Governor Walker’s executive budget bill, unveiled in Feb. 2013, recommends several important statewide geospatial initiatives. The bill contains the governor’s recommendations for appropriations for the 2013-15 fiscal biennium.

Below is a brief synopsis of the proposed geospatial initiatives.

Reallocation of social security redaction fee to DOA

Under current law, counties may charge an additional $5 per document recorded in the register of deeds office to redact social security numbers so that they are not visible on electronic records. Current statutes stipulate that this additional $5 fee is to sunset no later than January 1, 2015. The proposed budget would remove the sunset and reallocate the $5 social security redaction fee to the DOA in 2015. Counties would continue to retain $8 for land information if they meet the requirements of the Land Information Program.  (See page 624 of the budget bill for exact wording.) 

Reallocated fee directed to create statewide digital parcel map

The goal of reallocating the $5 fee is to support the creation of a statewide digital parcel map. Furthermore, the budget bill adds to section 16.967 of statutes requiring the DOA to “establish an implementation plan for a statewide digital parcel map” (p. 119). 

Deer Trustee Report and land cover

The budget bill adds section 29.040 to state statutes authorizing the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to “promulgate rules to implement the recommendations contained in the 2012 final report of the assessment of this state’s deer management plans” (pp. 37, 424). This is a reference to the Deer Trustee Report by James Kroll, which contains several recommendations for improving geospatial service delivery in the state. The specific intent of this proposal is to implement programs to improve the hunting climate in Wisconsin, conduct research and manage chronic wasting disease. This includes reallocating existing expenditure authority and utilizing additional federal funds from the DNR to update the state's land cover map.

Status of the bill

As of this writing (March, 2013), the bill has not yet been passed into law, so its provisions have not yet taken effect. It is possible that specific proposals will be modified as the bill is studied and debated. 

More information

The full text of the proposed budget can be found here. 

The executive budget, available on the Department of Administration (DOA) Web site, provides more information on the Governor’s recommendations and initiatives.