2024 Board of Review: NOTICE: TOWN OF RICHMOND BOARD OF REVIEW 2024 MONDAY – AUGUST 19th – 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM OPEN BOOK IS MONDAY – AUGUST 5th – 2:00-4:00 pm NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of Review shall hold its first full session on date and time stated above, at the Richmond Town Hall, located at 1428 100th St. New Richmond WI 54017.  Please be advised of the following requirements to appear before the Board of Review and procedural requirements if appearing before the Board. After the first meeting of the Board of Review (BOR) and before the Board’s final adjournment, no person who is scheduled to appear before the BOR may contact or provide information to a member of the Board about the person’s objection, except at a session of the Board. Open Book shall occur no less than seven (7) days prior to the BOR. The Board of Review may not hear an objection to the amount or valuation of property unless, at least 48 hours before the Board’s first scheduled meeting, the objector provides to the Board’s clerk written or oral notice of an intent to file an objection, except that upon a showing of good cause and the submission of a written objection, the Board shall waive that requirement during the first two (2) hours of the Board’s first scheduled meeting, and the Board may waive that requirement up to the end of the 5th day of the session or up to the end of the final day of the session if the session is less than five (5) days with proof of extraordinary circumstances for failure to meet the 48 hour notice requirement and failure to appear before the Board of Review during the first two (2) hours of the first scheduled meeting. Objections to the amount or valuation of the property shall first me made in writing and filed with the clerk of the BOR within the first two (2) hours of the Board’s first scheduled meeting, except that, upon evidence of extraordinary circumstances, the Board may waive that requirement up to the end of the 5th day of the session or up to the end of the final day of the session if the session is less than five (5) days. The Board may require objections to the amount or valuation of property to be submitted on forms approved by the Department of Revenue, and the Board shall require that any forms include stated valuations of the property in question.  Persons who own land and improvements to that land may object to aggregate valuation of that land and improvements to that land, but no person who owns land and improvements to that land may object only to the valuation of that land or only to the valuation of improvements to that land.  No person may be allowed in any action or proceedings to question the amount or valuation of property unless the written objection has been filed and that person in good faith presented evidence to the Board in support of the objections and made full disclosure before the Board, under oath, of all of that person’s property liable to assessment in the district and the value of that property.  The requirement that objections be in writing may be waived by express action of the Board. When appearing before the Board of Review, the objecting person shall specify, in writing, the person’s estimate of the value of the land and of the improvements that are subject of the person’s objection and specify the information that the person used to arrive at that estimate. No person may appear before the Board of Review, testify to the Board or by telephone, or object to a valuation if that valuation was made by the assessor or the objector using the income method of valuation, unless the person supplies the assessor all the information about income and expenses, as specified in the assessor’s manual under s 73.03(2a) WI Statutes, that the assessor requests. The Town of Richmond has an ordinance for the confidentiality of information about income and expenses that is provided to the assessor under this paragraph that provides exceptions for persons using information in the discharge of duties imposed by law or the duties of their office or by order of a court.*  The information that is provided under this paragraph, unless a court determined that it is inaccurate, is not subject to the right of inspection and copying under s 19.35(1) of WI Statutes. The Board shall hear upon oath, by telephone, all ill or disabled persons who present to the Board a letter from a physician, surgeon or osteopath that confirms their illness and disability. No other person may testify by telephone unless the Board in its discretion, has determined to grant a property owner’s or their representative’s request to testify under oath by telephone or written statement. No person may appear before the Board of Review, testify to the Board by telephone or contest the amount of any assessment unless, at least 48 hours before the first meeting of the Board, or at least 48 hours before the objection is heard if the objection is allowed under s 70.47(3)(a) WI Statutes, that person provides to the clerk of the BOR notice as to whether the person will ask for the removal of a member of the Board of Review and, if so, which member, and provides a reasonable estimate of the length of time the hearing will take. Notice is hereby given on July 22, 2024. Pat Earley, Clerk715-808-1795 | [email protected] County Road GG, New Richmond, WI

Posted on by Clerk

Ordinance 2024-02 Public Records

TOWN OF RICHMOND, ST. CROIX COUNTY, WISCONSIN
ORDINANCE 2024-02
AN ORDINANCE REGARDING PUBLIC RECORDS

SECTION 1 – TITLE AND PURPOSE

This ordinance is entitled the Town of Richmond Ordinance Regarding Public Records. The purpose of this ordinance is to ordain how the Town maintains public records.

