March 2019 WMCA E-Newsletter
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Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association Monthly Newsletter
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WMCA President's
Message
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SCHOOL IS NOT OUT FOR SUMMER! That’s right! Back in high school we couldn’t wait for Summer! Now we are adults and we go to work in a profession that requires us to know what we are doing. We are leaders and professionals so education gives us the best opportunity to gain the knowledge, tools and skills for our continued success in Clerk World. School is definitely in session at the Northern Conference being held May 9-10, 2019 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. School is also in session at the summer conference being held August 21st-23rd. 2019 in Middleton, Wisconsin. Get your flapper and gangster garbs together as 2019 is the 100th anniversary of the start of prohibition. These conferences are going to be educational and fun too! Speaking of fun! Board of Review is just around the corner. Start looking for training certification opportunities now. There are DVD’s available and quite a few District meetings that are offering this education.
OH, THE SHOCK OF FOUR ELECTIONS IN ONE YEAR! Last week I had the great privilege of representing all of you at the Minnesota Clerks and Finance Officers Association Conference. During the conference, I learned there are significant differences between Clerk work in Minnesota versus Wisconsin. They have one election per year! Yes, when I told them what we have, there was complete shock with gaping mouths and wide eyes. Then sympathetic looks as the reality set it. One positive Clerk commented that we must all be experts at elections! She told me they need all the training they can get because they don’t have enough elections to keep them fresh. Alcohol licensing is much different as well. The liquor stores are operated by the municipality. My turn for full on shock! I’m not going to lie, I’d rather just do the licensing end. I did also get to see our friend Fran Duncanson, former Clerk of Avery. She is well and says hello to her Clerk friends back in Wisconsin.
APPARENTLY IT IS MY TURN: I have been extremely lucky in both my career and life. Even when my life was falling apart, I still felt the universe was on my side. Well, this week the universe turned against me and I spent the week running around putting out fires in every corner of my life! The stress has been awful and without going into all the painful details, I will say that I know there are Clerks out there in Clerk World who are also experiencing the storm. So to my fellow Clerk Professionals who are also taking their turn, I offer this: So the wheels came off the Badger bus and then the hurricane hit while you were changing the tires. Wherever you are at, take a deep breath, break it down and unravel whatever mess is impacting your life, one step at a time. We got this! We are Clerk Professionals! To my fellow Clerk Professionals who are cruising down Easy Street: Enjoy the sunshine and fresh air! No one escapes their turn forever! On a positive note, taking a turn teaches you both empathy and appreciation.
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| Kelly Michaels, WMCA President |
She Stood
in the Storm,
& When the Wind
Did Not Blow
Her Away,
She Adjusted
Her Sails.
Elizabeth Edwards |
Come One, Come All!
Education, Education Education!
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WMCA Northern Wisconsin Professional Clerk Training Registration is Open
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Register now for the 2-day
Northern Training coming on Thursday and Friday, May 9-10th
at the Lismore in Eau Claire.
There will be two tracks
of classes to cover topics for the new professional clerk and the seasoned professional clerk.
Check out Track #1- with some great basic training every clerk needs - check out your duties and paperwork for licensing; go through the steps, notices and paperwork every Clerk has to do for Board of Review; go through your responsibilities for elections and the resources available. Then finish up the day in a Cracker Barrel session where you can ask those pesky questions that have been on your mind and talk through the answers with your fellow clerks.
UW-Green Bay is bringing "Influence Without Authority". Do you feel like you don't have any influence in your office? Learn some ways that you can influence your situation.
Need your Board of Review Certification this year, you have two opportunities to get it at the Northern Training. Your Board Members are also welcome to register and attend. There are two choices of DVD to see this year - The First Two Hour Meeting that every BOR has to have or a Board of Review Hearing where you can see just how the Board should act and react when a resident comes in for a hearing.
Friday is also packed with great classes, it might be hard to choose which classes to take. That is why we are running the Election Training class twice. This class is a hands on tabletop class that is limited to 52 attendees. So I would suggest you register as soon as possible to make sure you can get into the session you want.
Budgeting is something that every clerk needs to know and if you have not done it before, this is the class for you to learn the basics.
One of the many important jobs that Clerks are responsible for is Records Management. Hear from the WI Historical Society on what records you need to retain or can destroy.
When you go home from these two days, you will have an arsenal of information and new procedures to use.
Click here to download the brochure and read through the details.
Click here to go on-line to read the details and register today. Whether you can only come for a day or one class, we look forward to providing you with some great education!
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2019 Board of Review Certification
Classes Are Available
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Under state law (sec. 70.46(4), Wis. Stats.), one voting member from each local Board of Review (BOR) must attend a training session (approved by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (sec. 73.03(55), Wis. Stats.), within two years of the board's first meeting. That member must be the municipality's chief executive officer or that officer's designee.
We have a freshly trained set of WMCA Member Trainers authorized by the Department of Revenue to certify you for the Board of Review for the next two years.
Check out the classes that have been scheduled so far and watch the WMCA website for more classes in the next two months.
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| League of Wisconsin Municipalities Update |
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Due to the Heidel House closing, the League of Wisconsin Municipalities 2019 Assessors Institute will be at the Best Western Premier Waterfront Hotel & Convention Center in Oshkosh.
Also note the Institute is a 3-day format, September 16-18, 2019.
