(a) Definitions. In this Section, the following definitions shall be applicable unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(1) Assessed Value. The value for general tax purposes as shown on the tax roll for the year next preceding the filing of any petition for annexation.
(2) Legal Description. A complete description of land to be annexed without internal references to any other internal references to any other document, and shall be described in one of the following ways:
a. By metes and bounds commencing at a monument at the section or quarter section comer or at the end of a boundary line of a recorded private claim or federal reservation in which the annexed land is located and in one of the following ways:
1. By government lot.
2. By recorded private claim.
3. By quarter section, section, township and range.
b. If the land is located in a recorded subdivision or in an area subject to a certified survey map, by reference as described in Sections 236.28 or 236.34(3), Wis. Stats.
(3) Owner. The holder of record of an estate in possession in fee simple, or for life, in land or real property, or a vendee of record under a land contract for the sale of an estate in possession in fee simple or for life but does not include the vendor under a land contract. A tenant in common or joint tenant shall be considered such owner to the extent of his or her interest.
(4) Petition. Includes the original petition and any counterpart thereof.
(5) Real Property. Land and the improvement thereon.
(6) Scale Map. A map that accurately reflects the legal description of the property to be annexed and the boundary of the annexing city or village, and that includes a graphic scale on the face of the map.
(b) Methods of Annexation. This Section explains annexation procedures by municipalities pursuant to the Wisconsin Statutes. Subject to Section 66.0307, Wis. Stats., territory contiguous to any city or village may be annexed thereto in the following ways:
(1) Direct Annexation. A petition for direct annexation may be filed with the Village Administrator if it has been signed by either of the following:
a. A number of qualified elector(s) residing in the territory subject to the proposed annexation equal to at least the majority of votes cast for governor in the territory at the last gubernatorial election, and either of the following:
1. The owners of one-half of the land in area within the territory.
2. The owners of one-half of the real property in assessed value within the territory.
b. If no electors reside in the territory subject to the proposed annexation, by either of the following:
1. The owners of one-half of the land in area within the territory.
2. The owners of one-half of the real property in assessed value within the territory.
(2) Annexation By Referendum. A petition for a referendum on the question of annexation may be filed with the city or village clerk signed by a number of qualified electors residing in the territory equal to at least twenty percent (20%) of the votes cast for governor in the territory at the last gubernatorial election, and the owners of at least fifty percent (50%) of the real property either in area or assessed value. The petition shall conform to the requirements of Section 8.40, Wis. Stats.
(3) Elector Determination. Whenever a number of electors cannot be determined on the basis of reported election statistics, the number shall be determined in accordance with the Wisconsin Statutes.
(c) Notice.
(1) Notice Publication. The annexation shall be initiated by publishing in the territory proposed for annexation a Class I notice, under Ch. 985, Wis. Stats., of intention to circulate an annexation petition. The notice shall contain:
a. A statement of intention to circulate an annexation petition.
b. A legal description of the territory proposed to be annexed and a copy of a scale map.
c. The name of the city or village to which the annexation is proposed.
d. The name of the town or towns from which the territory is proposed to be detached.
e. The name and post-office address of the person causing the notice to be published who shall be an elector or owner in the area proposed to be annexed.
(2) Service of Notices. The person who caused the notice to be published shall serve a copy of the notice, within five (5) days after its publication, upon the clerk of each municipality affected, upon the clerk of each school district affected and upon each owner of land in a town if that land will be in a city or village annexation. Such service may be either by personal service or by registered mail with return receipt requested.
(d) Petition.
(1) Petition Contents. The petition shall state the purpose of the petition, contain a legal description of the territory proposed to be annexed and have attached thereto a scale map. The petition shall also specify the population, as defined in Section 66.0201(2), Wis. Stats., of the territory.
(2) Finality of Signatures. No person who has signed a petition shall be permitted to withdraw his or her name therefrom. No additional signatures shall be added after a petition is filed.
