66.0805 Management of municipal public utility by commission.

(1) Except as provided in sub. (6), the governing body of a city shall, and the governing body of a village or town may, provide for the nonpartisan management of a municipal public utility by creating a commission under this section. The board of commissioners, under the general control and supervision of the governing body, shall be responsible for the entire management of and shall supervise the operation of the utility. The governing body shall exercise general control and supervision of the commission by enacting ordinances governing the commission's operation. The board shall consist of 3, 5 or 7 commissioners.

(2) The commissioners shall be elected by the governing body for a term, beginning on the first day of October, of as many years as there are commissioners, except that the terms of the commissioners first elected shall expire successively one each year on each succeeding first day of October.

(3) The commission shall choose a president and a secretary from its membership. The commission may appoint and establish the compensation of a manager. The commission may command the services of the city, village or town engineer and may employ and fix the compensation of subordinates as necessary. The commission may make rules for its proceedings and for the government of the department. The commission shall keep books of account, in the manner and form prescribed by the department of transportation or public service commission, which shall be open to the public.

(4)

(a) The governing body of the city, village or town may provide that departmental expenditures be audited by the commission, and if approved by the president and secretary of the commission, be paid by the city, village or town clerk and treasurer as provided by s. 66.0607; that the utility receipts be paid to a bonded cashier appointed by the commission, to be turned over to the city, village or town treasurer at least once a month; and that the commission have designated general powers in the construction, extension, improvement and operation of the utility. Actual construction work shall be under the immediate supervision of the board of public works or corresponding authority.

(b) If water mains have been installed or extended in a municipality and the cost of installation or extension has been in some instances assessed against the abutting owners and in other instances paid by the municipality or a utility, the governing body of the municipality may provide that all persons who paid the assessment against any lot or parcel of land may be reimbursed the amount of the assessment regardless of when such assessment was made or paid. Reimbursement may be made from such funds or earnings of the municipal utility or from such funds of the municipality as the governing body determines.

(5) Two or more public utilities acquired as a single enterprise may be operated under this section as a single enterprise.

(6) In a 2nd, 3rd or 4th class city, a village or a town, the council or board may provide for the operation of a public utility or utilities by the board of public works or by another officer or officers, in lieu of the commission provided for in this section.

History: 1977 c. 29 s. 1654 (9) (g); 1981 c. 347 s. 80 (2); 1983 a. 207 ss. 23, 93 (1); 1983 a. 538; 1993 a. 16, 246; 1999 a. 150 ss. 179, 181, 183, 236; Stats. 1999 s. 66.0805.

When a city council creates a board under sub. (1), the council is prohibited by sub. (3) from fixing the wages of the utility's employees. Schroeder v. City of Clintonville, 90 Wis. 2d 457, 280 N.W.2d 166 (1979).

Although the statutes relating to public utilities and transit commissions describe certain attributes the governing commissions must have, these statutes do not call the commission into existence or endow it with authority independent of what the statutes confer on the municipality. A commission has no authority but for what it received from the municipality, and the municipality has no authority to legislate contrary to the boundaries established by the statutes. Wisconsin Carry, Inc. v. City of Madison, 2017 WI 19, 373 Wis. 2d 543, 892 N.W.2d 233, 15-0146.

This section grants municipalities the authority to create commissions to govern public utilities, but it contains no independent grant of authority to such commissions. As a public utility, a commission exercises its authority under the supervision of the city. The city exercises its supervisory authority via ordinance. Wisconsin Carry, Inc. v. City of Madison, 2017 WI 19, 373 Wis. 2d 543, 892 N.W.2d 233, 15-0146.