Political subdivisions of Wisconsin
Encyclopedia
The definitions of the political subdivisions of the U.S. state of Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

differ from those in some other countries or even other U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

s, leading to misunderstandings regarding the governmental nature of an area.

Whether a municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 is a city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

, village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 or town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 is dependent not on the community's population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

 or area, but on the form of government selected by the residents and approved by the Wisconsin State Legislature. In Wisconsin, local units of general purpose government include counties
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...

, cities, villages and towns. There are also a number of special purpose districts formed to handle regional concerns, such as school district
School district
School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...

s.

County

The county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...

is the primary political subdivision of Wisconsin. Every county has a county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

, often a populous or centrally located city or village, where the government offices for the county are located. Within each county are cities, villages and towns. As of 2009, Wisconsin had 72 counties.

A Board of Supervisors is the main legislative entity of the county. Supervisors are elected in nonpartisan elections for two-year terms (except in Milwaukee County where they served four years). The type of executive official
County executive
A county executive is the head of the executive branch of government in a county. This position is common in the United States.The executive may be an elected or an appointed position...

 in each county varies: 11 counties have a County Executive elected in a nonpartisan election for a four-year term; 20 counties have appointed County Administrators; and 41 have appointed Administrative Coordinators. Other officials include sheriffs, district attorneys, clerks, treasurers, coroners, surveyors, registers of deeds, and clerks of circuit court; these officers are elected for four-year terms. In most counties, elected coroners have been replaced by appointed medical examiners. State law permits counties to appoint a registered land surveyor in place of electing a surveyor.

Counties are generally responsible for social services, such as child welfare, job training, and care of the elderly; and public land management, such as care of parks. Law enforcement and road maintenance are also administered by the county, in conjunction with local municipalities.

City

In Wisconsin, a city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

is an autonomous incorporated area within one or more counties. It provides almost all services to its residents and has the highest degree of home rule and taxing jurisdiction of all municipalities. The City of Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...

, the only "first class city" in the state, has its own special rules apart from all other cities. As of 2009, Wisconsin had 190 cities.

The home rule
Home rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....

 authority granted to cities allows them to make their own decision about their affairs, administration and much of their public policy, subject to state law.

Cities can choose to hire a city administrator or city manager, instead of electing a mayor. In cities that have city administrators, the head of the common council may be referred to as mayor. Cities are governed by Common or City Councils consisting of the mayor or city manager and elected aldermen or council members. City officers include mayor or city manager, treasurer, clerk, attorney, and health officials. Cities may also, by their discretion, have an engineer, comptroller, assesors, street commissioner, and a board of public works.

Cities in Wisconsin are divided into four classes:
  • First class: Cities with 150,000 or more people
  • Second class: Cities with 39,000 to 149,999 people
  • Third class: Cities with 10,000 to 38,999 people
  • Fourth class: Cities with 9,999 people or less


There are exceptions to these classes, however; in order for a city to move from one class to the next, certain governmental changes need to take place and the mayor must publish a proclamation. For these reasons, Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....

 is still a second class city and several cities with a population of over 10,000 are still fourth class cities.

In order to incorporate as a city, a community must have at least 1,000 citizens if it is in a rural area or 5,000 if it is in an urban area. Cities are able to expand their area by annexing land from towns when land owners request local service. They are generally more urbanized than towns.

Village

In Wisconsin, a village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

is an autonomous incorporated area within one or more counties. It provides various services to its residents and has a degree of home rule
Home rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....

 and taxing jurisdiction over them. As of 2009, Wisconsin had 403 villages.

In order to incorporate as a village, a community must have at least 150 citizens if it is in a rural area or 2,500 if it is in an urban area. The home rule authority granted to villages allows them to make their own decisions about their affairs, administration and much of their public policy, subject to state law.

Villages are governed by a Village President and a Board of Trustees. Village officers include a president, clerk, treasurer, and assessor. Villages may also elect to hire a village manager to oversee day-to-day operations instead of an elected village president; ten villages had done this as of 2009. An additional 88 villages in Wisconsin employ village administrators.

Town

In Wisconsin, a town is an unincorporated jurisdiction within a county; Wisconsin towns are similar to civil township
Civil township
A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States, subordinate to, and geographic divisions of, a county. Specific responsibilities and the degree of autonomy vary based on each state. Civil townships are distinct from survey townships, but in states that have both,...

s in other states. All areas in the state that have not been incorporated as cities or villages are parts of towns. Towns provide a limited number of services to their residents. The U.S. Census considers Wisconsin towns to be minor civil division
Minor civil division
Minor civil division is a term used by the United States Census Bureau to designate the primary governmental and/or administrative divisions of a county, such as a civil township, precinct, or magisterial district...

s. As of 2009, Wisconsin had 1,258 towns.

