Repealing obsolete statutory references in and making other changes to various tax laws (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Revenue). (FE)

The bill also updates references to, and incorporates definitions from, the IRC for the married persons tax credit and adds cross-references to a number of statutory penalties in the income tax order of computation.

Outdated and derogatory terminology The bill changes the term “handicapped” to “disabled” when referring to persons who receive certain county services and for purposes of a sales tax exemption for the sale of prepared food to elderly and disabled individuals.

Clarification of respondent The bill modifies current law to clarify that when DOR petitions for review of a decision of the Tax Appeals Commission, the prevailing parties before the commission are considered the respondents.

Local levy limits Current law authorizes an increase in the levy limit of a city, village, town, or county (political subdivision) upon the termination of a tax incremental district (TID) in the political subdivision, or upon the subtraction of territory from a TID.

The allowable increase is calculated based on a number of factors, one of which is the political subdivision's levy for the preceding year. The bill clarifies that this factor in the calculation consists of the political subdivision's actual adjusted levy, rather than its maximum allowable levy, for the preceding year.

The bill also clarifies how local levy limits are calculated when taking into consideration state personal property aid paid to a taxation district by the Department of Administration.

Reimbursement for training Under current law, counties with populations of less than 750,000 are required to pay local assessors, clerks, and other officials a per diem and mileage reimbursement when attending DOR assessment training. The amounts are paid by the county in which the person resides and must be at least $5 per day and 6 cents per mile. The bill makes local assessors ineligible for the per diem and mileage reimbursement.

Notice by an assessor to enter a residence Current law requires that an assessor, when requesting to view the interior of a residence, provide a written notice to the property owner that informs the owner of his or her right to refuse entry. The bill replaces the term “notice” with the term “information.” Electronic assessment rolls Under current law, when a board of review changes an assessor's valuation of property, the clerk is required to revise the assessment roll by using red ink to cross out the assessor's valuation and enter the board's valuation. The bill modifies the requirement to reflect the use of electronic assessment rolls. Under the bill, the clerk is required to enter the board's valuation and a note about the change to the assessor's valuation into the assessment roll, but there is no requirement to use red ink or to cross out the assessor's valuation.

Hub facility tax exemption The bill moves the hub facility tax exemption for air carriers from Chapter 70 of the statutes, which imposes local property taxes, to Chapter 76, which imposes an ad valorem tax on air carriers.

Under current law, air carriers are subject to an ad valorem tax on their property, instead of local property taxes. Current law provides an exemption from local property taxes for property owned and used by an air carrier that operates a hub facility in Wisconsin. For purposes of the ad valorem tax, “air carrier company” is defined to exclude any air carrier whose property is exempt from local property taxes under the hub facility exemption. Thus, under current law, property owned by an air carrier operating a hub facility in Wisconsin is exempt from the ad valorem tax if it meets the criteria for the local property tax exemption.

The bill repeals the hub facility exemption from local property taxes. The bill maintains the current ad valorem tax exemption for air carriers by creating a hub facility exemption specifically for purposes of that tax. The bill also requires that an air carrier claiming the hub facility exemption annually file a request for the exemption with DOR no later than March 1.

Statutory titles The bill creates titles for the statutory provisions that allow taxpayers to make additions and subtractions for purposes of the individual income tax.

For further information, see the Notes provided by the Law Revision Committee of the Joint Legislative Council.