Political subdivisions of Wisconsin

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The definitions of the political subdivisions of the US State of Wisconsin differ from those in certain other countries or even various other U.S. states, leading to misunderstandings regarding the governmental nature of an area.

Whether a municipality is a city, village or town is dependent not only on the community's population or area, but in large part on the form of government selected by the residents and approved by the Wisconsin State Legislature. In Wisconsin, local units of general purpose government include counties, cities, villages and towns. There are also a number of special purpose districts formed to handle regional concerns, such as school districts

Contents

[edit] County

The county is the primary political subdivision of Wisconsin. Wisconsin has seventy-two counties, covering the entire state. Every county has a county seat, often a populous or centrally located city or village, where the government office for the county are located. Within each county are cities, villages and towns.

A Board of Supervisors is the main legislative entity of the county. Supervisors are elected in nonpartisan elections for two-year terms (except in Milwaukee County where they served four years). The type of executive official in each county varies; ten counties have a County Executive elected in a nonpartisan election for a four-year term; ten counties have appointed County Administrators; and 48 have appointed Administrative Coordinators. Other officials include a sheriff, district attorney, clerk, treasurer, coroner, register of deeds and clerk of courts. By 2008, all of these offices state-wide will have four-year terms. In most counties, elected coroners have been replaced by appointed medical examiners.

Counties are generally responsible for social services, such as child welfare, job training and care of the eldery; and public land management, such as care for parks. Law enforcement and road maintenance are also administered by the county, in conjunction with local municipalities.

[edit] City

In Wisconsin, a city is highly autonomous incorporated area within one or more counties. It provides almost all services to its residents and has the highest degree of home rule and taxing jurisdiction over them. The City of Milwaukee, the only "First class city" in the state, has its own special rules apart from all other cities. As of 2005, Wisconsin had 190 cities.

The home rule authority granted to cities allows them to make their own decision about their affairs, administration and a good deal of their public policy, subject to state law.

Cities are governed by Common Councils consisting of the mayor and elected aldermen. City officers include a mayor, treasurer, clerk, attorney and health officials. Cities may also, by their discretion, have an engineer, comptroller, assesors, street commissioner, constable and a board of public works.

Cities can also elect to hire a city administrator instead of an elected mayor. In cities that have city administrators, often the head of the common council is referred to as mayor.

Cities in Wisconsin are generally divided into four classes:

  • First class: Cities with 150,000 or more people
  • Second class: Cities with 39,000 to 149,999 people
  • Third class: Cities with 10,000 to 38,999 people
  • Fourth class: Cities with 9,999 people or less

There are exceptions to these classes, however; in order for a city to move from one class to the next, certain governmental changes need to take place and the mayor must publish a proclamation. For these reasons, Madison is still a second class city, Waukesha is still a third class city and several cities with a population of over 10,000 are still fourth class Cities.[1]

In order to incorporate as a city, a community needs to have at least 1,000 citizens if it is in a rural area or 5,000 if it is in an urban area.

[edit] Village

In Wisconsin, a village is an autonomous incorporated area within one or more counties. It provides various service to its residents and has a degree of home rule and taxing jurisdiction over them. As of 2005, Wisconsin had 400 villages.

The home rule authority granted to villages allows them to make their own decision about their affairs, administration and a good deal of their public policy, subject to state law.

Villages are governed by a Village President and a Board of Trustees. Village officers include a president, clerk, treasurer and assessor. Villages can also elect to hire a village manager instead of an elected village president.

In order to incorporate as a village, a community must have at least 150 citizens if it is in a rural area or 2,500 if it is in an urban area.

[edit] Town

In Wisconsin, a town is a municipality within a county; in this usage, Wisconsin towns are similar to civil townships. All areas in the state which have not been incorporated as a city or village are parts of towns. Towns provide a limited number of services to its residents. The US Census considers Wisconsin towns to be minor civil divisions. As of 2005, Wisconsin had 1,260 towns.

Towns are governed by Town Boards, with the board chairperson at its head. Towns also have a clerk, treasurer and assessor either elected or appointed by the board. In addition, every town must hold an annual town meeting in the beginning of April. At this town meeting, the electors may authorize the town board to take certain actions or change the make up or wages of town supervisors or officers.

