Wisconsin Statutes
Wis. Stat. § 60.74 (2026)
Commissioners; method of selection
✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases:
SyfertCases citing this section
WI-LEGdocs.legis.wisconsin.gov
JustiaChapter on Justia
CornellLII Search
CasesGoogle Scholar
60.74(1)(1) Single town districts. If a town sanitary district is located entirely within one town, the town board shall determine how commissioners will be selected. The town board may appoint the commissioners, provide for their election or constitute itself as the commission. If the town board constitutes itself as the commission, it shall do so by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the town board supervisors. The town board shall determine the method of selection for the initial commissioners within 60 days after the town sanitary district is established.
60.74(2)(a)(a) If a town sanitary district is located in 2 or more towns, the town board of the town containing the largest portion of the equalized full value of taxable property of the district shall determine, within 60 days after the district is established, how commissioners will be selected. The town board may appoint commissioners or provide for their election.
60.74(2)(b)(b) If, as a result of a change in each town’s share of the equalized full value of taxable property in the district, a town’s share exceeds the share of the town first authorized to determine selection under par. (a), the town board of the town with the greater share, within 60 days, may provide for the election or appointment of commissioners to replace the commissioners selected under par. (a). Any commissioner selected under par. (a) shall serve until new commissioners are appointed or elected under this paragraph.
60.74(3)(a)(a) If the town board provides for the election of commissioners, the town board shall either schedule the election of the first commissioners at the next regular spring election or call a special election. If the town board schedules the election of the first commissioners at the next regular spring election, the town board shall appoint commissioners, within the time limits specified in sub. (1) or (2), to serve until the 3rd Monday of April in the year when the next regular spring election is held.
60.74(3)(b)(b) After the first commissioners are elected, all subsequent commissioners shall be elected at a regular spring election.
60.74(4)(a)(a) If the commissioners of a district have been appointed, a petition requesting that commissioners be elected may be submitted, subject to sub. (5m) (b), to the town board responsible for the selection of commissioners under sub. (1) or (2). The petition shall state whether the petitioners wish to have the first commissioners elected at a special election or at the spring election. The petition shall conform to the requirements of s. 8.40 and shall be signed by qualified electors of the district equal to at least 20 percent of the vote cast for governor in the district at the last gubernatorial election.
60.74(4)(b)(b) Upon receipt of the petition, the town board shall provide for the election of commissioners. If the petition requests the election of the first commissioners at the spring election and the petition is filed on or after the date of the spring election and on or before November 15 in any year, they shall be elected at the succeeding spring election; otherwise they shall be elected at the 2nd succeeding spring election. If the petition requests the election of the first commissioners at a special election, the town board shall order the special election in accordance with s. 8.50 (2) (a). After the first commissioners are elected, all subsequent commissioners shall be elected at the spring election.
60.74(4)(c)(c) If the commissioners are elected at a special election, the current appointed commissioners continue to serve until their successors are elected and qualify. If the commissioners are elected at a regular spring election, the current appointed commissioners continue to serve until the 3rd Monday of April following the election of the commissioners.
60.74(5)(a)(a) If the commissioners have been elected as the result of a petition under sub. (4), the town board may not change the method of selection from election to appointment except as provided under par. (b).
60.74(5)(b)(b) A petition conforming to the requirements of s. 8.40 signed by qualified electors of the district equal to at least 20 percent of the vote cast for governor in the district at the last gubernatorial election, requesting a change to appointment of commissioners, may be submitted to the town board, subject to sub. (5m) (a). The petition shall be filed as provided in s. 8.37. Upon receipt of the petition, the town board shall submit the question to a referendum at the next regular spring election or general election, or shall call a special election for that purpose. The inspectors shall count the votes and submit a statement of the results to the commission. The commission shall canvass the results of the election and certify the results to the town board which has authority to appoint commissioners.
60.74(5)(c)(c) If the change in the method of selection of commissioners is approved at the referendum, the town board shall appoint commissioners within 60 days after the referendum is conducted.
60.74(5m)(a)(a) If the commissioners have been elected as a result of a petition and election under sub. (4), no petition may be submitted under sub. (5) (b) to change the method of selection from election to appointment within 5 years after the date on which the election of the commissioners was held.
60.74(5m)(b)(b) If the commissioners have been appointed as the result of a petition and referendum under sub. (5), no petition may be submitted under sub. (4) (a) to change the method of selection from appointment to election within 5 years after the date on which the results of a referendum held under sub. (5) have been certified under sub. (5) (b).