(3) Circulation Timing. The circulation of the petition shall commence not less than ten (10) days or more than twenty (20) days after the date of publication of the notice of intention to circulate. The annexation petition shall be void unless filed within six (6) months of the date of publication of the notice.
(e) Referendum.
(1) Notice.
a. Within sixty (60) days after the filing of the petition, the common council or village board may accept or reject the petition and, if rejected, no further action shall be taken thereon. Acceptance may consist of adoption of an annexation ordinance.
b. Failure to reject the petition shall obligate the city or village to pay the cost of any referendum favorable to annexation. If the petition is not rejected, the clerk of the city or village with whom the annexation petition is filed shall give written notice thereof by personal service or registered mail with return receipt requested to the clerk of any town from which territory is proposed to be detached and shall give like notice to any person who files a written request therefore with the clerk. Such notice shall indicate whether the petition is for direct annexation or whether it requests a referendum on the question of annexation.
c. If the notice indicates that the petition is for a referendum on the question of annexation, the town clerk shall give notice as provided in Subsection (c) above of a referendum of the electors residing in the area proposed for annexation to held within thirty (30) days after the date of personal service or mailing of the notice required under this paragraph.
d. If the notice indicates that the petition is for direct annexation, no referendum shall be held unless within thirty (30) days after the date of personal service or mailing of the notice required under this paragraph, a petition conforming to the requirements of Section 8.40, Wis. Stats., requesting a referendum is filed with the town clerk signed by at least twenty percent (20%) of the electors residing in the area proposed to be annexed. If such a petition is filed, the clerk shall give notice as provided in Subsection (c) above of a referendum of the electors residing in the area proposed for annexation to be held within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the petition and shall mail a copy of such notice to the clerk of the city or village to which the annexation is proposed.
e. Any referendum shall be held at a convenient place within the town to be specified in the notice.
(2) Clerk To Act. If more than one town is involved, the city or village clerk shall determine as nearly as is practicable which town contains the most electors in the area proposed to be annexed and shall indicate in the notice required under Subsection (e)(l) such determination. The clerk of the town so designated shall perform the duties required hereunder and the election shall be conducted in such town, as are other elections and conducted therein.
(3) Publication of Notice. The notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the area proposed to be annexed on the publication day next preceding the referendum election and one week prior to such publication.
(4) How Conducted. The referendum shall be conducted by the town election officials but the town board may reduce the number of such officials for that election. The ballots shall contain the words "For Annexation" and "Against Annexation" and shall otherwise conform to the provisions of Section 5.64(2), Wis. Stats. The election shall be conducted, as are other town elections in accordance with Chs. 6 and 7, Wis. Stats., insofar as applicable.
(5) Canvass; Statement To Be Filed. The election inspectors shall make a statement of the holding of the election showing the whole number of votes cast, and the number cast for and against annexation, attach thereto their affidavit and immediately file it in the office of the town clerk. They shall file a certified statement of the results in the office of the clerk of each other municipality affected.
(6) Costs. If the referendum is against annexation, the costs of the election shall be borne by the towns involved in the proportion that the number of electors of each town within the territory proposed to be annexed, voting in the referendum, bears to the total number of electors in such territory, voting in the referendum.
(7) Effect. If the result of the referendum is against annexation, all previous proceedings shall be nullified. If the result of the referendum is annexation, failure of any town official to perform literally any duty required by this Section shall not invalidate the annexation.
(f) Qualifications. Qualifications as to electors and owners shall be determined as of the date of filing any petition, except that all qualified electors residing in the territory proposed for annexation on the day of the conduct of a referendum election shall be entitled to vote therein. Residence and ownership must be bonafide and not acquired for the purpose of defeating or invalidating the annexation proceedings.
(g) Annexation Ordinance.
