Town Meetings

TOWN MEETING

The town meeting is a meeting of the town’s electors – that is, the people – and is not a meeting of the town board. This is a unique power for town electors to exercise powers directly. In contrast, village, city, county, and state governments act solely through elected representatives.
In Wisconsin, town electors may exercise their unique powers via an annual town meeting, or at special town meetings called for specific purposes. Specific powers of a meeting of a town’s electors can be found in Section 60.10 of the Wisconsin Statutes.

The town electors set the annual tax levy, may authorize the town board to acquire or dispose of town owned real property, and other specific items identified in Wisconsin Statutes. While town board members attend the town meeting, it is not a meeting of the town board.

POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE TOWN MEETING

Statutory powers and duties of the town meeting are found under Wis. Stat. §60.10 – §60.16.
“Town Meetings: Fact Sheet”, Local Government Center