WISCONSIN BLUE BOOK 1985-1986


   Counties. Wisconsin has 72 counties. Together, they comprise the entire
territory of the state.
 The government of each county is located in a municipality in the county
called the county seat
 and in a building called the county courthouse. Our state constitution does
not invest the county
 with home rule powers - the Wisconsin Statutes contain a long and detailed
listing of the pow-
 ers and duties of Wisconsin counties. The county governing board is the
board of supervisors.
 County boards vary in membership from 6 to 46, but on each board every supervisor
represents
 as nearly as practicable an equal number of inhabitants. Elected county
officials include the
 members of the county board and such administrative officers as district
attorney, sheriff, clerk,
 treasurer, coroner, register of deeds, and clerk of circuit courts. They
are elected for 2-year terms
 except Milwaukee County Board supervisors, who serve 4-year terms. Counties
may substitute a
 county medical examiner system for a coroner and may employ a registered
land surveyor in lieu
 of electing a surveyor; but Milwaukee County may not elect a coroner or
surveyor. Counties
 may also have an elected county executive, who serves a 4-year term. Eight
counties have an
 elected executive, while 10 have an appointed administrator or similar official.
   Cities and Villages. In Wisconsin, cities and villages are incorporated
under general law.
 Based on a constitutional amendment ratified in 1924, they have home rule
powers to determine
 their local affairs. There are 581 such municipal corporations, including
189 cities and 393 vil-
 lages. Minimum population for incorporation as a village is 150 persons,
and for a city 1,000
 persons, but unincorporated settlements exceeding the minimum population
are not required to
 become municipal corporations. The basic responsibility for the government
of each city or
 village is vested in its governing body; in a city, this body may be a common
council or a commis-
 sion and in a village the governing body is the village board. There are
3 forms of executive
 organizations of city government: mayor-council, council-manager, and commission.
Only 11
 cities operate under a council-manager system; none is operating under a
commission. In vil-
 lages the executive power is administered by the village president, who
presides over the board
 but cannot veto its actions.
   Towns. Town governments are found in all areas of Wisconsin except within
the corporate
 boundaries of cities and villages. Wisconsin has 1,267 towns (including
the county of Menomi-
 nee, which is also designated a town). Towns have no powers other than those
granted by the
 Wisconsin statutes. In addition to local road maintenance, Wisconsin town
governments carry
 out a variety of functions and, in some instances, even undertake urban-type
services, usually
 through town-established sanitary and utility districts. The governing body
is the town board
 composed of 3 supervisors, who are elected biennially at the town meeting.
If a board is autho-
 rized to exercise village powers, it may have up to 5 members with staggered
terms. The position
 of town supervisor is largely administrative; supervisors carry out the
policies set at the annual
 town meeting held on the second Tuesday of April or another date set by
the electors. The town
 board chairperson has a number of executive powers and duties. The town
board may also
 create the position of town administrator.
   School Districts. There are 432 school districts in Wisconsin. These are
special units of govern-
ment organized to carry out a single function, the operation of the public
schools. Each district
is run by an elected school board, which appoints the administrators of the
system.
   Special Districts. In addition to school districts, special districts
are also created in Wisconsin
to carry out functions which are strictly local in nature, involving no state-level
agency. Each
special district seeks to solve a specific problem or perform a specific
function, usually across
municipal boundaries. Special districts are corporate bodies, may sue and
be sued, levy taxes and
special assessments, spend money, and may acquire property. Some special
districts are designed
to be permanent; others are temporary. Because of the single function of
each district, organiza-
tion and operational staffing are relatively simple.
  Although there is no exact count of the number of special districts in
the state, the Bureau of
the Census set the 1982 figure at 265. This includes public inland lake protection
and rehabilita-
tion districts, metropolitan sewerage districts, county drainage boards,
drainage districts that are
independent of county drainage boards, housing and community development
authorities, and a
single municipal electric company. Town sanitary districts and dependent
lake and rehabilita-
tion districts are not included in the Census count. Using different criteria,
the Wisconsin De-
partment of Revenue totalled 437, including 7 sewer districts, 300 sanitary
districts, and 130 lake
districts.


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