Towns have less authority than villages and cities; they do not, for instance, have home rule granted to them by the state, but instead have only the specific powers granted to them under state statute. At the minimum, towns maintain their roads and zone land. Towns may choose to provide more services, however, overlapping with those provided by the county. In most cases, towns provide limited services and thus town residents often pay lower taxes than their city or village counterparts. Some towns have been authorized to exercise village powers, increasing their authority.

Towns are governed by Town Boards, with the board chairperson at its head. These boards normal consist of three supervisors, though towns with village powers or more than 2,500 people may have up to five supervisors. Town supervisors are elected every two years. Towns also have clerks, treasurers and assessors either elected or appointed by the board. In addition, every town must hold an annual town meeting
Town meeting
A town meeting is a form of direct democratic rule, used primarily in portions of the United States since the 17th century, in which most or all the members of a community come together to legislate policy and budgets for local government....

 in the beginning of April. At this town meeting, the electors may authorize the town board to take certain actions or change the make up or wages of town supervisors or officers.

Towns are often annexed by neighboring cities and villages in whole or in part. In Brown County, the Town of Preble
Preble, Wisconsin
Preble was a town in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States from 1859 to 1964. -Origin of town name:The town's name may originate from Admiral Edward Preble, who served in the Tripolitan War of 1803. It is also possible that Peter Faenger, who migrated from Preble, Germany,...

 was incorporated wholly into the city of Green Bay in 1964, thus terminating its status as a town. Piecemeal annexation has left some rather small towns, such as the Town of Germantown which covers 1.7 square miles (4.4 km²), or the Town of Brookfield
Brookfield (town), Wisconsin
Brookfield is a town in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 6,390 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of Goerke's Corner is located in the town.-Religion:...

 covering 5.5 square miles (14.2 km²). This contrasts with the Town of Winter
Winter (town), Wisconsin
Winter is a town in Sawyer County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 969 at the 2000 census. The Village of Winter is located within the town, but not a part of it.-Geography:...

 which covers 279.5 square miles (723.9 km²). Most towns are about the size of a survey township
Survey township
Survey township, sometimes called Congressional township, as used by the United States Public Land Survey System, refers to a square unit of land, that is nominally six miles on a side...

, or 36 square miles (93 km²). The Town of Menominee
Menominee, Wisconsin
For the city in western Wisconsin, see Menomonie.Menominee is a town in Menominee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,562 at the 2000 census...

 is unique in that it is co-extensive with the County of Menominee, and covers 365 square miles (945 km²); this is due to its unique history and connection with the Menominee Indian Reservation
Menominee Indian Reservation
The Menominee Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation located in northeastern Wisconsin for the Menominee.For the most part it is conterminous with Menominee County and the town of Menominee. However, there are many small pockets of territory within the county that are not considered to be...

.

In southern Wisconsin, towns are often co-terminous with survey townships, which were established to plat land. Survey townships are not political jurisdictions. The survey, or Congressional, townships, a result of the Land Ordinance of 1785
Land Ordinance of 1785
The Land Ordinance of 1785 was adopted by the United States Congress on May 20, 1785. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress did not have the power to raise revenue by direct taxation of the inhabitants of the United States...

, were further subdivided into 36 sections of one square mile each. One section was set aside for sale as a "School Section," which was used to establish schools. This grid system is based on a Point of Beginning
Point of Beginning
The point of beginning is a surveyor's mark at the beginning location for the wide-scale surveying of land.An example is the Beginning Point of the U.S. Public Land Survey that led to the opening of the Northwest Territory, and is the starting point of the surveys of almost all other lands to the...

 (POB) created by surveyor Lucius Lyon
Lucius Lyon
Lucius Lyon was a U.S. statesman from the state of Michigan. He was born in Shelburne, Vermont, where he received a common school education and studied engineering and surveying...

 in 1831 near Hazel Green, Wisconsin
Hazel Green, Wisconsin
Hazel Green is a village in Grant and Lafayette Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 1,183 at the 2000 census. The village is located mostly within the Town of Hazel Green in Grant County; only a small portion extends into the Town of Benton in Lafayette...

 (the Fourth Principal Meridian) and used the Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 boundary for a baseline. Development based on this grid system can be seen on maps today as the major through streets, such as those in Milwaukee, which coincide with boundary intersections. Lyon's POB is observed by a Wisconsin Historical Marker and a reset surveyor's monument.

Towns are the only unit of government that allows residents to direct decision by voting at local meetings. Towns tend to be sparsely populated. The most populous town in Wisconsin is Grand Chute
Grand Chute, Wisconsin
Grand Chute is a town in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The city of Appleton and unincorporated community of Apple Creek are partially located in the town...

 which has the services, taxes, and urban character that are typically found in cities. It is protected from annexation into the city of Appleton
Appleton, Wisconsin
Appleton is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is situated on the Fox River, 30 miles southwest of Green Bay and 100 miles north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the county seat of Outagamie County. The population was 78,086 at the 2010 census...

 by a boundary agreement along Wisconsin Highway 47.
See also urban town
Urban town
An urban town is a proposed classification for towns in the state of Wisconsin, similar to the urban townships of Minnesota and Ohio. The concept, originally proposed in 2001, as AB501, limited the classification to towns with over 7,500 people. The proposal has gained support from such...

