45.72 County and municipal memorials.

(1) In this section and s. 45.73, “local unit of government" means a city, village, town, or county.

(2) Any local unit of government may by gift, purchase, contract, or condemnation acquire property, real or personal, for the purpose of providing, furnishing, constructing, erecting, repairing, maintaining, or conducting a suitable memorial to the memory of former residents thereof who lost their lives in the military or naval service of the state or of the United States, or to commemorate and honor the deeds of persons, residents thereof, or of the state or United States, who served the nation in any war, or other persons who rendered great state or national service, or to the memory of any president of the United States, or for a combination of any those purposes, which are declared to be public purposes.

(3) The local unit of government shall determine the character of the memorial, and without limitation because of enumeration, the memorial may comprise a public building, hospital, sanatorium, home for the aged or indigent, park, recreation facility, community forest, or other suitable object having a public purpose.

(4) Any local unit of government may appropriate money and may levy a tax to acquire, pay for, construct, erect, furnish, equip, operate, repair, maintain, or reconstruct a suitable memorial for the purpose or purposes provided in this section.

(5) Any local unit of government may authorize the use of any public property respectively of such city, village, town, or county as a site for a memorial, and any county may authorize its public property to be so used by any city, village, or town in the county.

(6) Any local unit of government may by ordinance or contract provide for the management, control, or operation of any memorial. The local unit of government may enter into a written lease, for a term not exceeding 25 years, with any duly chartered and incorporated veterans organization established in the local unit of government. The lease shall include the provisions for the amount of rental and such conditions of public use as the local unit determines.

(7) Any local unit of government may contract with or make an appropriation, or both, to any other local unit of government or to any nonprofit corporation without capital stock organized expressly for any of the purposes of this section or to any duly chartered and incorporated veterans organization established in the local unit of government, and for the purpose of raising funds for memorial purposes or contributions. The local unit of government may levy taxes upon the taxable property located in the local unit of government, or borrow money and issue bonds in the manner and under the regulations provided by ch. 67. The facilities of the memorial shall be available to the residents of the local unit of government making the appropriation to the extent that the governing body of the local unit of government may require.

History: 2005 a. 22.