representative Brooks.

Both of the bills now move to Governor Walker’s desk and await his signature to become law.

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