108.19 Contributions to the administrative account and unemployment interest payment and program integrity funds.

(1) Each employer subject to this chapter shall regularly contribute to the administrative account at the rate of two-tenths of one percent per year on its payroll, except that the department may prescribe at the close of any fiscal year such lower rates of contribution under this section, to apply to classes of employers throughout the ensuing fiscal year, as will in the department's judgment adequately finance the administration of this chapter, and as will in the department's judgment fairly represent the relative cost of the services rendered by the department to each such class.

(1e)

(a) Except as provided in par. (b), each employer, other than an employer that finances benefits by reimbursement in lieu of contributions under s. 108.15, 108.151, or 108.152 shall, in addition to other contributions payable under s. 108.18 and this section, pay an assessment to the administrative account for each year prior to the year 2010 equal to the lesser of 0.01 percent of its payroll for that year or the solvency contribution that would otherwise be payable by the employer under s. 108.18 (9) for that year.

(b) The levy prescribed under par. (a) is not effective for any year unless the department, no later than the November 30 preceding that year, publishes a class 1 notice under ch. 985 giving notice that the levy is in effect for the ensuing year.

(c) Notwithstanding par. (a), the department may, if it finds that the full amount of the levy is not required to effect the purposes specified in par. (d) for any year, prescribe a reduced levy for that year and in such case shall publish in the notice under par. (b) the rate of the reduced levy.

(d) The department may expend the moneys received from assessments levied under this subsection in the amounts authorized under s. 20.445 (1) (gh) for the renovation and modernization of unemployment insurance information technology systems, specifically including development and implementation of a new system and reengineering of automated processes and manual business functions.

(1f)

(a) Except as provided in par. (b), each employer, other than an employer that finances benefits by reimbursement in lieu of contributions under s. 108.15, 108.151, or 108.152 shall, in addition to other contributions payable under s. 108.18 and this section, pay an assessment for each year equal to the lesser of 0.01 percent of its payroll for that year or the solvency contribution that would otherwise be payable by the employer under s. 108.18 (9) for that year. Assessments under this paragraph shall be deposited in the unemployment program integrity fund.

(b) The levy prescribed under par. (a) is not effective for any year unless the department, no later than the November 30 preceding that year, publishes a class 1 notice under ch. 985 giving notice that the levy is in effect for the ensuing year. The department shall consider the balance of the unemployment reserve fund before prescribing the levy under par. (a). The secretary of workforce development shall consult with the council on unemployment insurance before the department prescribes the levy under par. (a).

(c) Notwithstanding par. (a), the department may, if it finds that the full amount of the levy is not required to effect the purposes specified in sub. (1s) (b) for any year, prescribe a reduced levy for that year and in such case shall publish in the notice under par. (b) the rate of the reduced levy.

(1m) Each employer subject to this chapter as of the date a rate is established under this subsection shall pay an assessment to the unemployment interest payment fund at a rate established by the department sufficient to pay interest due on advances from the federal unemployment account under Title XII of the federal social security act, 42 USC 1321 to 1324. The rate established by the department for employers who finance benefits under s. 108.15 (2), 108.151 (2), or 108.152 (1) shall be 75 percent of the rate established for other employers. The amount of any employer's assessment shall be the product of the rate established for that employer multiplied by the employer's payroll of the previous calendar year as taken from quarterly employment and wage reports filed by the employer under s. 108.205 (1) or, in the absence of the filing of such reports, estimates made by the department. Each assessment made under this subsection is due within 30 days after the date the department issues the assessment. If the amounts collected from employers under this subsection exceed the amounts needed to pay interest due, the department shall use any excess to pay interest owed in subsequent years on advances from the federal unemployment account. If the department determines that additional interest obligations are unlikely, the department shall transfer the excess to the balancing account of the fund, the unemployment program integrity fund, or both in amounts determined by the department.

(1n) The department shall publish as a class 1 notice under ch. 985 any rate established under sub. (1m) within 10 days of the date that the rate is established.

(1p) Notwithstanding sub. (1m), an employer having a payroll of $25,000 or less for the preceding calendar year is exempt from any assessment under sub. (1m).

(1q) There is created a separate, nonlapsible trust fund designated as the unemployment interest payment fund consisting of all amounts collected under sub. (1m) and all interest and penalties on those amounts collected under s. 108.22.

(1s)

(a) There is created a separate, nonlapsible trust fund designated as the unemployment program integrity fund consisting of all of the following:

1. All amounts collected under s. 108.04 (11) (bh) other than the amounts required to be deposited in the fund under s. 108.16 (6) (n).

2. Assessments levied and deposited into the unemployment program integrity fund under sub. (1f).

3. Amounts transferred under sub. (1m).

4. Assessments under s. 108.221 (1) and (2).

5. Amounts transferred from the appropriation account under s. 20.445 (1) (aL).

6. Assessments under s. 108.225 (4) (b).

(b) The department shall use the moneys in the unemployment program integrity fund for payment of costs associated with program integrity activities.

(2) If the department finds, at any time within a fiscal year for which it has prescribed lower contribution rates to the administrative account than the maximum rate permitted under sub. (1), that such lower rates will not adequately finance the administration of this chapter or are excessive for that purpose, the department may by general rule prescribe a new schedule of rates in no case exceeding the specified maximum to apply under this section for the balance of the fiscal year.

(2m) Within the limit specified by sub. (1), the department may by rule prescribe at any time as to any period any such rate or rates or schedule as it deems necessary and proper hereunder. Unless thus prescribed, no such rate or rates or schedule shall apply under sub. (1) or (2).

(3) If the federal unemployment tax act is amended to permit a maximum rate of credit against the federal tax higher than the 90 percent maximum rate of credit permitted under section 3302 (c) (1) of the internal revenue code on May 23, 1943, to an employer with respect to any state unemployment insurance law whose standard contribution rate on payroll under that law is more than 2.7 percent, then the standard contribution rate as to all employers under this chapter shall, by a rule of the department, be increased from 2.7 percent of payroll to that percentage of payroll which corresponds to the higher maximum rate of credit thus permitted against the federal unemployment tax; and such increase shall become effective on the same date as such higher maximum rate of credit becomes permissible under the federal amendment.

(4) If section 303 (a) (5) of title III of the social security act and section 3304 (a) (4) of the internal revenue code are amended to permit a state agency to use, in financing administrative expenditures incurred in carrying out its employment security functions, some part of the moneys collected or to be collected under the state unemployment insurance law, in partial or complete substitution for grants under title III, then this chapter shall, by rule of the department, be modified in the manner and to the extent and within the limits necessary to permit such use by the department under this chapter; and the modifications shall become effective on the same date as such use becomes permissible under the federal amendments.

History: 1979 c. 34; 1979 c. 110 s. 60 (13); 1981 c. 315; 1983 a. 8, 27, 384; 1985 a. 29, 332; 1987 a. 27, 38, 403; 1991 a. 315; 1993 a. 490; 1997 a. 39; 1999 a. 15; 2001 a. 35; 2003 a. 197; 2007 a. 59; 2009 a. 177, 287; 2011 a. 198; 2013 a. 20; 2013 a. 36 s. 236m; 2015 a. 55; 2015 a. 334 ss. 81 to 87, 98, 100; 2017 a. 157.