Towns have less authority than villages and cities; they do not, for instance, have home rule granted to them by the state, but instead only have specific powers granted to them under state statute. At the very minimum, towns maintain their roads and zone land (Though in some locales, counties have control over zoning. Example: Milwaukee County until the final incorporation in the late 1950's). Towns may choose to provide more services however, overlapping with those provided by the county. In most cases, however, towns provide limited services and thus town residents often pay lower taxes than their city or village counterparts.

Towns are often annexed by neighboring cities and villages in whole or in part. Piecemeal annexation has left some rather small towns, such as the Town of Germantown which covers 1.7 square miles, or the Town of Brookfield covering 5.5 square miles. This contrasts with the Town of Winter which covers 279.5 square miles. Most towns are about the size of a survey township, or 36 square miles. The Town of Menominee is unique in that it is coextensive with the County of Menominee, and covers 365 square miles; this is due to its unique history and connection with the Menominee Indian Reservation.

In Wisconsin, survey townships often match up with towns. The survey townships were a result of the 1795 land ordinance and further subdivided in to 36 sections of one square mile each. One section was set aside for sale as the "School Section," which was used to support the schools. This grid system is based on a Point of Beginning (POB) created by surveyor Lucius Lyon in 1831 near Hazel Green, Wisconsin (the Fourth Principal Meridian) and used the Illinois boundary for a baseline. Development based on this grid system can be seen on maps today as the major through streets, such as those in Milwaukee, which line up with boundary intersections. Lyon's POB is observed by a Wisconsin Historical Marker and a reset surveyor's monument. [2]

[edit] Other named places

There are numerous examples of unincorporated communities throughout the state. These areas have no legal status and are administered by the town or municipality in which they exist.

[edit] Special purpose units of government

In Wisconsin, special purpose units of government provide specialized services for those who live within the district, and are empowered to tax residents of the district for the services provided in common. Special districts often cross the lines of cities, villages and towns. In 2006, Wisconsin had over 1,100 special districts.[3]

These special units of government are created to solve problems that are regional in nature, and sometimes to get around the limits on debt that each municipality can have. The state can also exert more control on special districts through the governor's appointments to district boards. Politicians also set up some special districts to insulate themselves from the sometimes unpopular taxes these boards levy, since the boards are often appointed and not elected.

[edit] School districts

School districts are the most common kind of special district. They provide, arrange or contract for all public education services, including special education and school transportation, the latter also for non-public schools. In 2006, Wisconsin had more than 440 school districts.

School districts are often not precisely coextensive with municipalities that bear the same name, meaning that a person living in one hamlet or village might send their children to a school associated with a different hamlet or village. Residents pay school taxes to the same school district in which they live and their children attend school.

[edit] Technical college districts

Wisconsin's sixteen technical college districts levy taxes to fund the Wisconsin Technical College System. These sixteen technical colleges provide occupational training for their residents at a reduced cost.

[edit] Sports districts

The Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District and the Professional Football Stadium District were created to raise money for the building of Miller Park and Lambeau Field respectively.

The baseball district built, operates and manages the stadium used by the Milwaukee Brewers. It financed its activities through the sale of bonds, which it repays through a .1% sales and use tax on goods sold in the district over $10.00. It encompasses the counties of Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Washington and Waukesha.

The football district issued bonds to renovate the stadium used by the Green Bay Packers. It repays its bonds through a .5% sales tax on goods sold in the district, which is coextensive with Brown County.

[edit] Other types of special purpose units

  • Sewerage districts: The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District runs the sewerage system for much of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. It receives its funding from property taxes and user fees.
  • Cultural arts districts: The Wisconsin Center District owns and operates the U.S. Cellular Arena, Milwaukee Theatre and the Midwest Airlines Center in Milwaukee. The Madison Cultural Arts District manages the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison.
  • Regional planning commissions
  • Drainage districts
  • Town sanitary districts
  • Mosquito control districts

[edit] Census-designated place

A census-designated place (CDP) is an area defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only, without any legal consequences. In Wisconsin, a CDP is often a part of a town outside any villages. The CDP may cross town and county borders. A CDP cannot be any part of a city or a village, nor can it be the entirety of a town. CDPs usually resemble cities or villages in population density and structure. CDPs were formerly called unincorporated places.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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