60.74(6)(6) Elector determination. Whenever in this section the number of names of electors required on a petition cannot be determined on the basis of reported election statistics, the number shall be determined as follows:
60.74(6)(a)(a) The area of the district in square miles shall be divided by the area, in square miles, of the municipality in which it lies.
60.74(6)(b)(b) The vote for governor at the last general election in the municipality within which the district lies shall be multiplied by the quotient determined under par. (a).
60.74(6)(c)(c) If a district is in more than one municipality, the method of determination under pars. (a) and (b) shall be used for each part of the district which constitutes only a fractional part of any area for which election statistics are available.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8
cases, 1959–2004 · leading case: Kenosha Cnty. v. Town of Paris, 434 N.W.2d 801 (Wis. Ct. App. 1988).
Kenosha Cnty. v. Town of Paris, 434 N.W.2d 801 (Wis. Ct. App. 1988). “The town alleges that the “liability” here is the statutory duty of the town to obtain county approval of its ordinance under sec. 60.74, Stats. (1967). We have examined the type of cases to which sec.”
M & I Marshall & Ilsley Bank v. Town of Somers, 414 N.W.2d 824 (Wis. 1987). “Section 60.74, Stats. (1981-82). 7 A town which has been granted the authority to exercise village powers may adopt its own zoning ordinance.”
Krahenbuhl v. Wisconsin Dentistry Examining Bd., 2004 WI App 147 (Wis. Ct. App. 2004). “Section 60.74, Stats. (1967), establishes prerequisites for the validity of a town zoning ordinance, but it does not hold the town "liable" for a violation thereof.”
Town of Sun Prairie v. Storms, 327 N.W.2d 642 (Wis. 1983). “4 See sec. 60.74(7), Stats. 5 The term “local governments” as used in this opinion includes municipalities, towns and counties, all of which may enact subdivision ordinances pursuant to sec.”
Town of Ringle v. Cnty. of Marathon, 311 N.W.2d 595 (Wis. 1981). “In 1975, under the authority granted by sec. 60.74(7), Stats., the Town of Ringle adopted its own zoning ordinance.”
David A. Ulrich, Inc. v. Town of Saukville, 96 N.W.2d 612 (Wis. 1959). “Sec. 60.74, Stats., is the older statute going back to 1947 and grants zoning power to towns in counties which have not adopted a county zoning ordinance.”
Stahl v. Town of Spider Lake, 441 N.W.2d 250 (Wis. Ct. App. 1989). “, formerly sec. 60.74(7), Stats. (1967). He also contends that because a forfeiture provision in the subdivision control portion of the ordinance was never published in the form prescribed by sec.”
Racine Cnty. v. Alby, 223 N.W.2d 438 (Wis. 1974). “5 Towns do have independent zoning authority under sec. 60.74, Stats., but this authority exists only when the county has not adopted a countywide zoning ordinance.”
Wis. Stat. § 60.74(7): 5 cases
M & I Marshall & Ilsley Bank v. Town of Somers, 414 N.W.2d 824 (Wis. 1987). “Section 60.74, Stats. (1981-82). 7 A town which has been granted the authority to exercise village powers may adopt its own zoning ordinance.”
Kenosha Cnty. v. Town of Paris, 434 N.W.2d 801 (Wis. Ct. App. 1988). “The town alleges that the “liability” here is the statutory duty of the town to obtain county approval of its ordinance under sec. 60.74, Stats. (1967). We have examined the type of cases to which sec.”
Town of Sun Prairie v. Storms, 327 N.W.2d 642 (Wis. 1983). “4 See sec. 60.74(7), Stats. 5 The term “local governments” as used in this opinion includes municipalities, towns and counties, all of which may enact subdivision ordinances pursuant to sec.”
Town of Ringle v. Cnty. of Marathon, 311 N.W.2d 595 (Wis. 1981). “In 1975, under the authority granted by sec. 60.74(7), Stats., the Town of Ringle adopted its own zoning ordinance.”
Stahl v. Town of Spider Lake, 441 N.W.2d 250 (Wis. Ct. App. 1989). “, formerly sec. 60.74(7), Stats. (1967). He also contends that because a forfeiture provision in the subdivision control portion of the ordinance was never published in the form prescribed by sec.”
Wis. Stat. § 60.74(8): 1 case
Kenosha Cnty. v. Town of Paris, 434 N.W.2d 801 (Wis. Ct. App. 1988). “The town alleges that the “liability” here is the statutory duty of the town to obtain county approval of its ordinance under sec. 60.74, Stats. (1967). We have examined the type of cases to which sec.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.