88.77 Annexation of lands upon petition of owners.

(1) If owners of lands adjacent to any drainage district want the lands to be annexed to the district, they may file with the drainage board a petition for annexation. The petition must be signed either by more than one-half of all of the owners of lands in the proposed annex, who shall represent more than one-third of the lands in the proposed annex, or by the owners of more than one-half of the lands in the proposed annex. The petition shall describe the lands sought to be annexed and shall set forth the names of the owners of all of those lands so far as the owners are known. The petition shall be accompanied by a plat showing the original district and the proposed annex.

(2) If the undrained portion of the area proposed to be annexed to the district exceeds 200 acres, the drainage board shall request the report described under s. 88.11 (3) from the department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection on the annexation. Within 60 days after the request, the department shall prepare and return a copy of the report and its approval or disapproval, as provided under s. 88.35 (7).

(3) When the drainage board receives the reports required by s. 88.11, the board shall fix a time and place of a hearing on the petition under sub. (1) and shall cause notice of the hearing to be given under s. 88.05 (2) (b) to the persons specified in s. 88.05 (4) (c).

(4) The drainage board shall issue an order annexing the territory to the drainage district if at the hearing the board finds all of the following facts:

(a) That the petition has sufficient signers.

(b) That the lands described in the petition, together with any additional lands recommended by the board for drainage, will be improved by the proposed annexation.

(c) That the public health or public welfare will be promoted by the annexation.

(d) That the cost of construction will not exceed 75 percent of the benefits to be derived from the proposed work.

(e) That the proposed work will not materially injure or impair fish or wildlife habitat, scenic beauty, the conservation of natural resources or other public rights or interests.

(5) If the board finds the facts stated in sub. (4) (a) to (c) and (e) but finds that the cost of construction will exceed 75 percent of the benefits to be derived from the proposed work, the board nevertheless shall annex the territory to the drainage district if, within 10 days of the order being issued under sub. (4), the petitioners file with the board a bond with sufficient sureties to be approved by the board and conditioned for the payment of the excess or the petitioners deposit and leave with the board a sum of money that the board determines will cover the excess.

(6) Upon issuance of the order annexing the territory to the drainage district, the drainage board shall proceed as provided under ss. 88.35 and 88.36.

History: 1993 a. 456; 2007 a. 121.

NOTE: 1993 Wis. Act 456, which substantially affected this section, contains extensive explanatory notes.