SECTION 2 – PUBLIC RECORDS

 

    1. Any of the following Town entities having custody of a Town record: an office, elected or appointed official, agency, board, commission, committee, town board, department or public body corporate and politic created by constitution, law, ordinance, rule or order; or a formally constituted subunit of the foregoing.
    2. That officer, department head, division head or employee of the Town designated under sub.(3) or otherwise responsible by law to keep and preserve any Town records or file, deposit or keep such records in his office or who is lawfully in possession or entitled to possession of such public records and is required by this section to respond to requests for access to such records.
    3. Any material on which written, drawn, printed, spoken, visual or electromagnetic information is recorded or preserved, regardless of physical form or characteristics, which has been created or is being kept by an authority. Record includes, but is not limited to, hand-written, typed or printed pages, maps, charts, photographs, films, recordings, tapes (including computer tapes), optical discs, and any other medium on which electronically generated or stored data is recorded or preserved. Record does not include drafts, notes, preliminary computations, and like materials prepared for the originator’s personal use or prepared by the originator in the name of a person for whom the originator is working; materials which are purely the personal property of the custodian and have no relation to his office; materials to which access is limited by copyright, patent or bequest; and published materials in the possession of an authority other than a public library which are available for sale or which are available for inspection at a public library.
  • Duty to Maintain Records.
    1. Except as provided under sub.(5), each officer and employee of the Town shall safely keep and preserve all records received from his predecessor or other persons and required by law to be filed, deposited or kept in his office or which are in the lawful possession or control of the officer or employee or his deputies, or to the possession or control of which he or they may be lawfully entitled as such officers or employees.
    2. Upon the expiration of an officer’s term of office or an employee’s term of employment becomes vacant, each such officer or employee shall deliver his successor all records then in his custody and the successor shall receipt therefore to the successor to be delivered to such successor upon the latter’s receipt.
  • Legal Custodians.
    1. Each elected or appointed official is the legal custodian of his records and the records of his office, but the official may designate an employee of his staff to act as the legal custodian.
    2. Unless otherwise prohibited by law, the Town Clerk or the Clerk’s designee shall act as legal custodian for the Town Board and for any committees, commissions, boards or other authorities created by ordinance or resolution of the Town Board and of the records of the Town Treasurer and law enforcement personnel.
    3. Each legal custodian shall name a person to act as legal custodian in his absence or the absence of his designee.
    4. The legal custodian shall have full legal power to render decisions and to carry out the duties of an authority under Subch. II of Ch. 19, Wis. Stats., and this section. The designation of a legal custodian does not affect the powers and duties of an authority under this section.
  • Public Access to Records.

The Town shall follow the procedures and requirements outlined in Wis. Stat. §§ 19.31–19.39 for all requests for public records.

The cost of photocopying shall be $0.25 per page. Such cost has been calculated not to exceed the actual, necessary and direct cost of reproduction.

  • Destruction of Records.

Records management is regulated by Wisconsin state law. The Town may destroy records as permitted and provided by § 19.21, Wis. Stats.

The General Records Schedules (GRSs), created by the Wisconsin Public Records Board, provide legal authorization to dispose of records on a regularly scheduled basis. GRSs are a mechanism for consistent retention and disposition of similar types of records across all government units and provides assurance of accountability to the public. GRSs also contain guidelines for complying with legal, fiscal, and archival requirements for records retention and facilitate cost-effective management of records commonly found in all government units.

The Town Board hereby adopts the GRSs as guidance for destruction of records that are created or received by the Town. Any future amendments, revisions, or modifications of the GRSs made by the Public Records Board are intended to be made a part of this Section 5.

When a record has met the terms of the retention period, the record may be destroyed by the legal custodian of the record, provided the custodian has complied with the notification requirement set forth in § 19.21(4), Wis. Stats., to the Wisconsin State Historical Society

SECTION 3 – EFFECTIVE DATE

This ordinance shall become effective upon its publication and/or posting in the manner set forth in § 60.80, Wis. Stats.

Adopted this 8th day of February, 2024.

Gary Knutson, Town Chair
Attest: Patrick Earley, Town Clerk

Voted in favor – 5
Voted against – 0