Background
Sauk County owned and operated a nursing home that had been rebuilt in 2009 with county debt and was sustained in part by property-tax revenue. In 2024, the County listed the facility and operations for sale at $8.5 million, then approved an $5.1 million sale to Aria entities by an 18-to-13 vote.
A citizens group, along with Thomas Kriegl and Judith Brey, sued to stop the proposed sale. They alleged that selling below fair market value violated the public purpose doctrine, conflicted with an earlier County Board resolution governing marketing proposals, and required a two-thirds vote under Wisconsin’s municipal-budget statute. The circuit court dismissed the claims.
The Court’s Holding
The court affirmed, treating the County’s dismissal motion as one for summary judgment because both sides submitted material outside the complaint and the Citizens effectively litigated it on that basis. Assuming without deciding that the $5.1 million price was below fair market value, the court held that the sale served valid public purposes: putting the privately owned property on the tax rolls, freeing tax revenue previously used for nursing-home operations, and helping reduce County debt.
The marketing resolution governed the request-for-proposals process, not the ultimate sale. In any event, the County Board’s sale approval expressly superseded conflicting terms and received a majority of the entire 31-member board. Section 65.90(5) did not require a two-thirds vote because approving the sale did not itself change a tax levy or an appropriation stated in the County’s budget; any later budget changes would be separate actions.
Key Takeaways
- A municipal sale below fair market value may satisfy the public purpose doctrine when supported by recognized public benefits.
- A resolution governing marketing conditions does not necessarily impose conditions on a later sale.
- Wisconsin’s two-thirds budget-vote requirement applies to changes in budgeted levies or appropriations, not every action that may affect a budget.
Why It Matters
The decision gives Wisconsin local governments substantial latitude to dispose of public assets when a sale advances identifiable fiscal public purposes. It also distinguishes approval of a transaction from later budget amendments that may be required after the transaction closes.