, a proposal for semi-incorporation of more urbanized towns.

Other named places

There are numerous examples of unincorporated communities throughout the state. These areas have no legal status and are administered by the town or municipality in which they exist.

Special purpose units of government

In Wisconsin, special purpose units of government provide specialized services for those who live within the district. They are empowered to tax residents of the district for the services provided in common. Special districts often cross the lines of cities, villages and towns. In 2006, Wisconsin had over 1,100 special districts.

These special units of government are created to address issues that are regional in nature, and sometimes to bypass the limits on debt that each municipality may have. The state can also exert more control on special districts through the governor's appointments to district boards. Politicians also set up some special districts to insulate themselves from the sometimes unpopular taxes these boards levy, since the boards are often appointed and not elected.

School districts

School district
School district
School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...

s are the most common kind of special district. They provide, arrange or contract for all public education services, including special education and school transportation, the latter also for non-public schools. In 2006, Wisconsin had more than 440 school districts.

School districts are often not precisely co-extensive with municipalities that bear the same name, meaning that a child living in a municipality might attend a school associated with a different municipality, even a different county. Residents pay school taxes to the same school district in which they live and their children attend school.

Technical college districts

Wisconsin's sixteen technical college districts levy taxes to fund the Wisconsin Technical College System
Wisconsin Technical College System
Wisconsin Technical College System is a group of 16 technical colleges in Wisconsin.-History:The Wisconsin Legislature passed laws in 1911 requiring cities with a population of 5000 or more to set up trade schools, and a school board to control them...

. These sixteen technical colleges
Vocational education
Vocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...

 provide occupational training for their residents.

Sports districts

The Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District and the Professional Football Stadium District were created to raise money for the building of Miller Park and Lambeau Field
Lambeau Field
Lambeau Field is an outdoor football stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the home of the NFL's Green Bay Packers. Opened in 1957 as City Stadium, it replaced the original City Stadium as the Packers' home field...

 respectively.

The baseball district built, operates and manages the stadium used by the Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently playing in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

. It financed its activities through the sale of bonds, which are repaid from funds generated by a .1% sales and use tax on goods valued at over $10.00 that are sold in the district. It encompasses the counties of Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Washington and Waukesha
Waukesha County, Wisconsin
Waukesha County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2008, the population was 380,629. Its county seat is Waukesha.-History:The part of Wisconsin that Waukesha County now occupies was a part of Michigan when Milwaukee County was organized in September 1834. On July 4, 1836, the...

.

The football district issued bonds to renovate the stadium used by the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

. It repays its bonds through a .5% sales tax on goods sold in the district, which is coextensive with Brown County.

Other types of special purpose units

  • Sewerage districts: The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
    Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
    The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District is a state-chartered government agency which provides wastewater services for 28 municipalities within Milwaukee County and also portions of the surrounding counties....

     runs the sewage system for much of the Milwaukee metropolitan area
    Milwaukee metropolitan area
    The Milwaukee–Racine–Waukesha metropolitan area is an urban area identified by the U.S. Census Bureau containing five counties in southeastern Wisconsin: Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Washington and Ozaukee...

    . It receives its funding from property taxes and user fees.
  • Cultural arts districts: The Wisconsin Center District owns and operates the U.S. Cellular Arena
    U.S. Cellular Arena
    U.S. Cellular Arena is an indoor arena, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin...

    , Milwaukee Theatre
    Milwaukee Theatre
    The Milwaukee Theatre is a theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The building was extensively renovated from 2001-2003, at which point it received its current name. It seats 4,086 people and can be configured into a more intimate venue that seats 2,500. It is located at 500 W...

     and the Midwest Airlines Center
    Midwest Airlines Center
    The Frontier Airlines Center is a convention and exhibition center located in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The center is part of a greater complex of buildings which includes the U.S...

     in Milwaukee. The Madison Cultural Arts District manages the Overture Center for the Arts
    Overture Center
    Overture Center for the Arts is a performing arts center and art gallery in Madison, Wisconsin, which replaced the Civic Center. The center was commissioned by Jerome Frautschi, designed by Cesar Pelli, and built by J.H. Findorff and Son. Flad Architects and Potter Lawson led the project as...

     in Madison.


Other types of special districts include:
  • Regional planning commissions
  • Drainage districts
  • Sanitary districts
  • Mosquito control districts
  • Housing Authorities

See also


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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