Changing the compensation structure by which a Milwaukee County supervisor may be paid, changing the term length of a Milwaukee County supervisor, affecting the right of an annuitant under the Milwaukee County Employee's Retirement System to be rehired by Milwaukee County, limiting the authority of Milwaukee County to enter into certain intergovernmental agreements, removing and clarifying some authority of the Milwaukee County board, increasing and clarifying the authority of the Milwaukee County executive, deleting obsolete statutory references, and requiring a referendum. (FE)

Currently, Milwaukee County employees are covered under the Milwaukee County Employee's Retirement System (MCERS), a retirement system established for a county having a population of 500,000 or more. MCERS is not part of the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS), but is a separate retirement system.

The bill provides that no individual who is receiving an annuity under an employee retirement system of a county having a population of 500,000 or more and who is reemployed by the county may continue to receive the annuity if a similarly situated individual who is receiving an annuity under WRS and who was reemployed by a participating employer under that system would be required to terminate the annuity. This provision first applies to individuals who terminate employment on or after the bill's effective date.

Under current law, the term of a Milwaukee County supervisor is four years.

Under the bill, beginning with the spring election in 2016, the term of such a supervisor is two years.

Subject to a number of exceptions, the bill also limits the Milwaukee County board's expenditures for expenses related to the county board, such as salaries and fringe benefits of county board members, costs for staff, and certain items related to the functioning of the board, to no more than 0.4 percent of the county portion of the property tax levy. Items not subject to this 0.4 percent limit are costs related to pension and health care payments for retired county employees, officers, and their families; salaries for supervisors and the county board chairperson for a term that begins before April 2016; and certain costs related to duties performed by the Milwaukee County clerk.

Generally under current law, a county executive has the authority to direct all administrative and management functions of county government that are not vested by law in other elected officers. The Milwaukee County executive is further authorized to appoint and supervise the heads of all departments, unless otherwise provided by law, and the department heads are generally authorized to supervise the administration of their departments. Current law also generally authorizes a county board to exercise any organizational or administrative power that is not given to a county executive or administrator, or such a person's subordinate. The bill makes a number of changes which clarify or increase the authority of the Milwaukee County executive and limits and clarifies certain authority of the Milwaukee County board.

With regard to the powers of the Milwaukee County executive and board, the bill does the following:

1. Except for a specific statutory provision which states otherwise, authorizes the county executive, exclusively, to administer, supervise, and direct all county departments, including any person who lobbies for, or negotiates on behalf of, the county.

2. Authorizes the county executive to establish departments and subunits of the departments, subject to the approval of the board, that the executive believes are necessary for the efficient administration of the county. This authority is subject to board approval of the county executive department budget.

3. For a contract with the county to be valid, requires the county executive to sign all contracts on behalf of the county to the extent that no other county officer or employee is required to sign them, and the county executive must countersign all other contracts. Under current law, and under the bill, contracts with the county must also be countersigned by the comptroller and corporation counsel.

4. The county executive may introduce proposed ordinances and resolutions for consideration by the board, call a special meeting of the board with the approval of the county board chairperson, and hire and supervise the number of employees that he or she believes are necessary to carry out his or her duties, subject to compliance with hiring policies set by the board.

5. The county board is prohibited from creating a county department or subunit of a department, and may not exercise day-to-day control of any county department or subunit of a department. Such control may be exercised only by the county executive.

6. Except for making an inquiry, referring a specific constituent concern, or using legal services of the corporation counsel, the supervisors may deal with county departments solely through the county executive, and no supervisor may give instructions or orders to any subordinate of the county executive, although the board may require any county employee or officer to attend a board meeting to provide information and answer questions.

7. Although the board may generally set the salary and compensation level of county employees, the bill prohibits the board from lowering the salary, terminating, or eliminating the position of any county employee who works in the office of the county executive, unless such changes affect all county employees in all county departments. This prohibition does not apply after the supervisors who are elected in the spring 2016 election take office.

8. Permits only the county executive to bargain collectively with county employees.

The bill creates a new approval process for contracts to which a populous county (a county with a population of at least 750,000) is a party. Under the bill, a contract with a value of between $100,000 and $300,000 is subject to passive review, meaning that the contract may take effect unless the board's finance committee votes to reject the contract within 14 days of the county executive signing or countersigning the contract. If the finance committee rejects the contract, it may still take effect if the entire board approves the contract within 30 days of the committee's rejection. A contract with a value of more than $300,000 may take effect only if it is approved by the entire board.

Under current law, a county board may schedule an advisory referendum or a referendum on the question of ratification of an ordinance or resolution of the county board. This bill prohibits the Milwaukee County Board from scheduling a referendum on any matter that is subject to the approval of the electors of a county under this bill to be held concurrently with the election at which the question of approval is presented to the electors.

Under current law, the state, regional planning commissions, federally recognized Indian tribes and bands, and local units of government, including municipalities, counties, school districts, and other special purpose districts, may enter into intergovernmental cooperation agreements for the receipt or furnishing of services or joint exercise of powers. Under another provision of current law, a county and a city, village, or town (municipality), may enter into a contract to consolidate municipal services under which the county renders such services to the contracting municipality, either exclusively by the county or jointly with the municipality.

Under this bill, before such a contract, or before an intergovernmental cooperation agreement, between a county with a population of 750,000 or more (presently only Milwaukee County) and another local unit of government may take effect and become binding on such a county, the contract or agreement must be approved by an executive council. The bill defines executive council as a body that consists of the mayor or village president of every city and village that is wholly located within that county and is based on a current law provision that is used to select four members of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage Commission.

This bill repeals an obsolete provision of civil procedure governing judgments entered before the first Monday in January 1962 in the civil court of Milwaukee or in any court which ceased to function on that date, or in any court functioning under ch. 254 of the 1959 Wisconsin Statutes.

This bill also removes certain authority currently possessed by the Milwaukee County board. Under the bill, the board may no longer do any of the following:

appropriate money for planning or participating in a world festival celebration or any similar program designed to promote international commerce and culture; own and operate a professional baseball team, and maintain a nonprofit corporation for such ownership or operation; require licenses for cats; and let a contract for the design-build construction of a sheriff's department training academy.

Under current law, a county board has general authority to acquire, lease, or rent real and personal property. Under this bill, in Milwaukee County, such authority is exercised by the county executive, consistent with established county board policy, although the sale or lease of property is subject to a simple approval or rejection by the county board.

Because this bill relates to public employee retirement or pensions, it may be referred to the Joint Survey Committee on Retirement Systems for a report to be printed as an appendix to the bill.