Three types of boundary agreements are authorized by Wisconsin statutes.  They are:

• Cooperative boundary agreements under s. 66.0307 Wis. Stats.
• General agreements under s. 66.0301 Wis. Stats.
• Stipulations & orders under s. 66.0225 Wis. Stats.

In addition, the statutes provide authority to share revenue under s. 66.028 Wis. Stats. and tie these arrangements together with boundary agreements.

Boundary Agreement Statutes 

Legislative activity

• 2007 Wisconsin Act 43 - Developed by the Joint Legislative Council's Special Committee on Municipal Annexation, this Act:

   

  1)  Streamlined and simplified the cooperative boundary agreement process by reducing minimum statutory waiting periods and permitting the current detailed planning requirements to be substituted by a community's comprehensive plan. 

   

  2)  Cleared up current uncertainty with using boundary agreements under s. 66.0301 and s. 66.225 Wis.Stats. by expressly indicating when and how those types of agreements may be used.

   

  3)  Encouraged alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for resolving municipal boundary disputes by inserting a reference to ADR into the annexation statutes, by requiring DOA to develop and maintain an online list of ADR professionals, and by creating a mediated agreement procedure for cities, villages, and towns to use to get their municipal neighbors to come to the table to negotiate a cooperative boundary agreement under s. 66.0307 Wis.Stats.   Communities refusing to negotiate are penalized.

Cases.  There is currently no caselaw to interpret the boundary agreement statutes.