Register online beginning June 1, 2019. Registration fees are $190 for members and $220 for non-members. Click here to register on-line.
You can contact the hotel NOW for room reservations:
Best Western Premier Waterfront Hotel & Convention Center (920) 230-1900 $82 single / $92 double
Use the ID Municipal Inspectors Institute LWM to receive the block rate discount.
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Check Out the League Local Government 101 Workshops
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Sponsored by League Mutual Insurance and Stafford Rosenbaum LLP
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Municipal staff with years of experience attending Local Government 101 may find themselves sitting next to staff and elected officials who are brand new to government. In this popular one-day workshop you’ll learn about city and village powers including municipal home rule, hear about how to recognize and avoid conflicts of interest, go home with a quick tutorial on municipal budgeting as well as how to run a meeting and finish with an overview on managing public works projects. In addition, you’ll have that age-old question answered: “what is a walking quorum anyway?” The League is offering six of these one-day Workshops this year:
May 10 - Pewaukee: Ingleside Hotel; May 17 - Eau Claire: Lismore Hotel; May 31 - Madison: Holiday Inn at the American Center; June 21 - Appleton: Red Lion Paper Valley; June 28 - Ashland: Best Western Chequamegon Hotel and September 13 - Waupaca: Par 4 Resort. Click here to register on the League’s website.
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UW-Green Bay Clerks Institute
July 14-19, 2019
Registration is Open - Click here to check out the best Clerk's Schooling in the Country!
The Municipal Clerks and Treasurers Institute consists of a three-year program of classroom instruction that takes place during one-week sessions recurring annually.
After three years when attendees have completed an accumulated total of 100 hours of programming, Clerks graduate from the Clerks Institute.
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Need Financial Help
We Have Scholarships!
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Scholarship Applications Still Available for UW-Green Bay Institute & Academy
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from Scholarship Chair Jill Kenda-Lubetski
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The April 15th deadline to apply for a scholarship to the UW-Green Bay Institute is almost here. All you have to do to apply is complete the Scholarship Application and submit it to WMCA Headquarters with all required supporting documentation. Don't miss out!
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| WMCA Northern Professional Clerk Training Scholarships Available
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Apply for a WCEF Scholarship. WCEF is the Wisconsin Clerks Education Fund. The WCEF Committee is committed to growing the fund each year through raffles and donations and then distributing the money to our members in the form of conference/ training scholarships.
The WCEF is pleased to announce that they are accepting applications for scholarships to attend the two-day Northern Wisconsin Professional Clerk Training.
Click here to find the WCEF Northern Training Scholarship form on the WMCA website and click on 2019 Northern Training Scholarships.
Deadline to apply is April 12, 2019.
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We Want Your Opinion?
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from Peter Barca, Secretary
Wisconsin Department of Revenue
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The WI Department of Revenue has put out Fact Sheet 3111. Our staff created this fact sheet to provide information about when a person must hold an alcohol beverage retail license. We are seeking public comment on Fact Sheet 3111, and you will also find it on our Proposed Guidance Web Page . This Fact Sheet will remain open for comment until April 10th. The DOR believes you will find it helpful in answering any questions or addressing any concerns you might have on this topic.
If you have any comments or ideas to share, please submit them through the DOR website. We appreciate your interest in this issue and value your relationship with the department.
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WMCA Associate Members are great partners with the WMCA. The next time you need to purchase a service or software, or other items, check out the vendors ads on the WMCA website on the Municipal Vendor page.
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DISTRICT 3 - April 19, 2019
Black River Falls, WI
DISTRICT 4- April 11, 2019
Reedsburg, WI
DISTRICT 5-May 15, 2019
Brookfield, WI
DISTRICT 6 -April 18, 2019
Howards Grove, WI
DISTRICT 7 -April 25, 2019
Wittenberg, WI
DISTRICT 8-April 16, 2019
Town of Minocqua, WI
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YOU MUST REPORT!
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Our WMCA Treasurer Brenda Ayers WCMC, Administrator/Clerk/Treasurer for the Town of Burke, is part of the DOR SLF Roundtable group. At their meeting last week, Department of Revenue staff asked that Brenda help spread the word regarding the Personal Property Value Report due June 3rd. Apparently there has been some confusion and a misconception that you only need to complete the report if you have TIDs.
Everyone must complete the form providing 2017 values of locally assessed machinery, tools and patterns (section 2) by taxing district (regardless of whether or not you had a TID). If a municipality did not have any personal property in section 2 in 2017 they must submit a report with zeros.
Click here to read the March 19th announcement that was sent out about the report.
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RESERVE YOUR HOTEL ROOM TODAY! |
Classes start early on May 9th and 10th at the Northern Training in Eau Claire.
We do have a block of rooms at state rate at The Lismore for this event. But the block is only open until April 17th. So reserve your room today before they run out of rooms or the special rate ends.
Call: 1-715-835-8888 to make your reservation.
Please note: the Code to give them is: MTC. The room rate is $82 per night.
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WCEF Cash Raffle
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Want to win some cash! 10 Prizes available. Click here for more information on the 2019 WCEF Cash Raffle.
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Need a Vacation? How about Hawaii?!? Take a chance on the IIMC Foundation Hawaii Raffle. Click here to download this year's flyer for the details.
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THE WMCA MISSION:
To be the premier source for the personal empowerment of municipal clerks in Wisconsin through education, professional development, and the promotion of excellence.
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