(1) Enactment. An ordinance for the annexation of the territory describing in the annexation petition may be enacted by a two-thirds vote of the elected member of the governing body not less than twenty (20) days after the publication of the notice of intention to circulate the petition and not later than one hundred twenty (120) days after the date of filing with the city or village clerk of the petition for annexation or of the referendum election if favorable to the annexation. If the annexation is subject to Subsection (k), the governing body shall first review the reasons given by the Wisconsin Department of Administration that the proposed annexation is against the public interest. Subject to Section 59.692(7), Wis. Stats., such an ordinance may temporarily designate the classification of the annexed area for zoning purposes until the zoning ordinance is amended as prescribed in Section 62.23(7)(d), Wis. Stats. Before introduction of an ordinance containing such temporary classification, the proposed classification shall be referred to and recommended by the Plan Commission. The authority to make such temporary classification shall not be effective when the county ordinance prevails during litigation as provided in Section 59.69(7), Wis. Stats.
(2) Wards. The ordinance may annex the territory to an existing ward or may create an additional ward.
(3) Effective Date of Annexation. The annexation shall be effective upon enactment of the annexation ordinance. The board of school directors in any city of first class shall not be required to administer the schools in any territory annexed to any such city until July 1 following such annexation.
(h) Filing Requirements; Surveys.
(1) Recordings. The clerk of a city or village which has annexed territory shall file immediately with the secretary of state a certified copy of the ordinance, certificate and plat, and shall send one copy to each company that provides any utility service in the area that is annexed. The clerk shall also record the ordinance with the register of deeds and file a signed copy of the ordinance with the clerk of any affected school district. Failure to file, record or send shall not invalidate the annexation and the duty to file, record or send shall be a continuing one. The ordinance that is filed, recorded or sent shall describe the annexed territory and the associated population. The information filed with the Secretary of State shall be utilized in making recommen- dations for adjustments to entitlements under the federal revenue sharing program and distribution of funds under Ch. 79, Wis. Stats. The clerk shall certify annually to the Secretary of State and record with the Register of Deeds a legal description of the total boundaries of the municipality, as those boundaries existed on December 1, unless there has been no change in the twelve (12) months proceeding.
(2) State Agency Review. Within ten (10) days of receipt of the annexation ordinance, certificate and plat, the Secretary of State shall forward two (2) copies of the ordinance, certificate and plat to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, one (1) copy to the Wisconsin Department of Administration, one (1) copy to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, one (1) copy to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, one (1) copy to the Wisconsin Department of Administration, one (1) copy to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and one (1) copy to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, and two (2) copies to the clerk of the municipality from which the territory was annexed.
(3) Special Survey. Any city or village may direct a survey of its present boundaries to be made, and when properly attested, the survey and plat may be filed in the Office of the Register of Deeds in the county in which the city or village is located, whereupon the survey and plat shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth.
(i) Validity of Plats. Where any annexation is declared invalid but prior to such declaration and subsequent to such annexation a plat has been submitted and has been approved as required in Section 236.l'0(l)(a), Wis. Stats., such plat shall be deemed validly approved despite the invalidity of the annexation.
(j) Action Contesting Validity of Annexation.
(1) Time of Commencement. An action on any grounds whatsoever, whether denominated procedural or jurisdictional, to contest the validity of an annexation shall be commenced within the time after adoption of the annexation ordinance provided by Section 893.73(2), Wis. Stats.
(2) Preference in Circuit Court. An action contesting an annexation shall be given preference in circuit court.
(k) Review of Annexations.
(1) Annexations Within Populous Counties. No annexation proceeding within a county having a population of fifty thousand (50,000) or more shall be valid unless the person causing a notice of annexation is published under Subsection (c) shall within five (5) days of the publication mail a copy of the notice, legal description and a scale map of the proposed annexation to the clerk of each municipality affected and the Wisconsin Department of Administration (Department). The Department may within twenty (20) days after the receipt of the notice mail to the clerk of the town within which the territory lies and to the clerk of the proposed annexing village or city a notice that in its opinion the annexation is against the public interest. No later than ten (10) days after mailing the notice, the Department shall advise the clerk of the town in which the territory is located and the clerk of the village or city to which the annexation is proposed of the reasons the annexation is against the public interest as defined in Subsection (k)(2) below. The annexing municipality shall review the advice before final action is taken.
