Bills · 2013-2014 Regular Session
Relating to: the creation of a Southeastern Regional Transit Authority and a Milwaukee Transit Authority and making appropriations. (FE)
Kenosha county Labor Metropolitan transportation Milwaukee county Racine county
- Introduced, stopped here
- Passes Assembly, not reached
- Passes Senate, not reached
- Governor signs, not reached
- Law, not reached
Unfamiliar terms? Glossary
What this bill does
Plain-language analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau
The 2009 Biennial Budget Act (
2009 Act 28
) authorized the creation of several
regional transit authorities (RTAs): the Dane County RTA, the Chippewa Valley
RTA, and the Chequamegon Bay RTA. Under
2009 Act 28
, each RTA, once created,
was a public body corporate and politic and a separate governmental entity. Among
its powers, an RTA could operate a transportation system or provide for its operation
by contracting with a public or private organization; impose, by its board of directors
adopting a resolution, a sales and use tax in the RTA's jurisdictional area at a rate
not exceeding 0.5 percent of the sales price if certain conditions were satisfied;
acquire property by condemnation; and issue tax-exempt revenue bonds. An RTA
had a duty to provide, or contract for the provision of, transit service within the RTA's
jurisdictional area.
Prior to
2009 Act 28
, the counties of Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee were
required to create a Regional Transit Authority (the KRM authority). The KRM
authority was responsible for the coordination of transit and commuter rail
programs within these three counties but had no authority to manage or operate any
transit system. The KRM authority was authorized to impose a rental car
transaction fee within these three counties, which fee was to be used to hire staff,
conduct studies, and prepare a report to the legislature and the governor, due by
November 15, 2008.
Act 28 terminated the KRM authority as of October 1, 2009, and created a
successor entity, the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SERTA). The SERTA
was a public body corporate and politic and a separate governmental entity; it
consisted of the counties of Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee. The jurisdictional area
of the SERTA was the geographic area formed by the combined territorial boundaries
of the counties of Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee. The powers of the SERTA were
vested in its board of directors. The SERTA's powers were limited but included all
powers necessary and convenient to create, construct, and manage a commuter rail
transit system connecting the cities of Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee (KRM
commuter rail line). Upon approval by its board of directors, the SERTA could
impose a rental car transaction fee, in the counties of Kenosha, Racine, and
Milwaukee, of not more than $18 per transaction, except that the SERTA's board of
directors could have this fee annually adjusted for inflation. From each rental car
transaction fee, the SERTA could retain not more than $2 per transaction for
administration of the SERTA and could retain the remainder for expenditures