(2) Definition of Public Interest. For purposes of this Subsection, "public interest" is determined by the Wisconsin Department of Administration after consideration of the following:
a. Whether the government services, including zoning, to be supplied to the territory could clearly be better supplied by the town or some other village or city whose boundaries are contiguous to the territory proposed for annexation which files with the circuit court a certified copy of a resolution adopted by a two-thirds vote of the elected members of the governing body indicating a willingness to annex the territory upon receiving an otherwise valid petition for the annexation of the territory.
b. The shape of the proposed annexation and the homogeneity of the territory with the annexing village or city and any other contiguous village or city.
(1) Unanimous Approval Annexations. If a petition for direct annexation signed by all of the electors residing in the territory and the owner of all of the real property in the territory is filed with the city or village clerk, and with the town clerk of the town or towns in which the territory is located, together with a scale map and a legal description of the property to be annexed, an annexation ordinance for the annexation of the territory may be enacted by a two-thirds vote of the elected members of the governing body of the city or village without compliance with the notice requirements of Subsection (c) above. In such annexations, subject to Subsection (k), the person filing the copy of the scale map and a legal description of the territory to be annexed to the Wisconsin Department of Administration and the governing body shall review the advice of the Department, if any, before enacting the annexation ordinance.
(m) Review Requirements. The provisions of Subsection (I) do not eliminate the necessity for review as required by Subsection (k).
(n) Annexation of Town Islands. Upon its own motion, a city or village by a two-thirds vote of the entire membership of its governing body may enact an ordinance annexing territory which comprises a portion of a town or towns and which was completely surrounded by territory of the village or city on December 2, 1973. The ordinance shall include all surrounded town areas except those exempt by mutual agreement of all of the governing bodies involved. The annexation ordinance shall contain a legal description of the territory and the name of the town or towns from which the territory is detached. Upon enactment of the ordinance, the city or village clerk immediately shall file six (6) certified copies of the ordinance in the office of the Wisconsin Secretary of State, together with six (6) copies of the scale map. The Secretary of State shall forward two (2) copies of the ordinance and scale map to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, one (1) copy to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, one (1) copy to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, and one (1) copy to the Wisconsin Department of Administration. This subsection does not apply if the town island was created only by the annexation of a railroad right-of-way or drainage ditch. This Subsection does not apply to land owned by a town government which has existing town government buildings located thereon. No town island may be annexed under this Subsection if the island consists of over sixty-five (65) acres or contains over one hundred (100) residents. After December 2, 1973, no city or village may, by annexation, create a town island, which is completely surrounded by the city or village.
(o) Effective Date of Annexations. Because the creation of congressional, legislative, supervisory and aldermanic districts of equal population is a matter of statewide concern, any annexation action that affects a tract of land that is the subject of an ordinance enacted or resolution adopted by any city during the period from January I, 1990 to April I, 1991, or any later date, expressing an intent to not exercise the city's authority to annex territory before April 1, 1991, or the specified later date, taken by a municipality during the period beginning on April 1 of the year commencing after each federal decennial census of population and ending on June 30 of the year commencing after that census, is effective on July 1 of the year commencing after that census or at such later date as may be specified in the annexation ordinance. This Subsection first applies to annexations effective after March 31, 1991.
(p) Annexation of Municipal-Owned Territory. In addition to other methods provided by law and subject to Sections 59.692(7), 66.0223 and 66.0307, Wis. Stats., territory owned by and lying near but not necessarily contiguous to a village or city may be annexed to a village or city by ordinance enacted by the board of trustees of the village or the common council of the city, provided that in the case of noncontiguous territory the use of the territory by the village or city is not contrary to any town or county zoning regulation. The ordinance shall contain the exact description of the territory annexed and the names of the towns from which detached and shall operate to attach the territory to the village or city upon the filing of six (6) copies of a plat showing the boundaries of the territory attached. Two (2) copies of the ordinance and plat shall be forwarded by the Wisconsin Secretary of State to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, one (I) copy to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, one (1) copy to Wisconsin Department of Revenue, and one (1) copy to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.